La Folle Alouette

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.

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.

Skylark finds Claudette Colbert feeling like she's just running second fiddle to her husband Ray Milland's advertising business. So at another party where she's simply to function as the decoration on his arm, Claudette becomes susceptible to lawyer Brian Aherne who turns on the charm and makes her feel important. This woman is a Skylark and needs to spread her wings so he tells Milland.

In no time at all Aherne has moved right in as Claudette divorces Milland. After that Milland is busy planning his campaign to win her back.

Skylark probably needed a Mitchell Leisen or an Ernst Lubitsch to have been a real classic. Still all three of leads acquit themselves well. Aherne has a part that was normally reserved for David Niven, all charm and smiles. There's also a nice turn by Binnie Barnes as the hard hearted wife of Milland's boss Grant Mitchell who has her own claim on Aherne and his vocabulary. Her confrontation scene with Colbert is priceless.

As is Colbert trying to take to a life at the sea when tries whip up enthusiasm for Aherne's passion for sailing. Her scenes on Aherne's boat are priceless.

A good comedy of the era, a bit shy of greatness however.

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.

I like these actors in most everything I've seen them in, but this one has a whiff of cheese going bad in the fridge. Ray Milland is psychotic over his search for financial success and kicks his wife around like a dog. Colbert has lost her mind and her self-respect as she whimpers fondly around him hoping for a pat on the head. And then things turn weirdly comic as Brian Aherne drops in to distract her.

A divorce seems comfortably inevitable; she and Aherne seem soul mates for sure, until Colbert's own psychosis turns her back towards a scheming Milland. Me oh my, who will she choose? Is anyone following this? I could have used cue cards for applause and hissing because the director didn't know where this thing was going. And it didn't get there.

This mishmash was not fun, and now I've got to carve off the mold to salvage a single bite of cheddar goodness. One of the few times I've rated a film at less than the user average, but at only 103 voters, this fuzzy stinker seems to have kept most of them out of the fridge.