French Without Tears

"French Without Tears" is a British-made film distributed by Paramount. It was originally a play by Terence Rattigan and apparently starred Rex Harrison (according to one of the other reviewers). His part was played here by Ray Milland.

The story is about a bunch of Brits living in France in order to take a language immersion program. Oddly, most of these folks didn't seem to care at all about learning the language and they seemed annoying because of this. The one big exception was Alan (Milland), who is the wise man in the program. He is not only working on his French but seems to know women...and watches as two of the residents of the program throw themselves at a pretty but manipulative woman. Will he, too, be able to withstand her charms?

To me, this film is enjoyable but dated. After all, a bunch of rather xenophobic Brits not bothering to learn French seems like a commentary about the British Empire of the time. The film also is a bit slow...but watchable if you are a patient viewer.

This amiable Ratigan Farce is based on Ratigans' own experiences in a French tuition school in Normandy.It was brought to the stage in London featuring Rex Harrison,Trevor Howard,Kay Hammond and Roland Culver.It was purchased by Paramount initially as a vehicle for Marlene Dietrich!However they decided that the featured actors,Culver apart,were not sufficient box office and replaced them.Whilst Ray Milland is quite enjoyable as the main lead one can only conjecture what the film could have been if Harrison had reprised his role for the screen.I saw the original 86 minute version at the Museum of London in 1983.I have just seen the American version which is some 20 minutes shorter.I cannot remember what is missing.A number of matters of interest.Mantovanni is featured in the party scene.The release of this film coincided with the outbreak of war,when all places of entertainment were closed.The director was "Puffin"Asquith,the son of the World war 1 PM.His mother used her influence with cabinet Ministers to get the cinemas reopened,according to the biography of David Lean.Lean was the editor on this film.Cinemas reopened 3 days later and the film was a success at the box office.

After watching the Terence Rattigan DVD collection (with most of the adaptations being from the 70s and 80s) when staying with family friends last year, Rattigan very quickly became one of my favourite playwrights and he still is. His dialogue is so intelligent, witty and meaty, his characterisation so dynamic, complex and real and the storytelling so beautifully constructed.

'French Without Tears' (Rattigan's first successful play) is not my favourite of Rattigan's plays, or one of them. Do prefer 'The Winslow Boy', 'Separate Tables' and particularly 'The Browning Version' myself. Despite the story being flimsier than those three, and it doesn't lend itself as well to more cinematic film adaptations, faring much better to me with a live audience, the light as soufflé and mostly quite sophisticated comedy and the meat of the writing and characterisation still remains.

While not one of the best film adaptations of Terence Rattigan about, this 'French Without Tears' is a highly enjoyable and criminally underseen version of the play. Is the story fluffy and on the flimsy side? Sure, but it is also one of the more accessible stories of Rattigan's work subject matter-wise. Is it old fashioned? In a way, though modern audiences probably would get into it easily knowing what to expect. Does 'French Without Tears' work better on stage with a live audience? To me it does. Does that mean that it doesn't work at all as a film? Of course not, but other Rattigan plays fare better on cinematic terms, judging from director Anthony Asquith's later Rattigan film adaptations 'The Browning Version' and 'The Winslow Boy' (both even better) for example.

This film of 'French Without Tears' looks lovely, with suitably intimate and beautifully composed photography and sumptuous costumes and sets. The star in this regard is David Lean's (yes that David Lean, before he went on to even greater things) editing, especially in the carnival scene. The music is energetic and is pleasantly orchestrated.

Furthermore, the script does capture the play's wit and zest, not all but for stage-to-film translations enough of it does do, Rattigan's gift for light humour, writing that provokes thought and a darkly painful side, which brings complexity and dimension to the subject matter, and his attention to meaty characterisation still shines, even if the story still feels flimsy, the humour sparkling and as light as a souflee and other parts are very sophisticated.

Charm, heart and zest is all over 'French Without Tears', which flies by and while it is a very short film (just over an hour) one wishes a little when it's over that there was more. The highlight is the drunk scene which is hilarious. Asquith does a great job directing, very assured while understanding the intimacy of the relationship between dialogue, camera and acting.

Of the splendid cast, Ray Milland and Roland Culver, both on very natural, sparkling form, are the standouts. Ellen Drew is very charming, one can totally see what the characters see in her.

In summation, hugely enjoyable and should be made available on DVD. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I am using the term 'fey' to describe a film whose time may have passed and which will seem to many outdated in 2012. I don't feel the premise is workable or practical nowadays, and there are few of us left who will appreciate the subtleties and tenor of either the script or the storyline.

Here it is in a nutshell; There are five students at a school for French-speaking located somewhere in France. One is a boy and the others are English gentlemen, two middle-aged and two approaching middle-age. For some reason, the sister of the boy comes for an extended visit. She (Ellen Drew) is a knockout, and all fall head over heels for her and make fools of themselves, trying to outdo one another in various situations. There is some humorous dialogue sprinkled throughout as well as some pratfalls and slapstick that are telegraphed and obvious.

Ray Milland is very appealing and tries to stay above it all, and in one scene Roland Culver does one of the best impersonations of a drunk as has ever been on the screen, Arthur Housman and Jack Norton notwithstanding. The picture strives to be likable, and I did like it, being an old-fashioned sort of guy.

I compromised and rated it a six; Five for today's audiences and seven for those of us with long, seasoned memories.

Why didn't Terence Rattigan write more comedies? He was much better at that than at serious drama, which didn't always strike home, but a comedy like this one is an ace in the genre, with brilliant dialogue, hilarious characters, sophisticated irony and irresistible charm. Ray Milland here is very close to Cary Grant and could surely have made more parts like this and even compete with his countryman, and Roland Culver in probably his best part ever is an outrageously likeable caricature of a very square naval officer. All the others are perfect as well, having some difficulty as very English dandies to get along in France with a very strict French professor, the best caricature of them all, like a double of Emil Jannings in "The Blue Angel" but funnier and more French. Add to this the eloquent and intelligent touch of Anthony Asquith's direction, and you''ll find there was something to those blasphemous suggestions that Asquith was a more accomplished director than Hitchcock. They certainly complement each other, and Asquith was more elegant and intelligent, while Hitchcock was more effective. Anyway, this comedy is a must and a classic, setting something of a paragon example for the great era of English comedies usually starring Alec Guinness, and they were many and all exceptionally good. I saw this one more than 50 years ago, but I had no memory it was that immensely good. What a positively delightful surprise of an old acquaintance!