Mon séducteur de père

Well written, intelligent and elegant: Oscar Wilde in the sixties in San Francisco. It's a pleasure to see all the fine actors play out the nuances of their lines. Especially Lilly Palmer, who is absolutely wonderful and attractive.

The entire cast of this film is sparkling. And although its small compared to most feature films, most of the cast give performances worthy of nominations for awards. Indeed, Fred Astaire was nominated as best actor for a Golden Globe by the Hollywood foreign press association. Astaire's performance surely is one of his very best, outside the musical genre that dominated his first three decades.

But "The Pleasure of His Company" includes sterling performances by Lili Palmer, and Gary Merrill, and Tab Hunter, and Debbie Reynolds, and Harold Fong. If Charles Ruggles's Mackenzie Savage had had just a little more screen time - or at least a few more lines of dialog, his performance would also be worthy of a nomination.

One can see after a few minutes into the film that it comes from a stage play. And that's okay. The fact of very few scene changes allows playwrights and screen writers to put more substance into their characters, especially with dialog. This is a comedy and a family film - of sorts. It centers around Astaire's romantic gadabout character with a diabolical scheme or two up his sleeve.

Astaire's Biddeford 'Pogo' Poole hasn't seen daughter Jessica (played by Reynolds) since she was a little girl of 5 or 6. Yet, now she is getting married. Her mother, Katherine Dougherty (Palmer) and step-father, James Dougherty (Merrill) have sent telegrams around the world trying to find Poole to invite him and have him give his daughter away. The tab is more than $540 for wires to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. Yet, Poole hasn't answered or acknowledged a one.

Now, with the wedding but a few days off, Pogo shows up at the Dougherty house overlooking San Francisco Bay. And, he turns the household upside down. He's not a crude or flamboyant character, but the master charmer of all time. In the midst of all this, the one person he can't fool is Katherine, his first wife. He has had two more since her. But they all get left behind and play a distant second fiddle to his wanderlust. Part of his charm - as he now plies Jessica with thoughts of adventure before marrying her fiancé, Roger Henderson (Hunter), is the allure he puts on exotic locales and the excitement of seeing the world. And Jessica is very gullible, having kept a scrapbook with clippings of her father's escapades and adventures. Yet, she's also in love with Roger.

Ruggles plays Mackenzie Savage, father of Katherine and Jessica's grandpa. He lives elsewhere in California and had planned to stay at his club because the atmosphere is more exciting there than the quiet and mundane evenings with James and Katharine. But, since Pogo's arrival, Savage has decided that it will be more exciting after all to stay with the family. And, he is quick to point out that he has never called Poole "Pogo," but has always called him by his given name, "Biddeford." Indeed, he does so throughout the film.

The one thing that's never clear is Pogo Poole's source of money. He couldn't be traveling the world, going on safaris, scaling peaks, and cruising for months at a time without some source of income. He doesn't work and has no permanent home anywhere, apparently. So, he must be an heir with money that allows him to lead a life of constant adventure and pleasure. In spite of his charm, one doesn't quite trust him -- or take to him personally, because the life he lives is completely selfish. So, the concern that develops once he shows up is what everyone's relationship will be when he leaves - and with whom.

Katherine is worried he may lure Jessica away. James is lured that he may lure Katherine away. Roger is worried that he may botch their wedding. Mackenzie is watching with interest. And Toy laughs at Pogo's jokes that he tells in Chinese.

The exchanges between the characters at times is brittle with intrigue. This is a fantastic film of sophisticated comedy and family drama. Here are some favorite lines.

Katharine Dougherty, to their Chinese cook and all around house man, "Toy, he was my FIRST husband, not my Number One husband."

Pogo, "If I was your age and not her father, I'd make you fight me for her, boy." Roger, "I wish I could." Pogo, "Hmmm?"

Pogo Poole, "I am not suggesting I be your guide on your honeymoon."

Jessica Poole, "But what about Roger?" Pogo, "Send him a postcard." Jessica, "Father, we're getting married Saturday." Pogo, "You can always get married." Jessica, "But, what would I say to him?" Pogo, "Good-bye." Jessica, "Father!"

Jessica, "And then you deliberately gave him the wildest horse on the ranch." Roger, "I didn't deliberately. He's not the wildest horse on the ranch. I can ride hm. Every one of my hands can ride him. The Chinese cook can ride him."

Jessica, "And that wild steer, mother. He egged him on. He dared father to ride him." Roger, "He insisted on riding him. Why would I dare a man to ride a wild steer? I'm not out of my mind. He might have been killed." Katherine, "Oh, yesss!"" Pogo, "Nonsense. I just didn't get settled on him, that's all. I'd like to try that again some time, Roger." Katherine, "Tomorrow?"

Roger Henderson, "Mr. Savage, you know her well. She will come out of this won't she?" MacKenzie Savage, "Uh, not unchanged. She'll never be the same." Roger, "Why?" Savage, "And the serpent said unto Eve, enjoy yourself - and she was never the same. It's not accurate but it's apt."

Savage, "I don't mean to be clinical, but you're limping on the wrong leg." Pogo, "Heh, heh, you caught me unawares."

Pogo, "It's a far, far better thing I do." Savage, "Heh, heh, you really are a scoundrel, Biddeford."

This is what used to be called a "drawing room comedy" Yes, everything feels like a period piece and, of course, it is. Fred Astaire plays a sort of playboy who hasn't seen his daughter, Debbie Reynolds, in 15 years. He arrives in time for her wedding to Tab Hunter and , it appears, to seduce her away from her plans. Hmm. The biggest surprise and it shouldn't have been. Is Lilli Palmer as Fred Astaire's ex wife and Debbie's mother. She is sensational. Elegant and funny. I remembered I saw her as the Mother Superior in "Conspiracy Of Hearts" and I always remembered her as the one who killed Sophia Loren in "Operation Crossbow" Here she lifts the proceedings from the moment she appears and that in itself it makes it a must.

This production had its origins in a successful stage play in which, if memory serves, Cyril Ritchard played the role of "Pogo" Poole on Broadway. I saw this on Hollywood Blvd. at the then Paramount Theater, across the street from the world-famed Grauman's Chinese. I'd looked forward to its release, which had been delayed by a several-week shutdown during shooting, due to a Hollywood union dispute (I think it involved the Writers Guild, though I may be wrong.), because I was then, and always will be, a devoted fan of Miss Lilli Palmer, Germany's gift to the cinema.

The finished product betrayed its stage origins but was luxuriously produced and nicely enacted by a thoroughly professional cast. I'll always remember that scene when devoted daughter, Jessica, played by Debbie Reynolds, tearfully confesses that she's willing to postpone her planned and very lavish wedding in order to accompany her long-lost and suddenly returned father, "Pogo," on one last globetrotting trip before his imminent demise of "old age." Fred Astaire's horrified reaction to this declaration of daughterly affection was something to behold.

The Technicolor cinematography by the gifted Robert Burks (one of Hitchcock's favorites) is one of this film's best assets. (Too bad Paramount was getting too cheap to use its 70mm VistaVision process on this one, since San Francisco provided some lovely backgrounds.) And, as always, Alfred Newman underscored the proceedings quite elegantly. The title song, a nice one, was sung by Vic Damone over the opening credits, if I'm not mistaken, which were static shots of San Francisco and environs. I remember wishing that moving images of the same vistas had been used instead.

American Movie Classics channel has just started showing this 1961 flick, and I can't speak too highly of it. A charming domestic comedy with some real dramatic tension, the film boasts a superb cast with the venerable Fred Astaire (yes, of course he dances...), the elegantly funny Lilli Palmer, and a befuddled Gary Merrill. Charley Ruggles as grampa positively steals the show as a sort of geriatrically comic Greek chorus; his brief rejoinders and observations always perfectly set off a scene. The production values, as well, are sumptuous; today's movies don't look as good as this 40-year-old number (the Technicolor process has it all over contemporary processes). Sparkling dialogue and wonderful acting make this story of a playboy father's disruptive effects on his daughter's impending wedding a delightful must-see. I just can't figure it out; how can a movie with no swear words, no violence, no nudity, and not a single sex scene be so captivating???