In angenehmer Gesellschaft

American Movie Classics channel has just started showing this 1961 flick, and I can't speak too highly of it. A charming domestic comedy with some real dramatic tension, the film boasts a superb cast with the venerable Fred Astaire (yes, of course he dances...), the elegantly funny Lilli Palmer, and a befuddled Gary Merrill. Charley Ruggles as grampa positively steals the show as a sort of geriatrically comic Greek chorus; his brief rejoinders and observations always perfectly set off a scene. The production values, as well, are sumptuous; today's movies don't look as good as this 40-year-old number (the Technicolor process has it all over contemporary processes). Sparkling dialogue and wonderful acting make this story of a playboy father's disruptive effects on his daughter's impending wedding a delightful must-see. I just can't figure it out; how can a movie with no swear words, no violence, no nudity, and not a single sex scene be so captivating???

This production had its origins in a successful stage play in which, if memory serves, Cyril Ritchard played the role of "Pogo" Poole on Broadway. I saw this on Hollywood Blvd. at the then Paramount Theater, across the street from the world-famed Grauman's Chinese. I'd looked forward to its release, which had been delayed by a several-week shutdown during shooting, due to a Hollywood union dispute (I think it involved the Writers Guild, though I may be wrong.), because I was then, and always will be, a devoted fan of Miss Lilli Palmer, Germany's gift to the cinema.

The finished product betrayed its stage origins but was luxuriously produced and nicely enacted by a thoroughly professional cast. I'll always remember that scene when devoted daughter, Jessica, played by Debbie Reynolds, tearfully confesses that she's willing to postpone her planned and very lavish wedding in order to accompany her long-lost and suddenly returned father, "Pogo," on one last globetrotting trip before his imminent demise of "old age." Fred Astaire's horrified reaction to this declaration of daughterly affection was something to behold.

The Technicolor cinematography by the gifted Robert Burks (one of Hitchcock's favorites) is one of this film's best assets. (Too bad Paramount was getting too cheap to use its 70mm VistaVision process on this one, since San Francisco provided some lovely backgrounds.) And, as always, Alfred Newman underscored the proceedings quite elegantly. The title song, a nice one, was sung by Vic Damone over the opening credits, if I'm not mistaken, which were static shots of San Francisco and environs. I remember wishing that moving images of the same vistas had been used instead.

Watched this movie on labor day, and it made my day! It was delightful, funny, charming, and thoroughly enjoyable! And a thought occurred to me, it would be a great movie for a remake, the plot is very current and could make a great updated story, and the potential to be quite funny. I actually laughed out loud several times during the movie. If you have not seen it, please check it out... its great!

I have to say this has got to be one of my all-time favorite film! I first saw it on AMC and fell in love with it instantly. Ever since than, I've been looking for it on video when I had VHS (unfortunately I was unsuccessful). And now I'm searching for it on DVD (still unsuccessful).

Why does Paramount Pictures rarely release any of their old films on video/DVD??? It's so disappointing they place restrictions.

I have probably seen this movie 40 or 50 times since video has been in existence, and I have yet to tire of watching Mr. Class, Fred Astaire, weave his way through this Cornelia Otis Skinner/Samuel Taylor gem of a light comedy that engages you from start to finish.

Everything about this production from the opening credits appearing over what could be the finest still photography of San Francisco ever put on the screen to the ensemble of endearing characters to the heart-warming musical themes, fashion PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY into a film that after forty years still spins an enduring tale of a long, lost playboy father turning up unexpectedly to attend his daughter's wedding.

Lili Palmer is a perfect fit as Astaire's spicy, estranged wife who may have never quite doused the flames for her ex; Debbie Reynolds is a natural as the naiive daughter pining for the real father she never had; Gary Merrill offers a rather patient detachment from most all of Astaire's antics as his current wife nearly loses her heart all over again to her ex-husband's charm. Charley Ruggles is the aloof, wise grandfather, who seems to be amused by Astaire's manipulations and really has little to do or say until uttering a few choice observations near the end. Tab Hunter turns in a surprisingly solid performance as Reynolds' rancher-fiancée--especially when considering that in 1961 Hunter was still pretty much stuck in his "teen idol" phase.

The fun of this movie, before it turns to sad lessons of regret, lies in catching the dialogue repartee and the meddling contrivances of Astaire. For some of the exchanges between Astaire and Palmer on second marriage and "dull, domestic life," get a solid side swipe by playboy Biddiford Poole, before he himself gets the final comeuppance. In all, the treatment of a long-lost dashing second husband appearing without warning for his daughter's wedding who throws a monkey wrench into the settled lives of well-to-do San Franciscans is, in many ways, wonderfully witty.

THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY simply does not age. It is one of those enduring pieces that weaves its own charming spell from Astaire's bon-vi-vant arrival at SFO to his grim realization before leaving again: "I've missed the boat in oh-so-many ways." THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY is a light-hearted comedy with a solid message about regret that hits home for many. But lest Astaire become too much an object of sympathy, he has the last laugh on Palmer and Merrill that caps the film with just the right touch at the end.

Trivia: Cyril Ritchard starrred in the original Broadway production, but Astaire, who had just about retired in '58 after the death of his wife, was cast as Biddiford Poole....Delores Hart was originally cast as Jessica, his daughter in the stage play. After making a number of films and earning about $50,000 a picture, Hart stunned Hollywood in 1964 and announced she was entering a convent. She became a nun and remains one to this day...Gary Merrill, who plays Palmer's second husband, also played the husband of Bette Davis in the film classic ALL ABOUT EVE...The exterior of the Dougherty home where some of the action is shot was, in fact, the Spreckle's Mansion, a San Francisco landmark....Tab Hunter was about at the end of his teen idol days when he made this film. He had recorded "First Love" which was a top 40 hit in the late '50's....

Dennis Caracciolo