On Approval

Here is a look of one of England's foremost comediennes and entertainers, Beatrice Lillie. She was, for some unknown reason, shamefully neglected/ underutilized by Hollywood, and here she gives one of her fey, comedic performances for which she was celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic before and after the two world wars. She was primarily a stage actress and appeared in only seven movies.

In this one she is in a cast of four actors in a droll, upper class comedy of manners. Listen intently to the dialogue or you may miss a precious bon mot or a glossed-over aside. The script is delicious and keeps you waiting for the next hilarious remark at which Lady Peel had no peer. It was written and Directed by Clive Brook who also co-stars and gives himself too much to say and do, but you can't keep a good man (in this case, woman) down, and Bea Lillie emerges unscathed and triumphant. If you're a fan you must catch this one when you can.

This film of Frederick Lonsdale's play is one of my favorite movies of all time. Not because it breaks new artistic ground--it's simply as close to being perfectly cast and perfectly executed as one can imagine. It's Bea Lillie's most important work on film (and as far as I can tell, except for "Thoroughly Modern Millie", the only thing of hers available on home video....will someone PLEASE bring out "Doctor Rhythm"?), and it really does give us a sense of why she was so famous in her day. The amazing Clive Brook is her perfect foil, and Googie Withers is beautiful and utterly charming.

"On Approval" is full of small pleasures that, because of their perfection, are unforgettable. Who can forget Bea Lillie's perfect delivery of "You will find the dinghy by the jetty."? The bickering of Lillie and Brook ("Maria, I don't want to speak to you, but I must." "I don't want to speak to you and I won't!") .....Googie Withers refusing a proposal of marriage by asking the color of her eyes.....Bea Lillie doing vocal exercises at the piano....I could go on endlessly. It's exquisite fun.

The most English of all English comedies and something of a tour-de-force, particularly for Clive Brook who produced, directed and adapted Frederick Lonsdale's play as well as taking the lead as a penniless Duke in love with an American heiress. She's Googie Withers but she doesn't love him back. They end up as chaperons, he to Roland Culver and she to Beatrice Lillie, on a Scottish island where Lillie has brought Culver for a month 'on approval' to see if she likes him enough to marry him. All four are superb but Lillie, in one of her few major film roles, walks off with the movie as the obnoxious Maria, though in the acting stakes Brook does give her a run for her money. The film is seldom revived, however; could it be just too sophisticated for mass consumption?

in this 1944 film version of the Frederick Lonsdale play. Charming, caustic, biting, and very funny, On Approval centers on 4 people who end up together in a house in Scotland for a month to see if they are "suited" for marriage. Of course no one gets along, the servants leave instantly, and the weather is dreadful. Lillie made only a handful of films; what a pity. She's quite wonderful as the rich woman who disdains marriage. Clive Brook (best remembered for Cavalcade) is excellent as the Duke (son of a butcher's daughter) who assumes the airs of aristocracy without having money. Roland Culver and Googie Withers round out the bickering foursome. Surprisingly fresh and current. I'd seen the 1982 BBC play with Penelope Keith and remembered it fondly. This is different but equal. Lonsdale seemed at one time a copy of Wilde or even Coward. But he has a special way with words that makes for delightful dialogue. On Approval is worth looking for!

First of all, the pictorial quality of the print on this 1943 comedy is amazingly good; the diction of the actors speaking the King's English is also impeccable, and on that level alone this film is watchable--but much more for me; it's a wartime English film, obviously done on the cheap--but done very well and featuring top quality stage actors who delight in the clever quip and character-driven drollery.

A wee bit of story: a demanding woman decides to take her prospective hubby to an island retreat to see if they can properly relate before they marry--two friends tag along. Now largely forgotten actor Clive Brook (a lead in Dietrich's Shanghai Express) directed and stars as an effete snob who has lessons to learn, and the impeccably hilarious, viper-tongued Beatrice Lille, who made far too few movies, is showcased at her raised-eyebrow best. This is an old-fashioned drawing room comedy, adult in nature, literate in approach, and short, sweet and delightful.