Wedding Rehearsal

Wedding Rehearsal is an interesting and gloriously dated film of upper class society in Great Britain between the World Wars. It's hard to believe that these twits actually ruled a world wide empire, coming apart at the seams as it was in 1932.

Roland Young a titled Marquis loves the life of a bachelor, but unless he gets married and quick he's going to be cut out of the will and then heaven forfend might have to go to work. So he becomes a matchmaker to the Shropshire twins Wendy Barrie and Joan Gardner to a pair of commoners but with the distinctly British upper crust names of Binkie (John Loder) and Toodles (Maurice Evans).

In the meantime it's commoner Merle Oberon who sets her cap for Young and of course what do you think happens in the end. Not terribly hard to figure out.

To say this is dated is to say milk is white. Back in the day Hitler over in the Germany he took over used to import films like this to show how truly decadent the British had become and what an easy place it would be to knock over. After looking at Wedding Rehearsal you might think so.

This was Alexander Korda's first film and he did love the British aristocracy.

Binkie and Toodles? I mean, really.

Roland Young ( will be oscar nominated for Topper, but that was still five years away.) is the Marquis of Buckminster. His famiily wants him to get married, but he's been avoiding this condition as long as he can. Love blooms where we least epecct it. Even if his family doesn't like it. Co-stars the big names of the day: John Loder, Wendy Barrie, Merle Oberon. Pretty light plot. And we didn't need to spend so much time watching what the cats and dogs are doing, but I guess it helps the plot line along. And they worked the changing of the guard into the plot... probably not a lot of americans were familiar with that. Nor were those living away from the palace, so it was an interesting scene at the time. Some rally odd editing cuts and jumps about eight minutes in. But this IS about ninety years old! To introduce some of the scenes, they play the public opinion chanting over and over. Kind of short cut... i guess it saves on script and filming. It's okay. Moves a bit slow. Some slow, subtle humor... we can see that humor is Young's strong card. And a bit risque. England was always less prudish about these topics in films. Directed by hungarian Alexander Korda; had been making movies for YEARS, in austria and england. One interesting connection -- Korda was married to the co-star Oberon from 1939 - 1945.

Minor London Films comedy, chiefly interesting now because of the number of British actors it features who later went on to greater things. The plot concerns the Marquis of Buckminster (Roland Young), who must marry or be cut out of a rich relative's will. Instead he sets about marrying off all his friends to the eligible girls on his relative's hit-list in an attempt to save himself from such a ghastly fate. Only as the moon sets on the day of his friends' weddings does he finally find himself smitten...

Not as witty nor as farcical as it pretends to be, Young (later Mr Topper) gives a marvellous performance that makes it sort of worthwhile. Other notables include John Loder, Wendy Barrie (of The Saint, Falcon and Sherlock Holmes films), Joan Gardner (later Mrs Zoltan Korda), Maurice Evans (later Dr Zaius in Planet of the Apes) and a stunning Merle Oberon. Something perhaps for an older generation - or those deeply in love with early cinema - to savour, but an acquired taste for everybody else.

Although the basic plot is straight out of P. G. Wodehouse -- wealthy relative threatens to cut off playboy's allowance if he doesn't get married to one of the "acceptable" girls on her list, so he sets out to preemptively marry them off to someone else -- along with its leisurely pacing, "Wedding Rehearsal" is something of a hit-and-miss affair. This is more a pleasant comedy of manners in the British mode, with a dollop of social commentary, than a romantic farce. If you approach it as such, it has its small rewards, some nice comic characterizations and occasionally witty dialog.

You certainly can't fault the quality of the actors, or the production values, not to mention the location shots of London in the early 30s. There are some great moments, such as when the dowager steels herself to give her twin daughters the "what to expect on your wedding night" speech on the eve of their double wedding, while the twins try their best to look innocent.

I wouldn't recommend "Wedding Rehearsal" to most modern viewers, but if you're a fan of actors like Roland Young and Merle Oberon, and like that between-the-wars British aristocratic milieu, you might find yourself enjoying the film. I did.

I was not charmed by this. I was bored by this.

A rich fellow must find a wife or lose his allowance.

This is a film from 1930, and while there are good films from 1930, this would not be one of them. The acting is odd, the lines are stilted, there are long pauses during which I kept expecting the director to shout "cut!" Comedy depends upon.

Timing.

More than anything else, that is what romantic comedy is, and this amateurish, dated thing is lurching in its timing. Four years later, It Happened One Night was filmed, so either someone figured out how to deliver, direct, and edit snappy dialog in just four years, or they knew before (my suspicion) and this movie is simply inept.