Cluny Brown and At Middleton

I first was aware of Cluny Brown because the book was written by Margery Sharp, better known by many as the author of the Rescuers (mice) children's novels. The film was brought up again after I watched another Ernest Lubitsch film, To Be or Not To Be.

The film stars Jennifer Jones as Cluny Brown and Charles Boyer as a refugee Czech philosopher in 1938 Britain. Brown’s two main characteristics are a love of plumbing and not knowing "her place" in class-bound Britain. She meets a kindred spirit.

The film is largely a satire of British society. Peter Lawford, later a Kennedy brother-in-law (until the divorce) has an early supporting role. He is quite concerned about what is happening in Europe but his idea of doing something about it is writing a letter to The Times and talking about how concerned he is.

I found the film enjoyable -- the two leads were quite fun and the supporting characters were suitably clueless. I was not interested in some of the later scenes involving some shenanigans among the characters. Cute finale.

The Criterion Collection DVD had three interesting extras discussing the film. It also has a radio version starring Boyer. I vaguely recall reading at least part of the book some time ago. Sharp had multiple successful adult novels before her mice books.

I saw this film in a movie review book. It’s from 2013.

I like Vera Farmiga and Andy Garcia and the concept of two parents (from different marriages) going out on their own while their children are on a college tour [thus the title] sounded interesting. A good mature adult comedy-drama. And, overall, it was.

(Honestly, I feel like Vera Farmiga is an actress I like but looking at her resume, not sure about truly watching her in anything other than a film where she played a minor role. I did read about her in multiple films and saw some previews!)

If her daughter in the film seems quite like her, it is because in real life the actress is her sister — there is a big age difference. The son, who does not have a long resume, comes off as the least interesting. He’s okay. Good supporting cast.

I enjoyed the film and it was one of those nice little surprises that you come upon. Looking over some of the Wikipedia reviews, sure, it is not some classic work of art. The plot is overall not surprising. However, it is done nicely in a restrained fashion.

The two stars have excellent chemistry. Other than a few questionable moves (for example, the marijuana scene is somewhat tacked on though the set-up is nicely done), the film is as a whole quite well done. It is not a work of art but all the pieces are nicely put together. I often find it hard to watch whole films. I saw all of this.

(Okay. A couple of scenes were “helped” along a bit via some DVD action.)

There is a DVD commentary track with Andy Garcia (also one of the producers), the writer/director, and another writer/producer. Interesting.