Alondra del cielo

This is one of those movies where a childless, jobless wife has an enormous, beautiful house, a cook, a butler, more exquisite clothes than she can count, and we're supposed to feel sorry for her. Because she is married to Ray Milland, who, after five years, gives her a huge, passionate kiss when he comes home. Yeah, that's suffering, all right.

Claudette Colbert's problem is that Ray spends too much time and thought on his job--you know, the one that provides the house, cook, butler, etc. So she flips and takes off with the pleasant but sexless Brian Aherne. Wouldn't be my move.

True, Ray is something of a bully. He literally strong-arms Claudette into coming with him, and harshly orders her in a way that a servant wouldn't take these days. So, to satisfy the women in the audience, he has to be made to grovel. And to keep Claudette from a complete triumph that would make her look domineering, she has to be made ridiculous.

It's all part of the movie's desperation to pretend marriage is romantic and amusing. Can I explain something? It isn't.

Samson Raphaelson's hit Broadway play of 1939 (with Gertrude Lawrence headlining) comes to the screen starring the left side of Claudette Colbert's face. She plays the frustrated wife of Ray Milland, a stuffy advertising executive who is coasting through their marriage after five years; one night, she flirts innocently with another man (Brian Aherne) and gets the gumption to seek a divorce. 'Sophisticated' comedy with lead-balloon lines and static character interaction. Colbert manages to live and dress exquisitely but, in the very first scene, overhears her husband's assistant buying her anniversary present and actually exchanges it for something less expensive (!); Aherne, as a lawyer, and twinkling like a debonair version of Red Skelton, takes Colbert for a drive and for a bite to eat at a diner--and this non-romantic date actually convinces her to leave her husband. The whole scenario is such a shallow conceit--a fraud--that it's impossible to take the performances into consideration, although the bit players (all sarcastic) certainly show up the principals. ** from ****

A top cast -- Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, and Brian Aherne star in "Skylark," a 1941 film directed by Mark Sandrich, and based on the play.

Milland and Colbert are Tony and Lydia Kenyon, celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary, and they're having a party. Tony is in advertising, so all of his clients' products have to be on display. He's preoccupied with one client in particular, Frederick Vantine (Grant Mitchell), from whom he's trying to get another million dollars in advertising.

At the party, and right after an altercation with her husband, Linda meets a charming attorney, Jim Blake (Aherne) who becomes very smitten with her. She takes a drive with him to a diner. When she arrives home, the party is over and Tony is furious. The attorney was a guest of the Vantines, and Mrs. Vantine (Binnie Barnes) is angry that she went off with him. He demands that she call and apologize. Lydia does, and then she leaves him and spends more time with Jim -- against the wishes of Mrs. Vantine.

Funny marital comedy about a woman who doesn't want to be a second thought to her husband, and a husband who adores her but is afraid of not being good at his job. He's also jealous of Jim.

Some wonderful scenes and performances: the cast is top-notch, and Colbert's scene on Jim's boat is hilarious, and her encounters with Barnes are delicious. Aherne is likable, debonair, and charming, and Milland shows vulnerability as Tony.

"Skylark" could have better directed, which would have brought the film up a couple of notches. If Leo McCarey or Ernst Lubitsch had directed it, it might have been up there with "It Happened One Night." Nevertheless, it is delightful, with the three stars at the top of their respective games.

Lydia and Tony Kenyon (Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland) are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Their relationship now contains about as much excitement as a straight line. Along comes Jim Blake (Brian Aherne), providing a point of conflict that defines a love triangle.

This is not a drama. The story comes from a play and its comedy is probably best appreciated if seen as Shakespearean. Blake is a passive-aggressive "Puck" who constantly picks at the relationship's frayed edges. A marriage is in the balance, but the characters banter wittily as if discussing the correct price for a cow. Lydia and Tony could have been played by Myrna Loy and William Powell.

The writing is clever and enjoyable. The characters are fun to watch. If you can let the story just be what it is, you might enjoy it. Suspend disbelief and engage your sense of humor. Otherwise, you might be tempted to think this film makes light of wifely dissatisfaction.

Or, if you prefer, Comedy Lite, because 'Skylark" is only semi-funny. I can only guess Director Mark Sandrich didn't have a good feel for comedy as several scenes which could have been funny seemed forced and heavy-handed. A Leo McCarey or Mitchell Leisen could have gotten more mileage out of them, but, as is, "Skylark" is unsatisfying and leaves you feeling unfulfilled, like Lite beer or diet soda.

Other reviews recount the plot, but just let me say that the main reason to watch this one is to watch several old pros give their all and try to make a mediocre picture better just by their presence. It belongs mainly to Claudette Colbert, who tries mightily and comes off the best of the principals. She is ably supported by Ray Milland and Brian Aherne, who also do their best. Walter Abel does not come off so well and is better in straight drama parts. And the old pop standard 'Skylark" is apparently not from this picture. I put my star rating in the heading as the website no longer includes them.