उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

Just a quick observation: It is my impression that the reason TUF is such a neglected gem appears to be the unwillingness of audiences, both in 1941 and to this day, to accept Lubitsch's melding of his own European style with the then-popular American 'screwball comedy' genre. I don't think either the ordinary American audiences who liked their comedy broader, or the European audiences - along with intellectual sophisticates in the US - ever understood, and certainly never accepted, this hybrid.

I think that's a shame, because I like the film, and find it both witty and hilarious, and abundantly blessed with the sort of intelligence and polish which makes Lubitsch films a sheer delight.

Loved "That Uncertain Feeling" (1941)! Here, a superb, substantive, yet oft-times simultaneously silly, screenplay (adapted from the stage) meets first-rate actors. (The beautiful Merle Oberon is at her comedic best.) What makes this a must-see film is the palpable pathos swirling just beneath it all. In lesser hands (actors and writers all) this might've fallen into the snidely melodramatic or the mildly comedic.

By the by, who says the feeling man is dead? The reviews give credence to the fact that-- whether in their teens, twenties, or, like me, in their fifties-- men enjoy romantic comedies as much as women. I suspect that any polls showing otherwise are eschew for the very reason that too many films today use a "straw man," where the male lead isn't much more than duplicitous, a nitwit, a heel (or all three). In "That Uncertain Feeling," a certain maturity and balance rules the writers. Sure, men AND women's flaws come to the fore, but as (or more)importantly, both sexes' attributes are on show, too, to boot. If the writer creates, equally, humorously offensive male and female characters, then it actually mirrors the real world while not playing partisan sexual politics. Do that and movie theatres will be swarming with women AND men, maybe like in days of old...like those when I, too, was young.

Luke warm comedy of manners. The storyline's done with style, but needed verve gives way to too much talk. The results are more sophistication than set-ups, more occasional chuckles than laughs.

Larry (Douglas) is a married insurance executive. Trouble is he's neglecting wife Jill (Oberon) who's having hiccup bouts, probably because his main communication is poking her playfully in the stomach. So she takes up with squirrelly Sebastian (Meredith) who's an egotistical man of the arts. Now Larry's unhappy with the results, but what's he to do.

Oberon and Douglas both low-key their parts. Add that to a talky script and we get some good lines and situations, but mild results overall. Looks like Meredith's sour artiste was intended to supply needed verve. However, his character is too obnoxious to generate much comedy. Too bad, as other reviewers point out, that Eve Arden's comedic potential goes untapped. Some caustic exchanges between her and Meredith would have livened things up. However, two comedic set-ups do stand out: the office scene where divorce plans keep misfiring, plus the climax where Larry pretends to have a girl in his bedroom to make Jill jealous. In fact, that last scene has the vivacious earmarks of a better total comedy than what we have otherwise.

Anyway, it's New York sophistication done Lubitsch style, even if second rank.

It has some clever dialogue, but the plot you can see coming at you from a mile away, as it is a take on "the grass is greener". Plus there is only one really likable main character - Melvyn Douglas as Larry Baker.

After six years of marriage socialite Jill Baker is feeling quite bored. She is convinced by her equally bored Park Avenue socialite friends that she must simply go see Dr. Venguard, a psychoanalyst. Between Dr. Venguard, Jill's friends, and a complete narcissist she meets in Venguard's waiting room - Burgess Meredith as Sebastian, a pianist, she becomes convinced her marriage is on the rocks. This is all news to Larry who, although he does seem to eat and sleep the insurance business, is trying to build a better life for himself and his wife.

Before Larry knows what has happened, he is out and Jill wants to divorce him and marry the extremely tiresome Sebastian, whom she is convinced is a genius. He tells her so every day! Eve Arden as a legal secretary steals the show when she is asked about what is going on and her opinion. She says she sees it every day. Women taken care of in high style with no worries and nothing to think about but how unhappy they think that they are.

I wish I could make this review more inspiring, but the film itself is pleasant but uninspiring. No new ground is covered here, and the parts of it are greater than the whole. I can give kudos to Melvyn Douglas as the husband who thinks he is more clever at getting his wife back than he is, and to Burgess Meredith as somebody who thinks a great deal of himself as a musical genius but seems to have no visible means of support. Merle Oberon is lovely here and seems to have "that uncertain feeling" every step of the way. Events more than her own will seem to be propelling her forward in every instance.

A few great memorable lines, what could be heavy melodrama turned into a very light romantic comedy Lubitsch style, and probably worth your time if you run across it, but nothing to deliberately seek out.

Merle Oberon and Melvyn Douglas deal with "That Uncertain Feeling," a 1941 Ernst Lubitsch film based on a Sardou play. It's actually a remake of a silent Lubitsch, "Kiss Me Again." The film also stars Burgess Meredith and Eve Arden.

Jill Baker (Oberon) is married to a successful businessman, Larry Baker (Douglas), but after six years, the bloom is off the rose. She goes to a psychiatrist, where, in the waiting room, she meets an opinionated pianist, Alexander Sebastian (Meredith), who introduces her to the world of art and music. She becomes fascinated with the world of culture and with him. Before you know it, Oberon and Douglas are divorcing, and Oberon and Meredith become engaged.

The best scene occurs in the divorce attorney's office, when the secretary, Sally (Eve Arden) is asked to take a letter. In reality, she's supposed to witness Larry slapping Jill to help them get their divorce.

There are some nice things in this film, including the bright performances of the leads, particularly the beautiful Oberon, whose presence shone in many a film.

All in all, a disappointing Lubitsch, but Oberon's charm is quite special and always worth seeing.

Suffering from hiccups and insomnia, beautiful Manhattan socialite Merle Oberon (as Jill) feels neglected by successful insurance peddling husband Melvyn Douglas (as Larry Baker). While seeing psychoanalyst Alan Mowbray (as Vengard), Ms. Oberon meets fellow patient Burgess Meredith (as Alexander Sebastian), a troubled pianist. As Oberon and Mr. Meredith grow closer, Mr. Douglas tries "reverse psychology" to win back his wife. Meanwhile, secretary Eve Arden (as Sally Aikens) may move in on Douglas.

This lesser Ernst Lubitsch offering was a re-make of the director's silent "Kiss Me Again" (1925), which made the critically polled "Film Daily" and "Motion Picture" magazine's annual year's best lists. Unfortunately, the original is presently a "lost" film. "That Uncertain Feeling" was a letdown after "Ninotchka" (1939) and "The Shop Around the Corner" (1940). But, it's definitely not awful. Douglas is in good form, particularly during the last act. Oberon wears some sexy outfits, especially during the early running.

****** That Uncertain Feeling (4/17/41) Ernst Lubitsch ~ Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Eve Arden

Enjoyed this Classic Comedy with outstanding veteran actors who must have had fun making this film way back in the 1940's. Merle Oberon,(Mrs. Jill Baker),"A Song To Remember",'45, had problems with her hiccups whenever she got upset about things in her life and also the fact that her husband use to poke (keek) her in the stomach, which greatly annoyed her. Jill took these problems to her physician, Alan Mowbray,(Dr. Vengard)," I Wake Up Screaming",'41, who finally found out a solution for her problems. Jill Baker also runs into a crazy pianist and artist, Burgess Meredith (Alexander Sebastian),"Rocky V",'90, who seems to stop her problems with hiccups. However, Jill's husband, Melvyn Douglas (Larry Baker),"Hud",'63, begins to become curious about her relationship with this artist, pianist and all crazy and wild sorts of situations start happening through out the picture. This is definitely a Classic comedy film and if you love to see Merle Oberon act in an entirely different role, this is a good film to view and especially if you are a fan of Modern Art.

There's a lot of talent here: Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Ernst Lubitsch. Where the talent was lacking was in the script. It just isn't very clever. Everyone tries their best - it was a potentially great role for Meredith - but they can only do so much with a dull script. So, while there are occasional funny moments here, the movie as a whole is pretty much a dud.

More's the shame, since, as I said, there was so much talent here.

Compared to other Ernst Lubitsch comedies, energetic romps and or robustly funny, 'That uncertain feeling' takes a bit of time to begin to reach its greatest potential. The adapted screenplay is filled with great cleverness, and the cast ably leans into their roles, yet the sense of humor feels marginally imbalanced - at times restrained as though the picture were built with the strict guidance of studio overseers instead of Lubitsch's own heart, and at other points a bit overly silly. For any perceived variations, though, there's a sharp intelligence here that more than not makes up for the lesser moments. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who doesn't find this entirely to their liking, but it's a great time and worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

Lubitsch is to be commended for so deftly orchestrating each scene, and getting the most out of the assembled actors. For indeed, as much as I've come to admire Lubitsch, I feel like it's the capable comedic sensibilities of Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, and Burgess Meredith, and their co-stars, that do the most to cement the picture's worth. Each bear strong personality and nuance in their comportment and delivery, and explore their roles with wonderful spirit and utmost gaiety. Moreover, I've never seen Meredith so young as he is here, and he demonstrates a range I wasn't aware he had. I'm rather unfamiliar with Oberon, but she somewhat steals the show with superb physicality and liveliness. It's a joy to watch her especially, but certainly all others on hand, and I immediately want to watch more films from all involved.

And, importantly - while Lubitsch again demonstrates his abilities, and the players exhibit their great skills, 'That uncertain feeling' would be nothing if not for the fine screenplay conjured between Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden Stewart. Again, the end result is a little uneven throughout its length - sometimes kind of dragging, sometimes a little excessive. But by and large the movie is excellent, and tremendously funny in its absurdities and situational comedy. The film provides hearty laughs throughout (if inconsistently), and is roundly entertaining. And that's much to the credit of witty dialogue, vibrant and dynamic scene writing, diverse characterizations, and a lean but engaging narrative. Truly, this is a blast.

It's worth noting that in addition to fluctuations in the fullness of the humor, there are decidedly antiquated values on display that amount to indelicacies. For all the agency and independence that Jill Baker (Oberon) carries in her person, when all is said and done in some measure she's written with the same poor consideration of women that's all too typical of early cinema especially; for all the coldness and indifference that defines Larry Baker (Douglas), he is almost made out to be a upstanding and virtuous next to the stereotypical flitting whims of Jill. All of this is to say - to an extent 'That uncertain feeling' reinforces unseemly notions about gender dynamics that were old-fashioned from the moment they were devised, and which other features even preceding this one bested. It's not enough to wholly break our engagement, from the film, but it's an unfortunate footnote all the same.

Still - once more, to emphasize: though a smidgen imperfect, the value here well outweighs the disadvantages. Ernst Lubitsch was a brilliant director, the writers were smart and cunning, and the cast was exceptional in their performances. Though the issues are to be acknowledged, it's quite easy to wave them off thereafter and happily indulge in all the fun that the title has to offer. Clocking in at less than 90 minutes, 'That uncertain feeling' is a fine way to relax and enjoy oneself.

A lesser Lubitsch film that takes a while to get going but is quite a laugh once it finds it's feet. The gorgeous Merle Oberon is the spoiled wife who is convinced by her psychoanalyst - and moody pianist/lover Burgess Meredith - that her marriage to insurance executive Melvyn Douglas has run its course. Meredith is a curious piece of casting, but Oberon and Douglas hit it off.

It does not give me pleasure in rating an Ernst Lubitsch film relatively low or giving a somewhat mixed to indifferent review on it. Actually love Lubitsch, who had a very distinctive style coined "the Lubitsch touch" (very much like Alfred Hitchcock being called often "The Master of Suspense" for good reason), and he made some great films. Not just the likes of 'Trouble in Paradise', but also his early films in German are well worth checking out.

'That Uncertain Feeling' is certainly watchable for namely the production values and the cast, but it was hard to be not disappointed. One shouldn't expect every film of his to be 'Trouble in Paradise' or 'The Shop Around the Corner', but other films of Lubitsch had much smarter storytelling, more likeable characters and far wittier scripting. As sadly 'That Uncertain Feeling' is a near-failure on those departments in my view, and again this is not being said with pleasure but actually deep regret.

Cannot fault the production values, which are very elegant all round. Lubitsch's direction does have clever moments and where his signature style shines, even though there were so many directors at the time that did romantic comedies at the time. 'That Uncertain Feeling' starts off very well, very witty and sophisticated as one kind of expects from a film directed by Lubitsch.

All three leads do good jobs in their problematic roles. While Oberon beguiles and Meredith bringing much zany zest, the most consistent performance came from debonair and not over-compensating Douglas.

However, the story for 'That Uncertain Feeling' is very slight structurally, is just as slight in execution and feels bland when it comes to the substance (not there). The slighter and sillier the story got, the script also runs out of steam just as badly and the wit and sophistication are replaced beggaring belief over-silliness and a trying too hard feel.

Didn't ever care enough for any of the characters, for all of Meredith's efforts the character himself in writing does irritate greatly. None of the supporting cast really stand out, even the usually sparkling Eeve Arden here with practically nothing to do. Lubitsch's direction generally can be flabby and doesn't seem engaged enough, the early portions feel like Lubitsch but the rest is like watching a different and far sillier and more contrived and inferior film.

Summarising, not bad but a long way from being one of the Lubitsch essentials. 5/10

In "That Uncertain Feeling", good performances by the three lead actors give some life to a rather simplistic story. It is a mildly amusing movie, but there isn't enough to the plot or the script to make it any more than that.

Melvyn Douglas and Merle Oberon play a married couple who seem to be reasonably content, but a chance meeting between the wife and an eccentric pianist (Burgess Meredith) suddenly threatens their whole marriage. Rather than choosing direct confrontation, the husband tries to use psychology to turn the situation in his favor, leading to some comic situations that only partially come off.

The three leads are all pretty good, especially Meredith, who has the liveliest role. And Ernst Lubitsch directs with his usual dapper style. But there isn't really much of a story, and the behavior of the characters, while generally humorous, is too often completely implausible. So the movie is really never more than mildly entertaining.

This will probably only be of particular interest to those who are fans of the director or one of the stars.

That Uncertain Feeling is a romantic and ironic comedy in the good style of the time and of Ernst Lubitsch. It features a regular actor of the genre, Melvyn Douglas, and a beautiful Indo-British actress, Merle Oberon, usually more associated with historical and dramatic roles, but who fits the role perfectly, with her exotic charm.

It's not Lubitsch's best work, not by a long shot, but it's also, therefore, a fun and ironic film, that's well worth seeing, especially for fans of the genre.

It was a light pause between two of Lubitsch's masterpieces, The shop around the corner, from 1940, which preceded it, and To be or not to be, from 1942, which followed it.

A pretty mediocre Ernst Lubitsch comedy. It's enjoyable as a modest diversion but you can see why no one ever mentions this along with the better known Lubitsch films.

This does have that naughty Lubitsch touch, most obviously in the plot thread that finds bored wife Merle Oberon getting it on with grumpy misanthrope Burgess Meredith behind her husband's back. The rest is a tired storyline about Oberon and her husband (Melvyn Douglas) trying to figure out how to engineer an amicable divorce until Oberon learns her lesson, which is that she should just stay with her husband. All of the actors are charming, but none of this ever evokes more than a modest chuckle here and there.

"That Uncertain Feeling" received an Oscar nomination for Best Dramatic Score in 1941, but then again there were 20(!) nominees that year, so who didn't?

Grade: B-

Lubitsch, after the critically positive but less than stellar financial receptions of his previous few films, moved into independent production along with business partner Sol Lesser to film a remake of one of Lubitsch's earlier films (Kiss Me Again, which is lost). Having been a producer on most of his own films for more than a decade, it's not like Lubitsch was entering completely uncharted territory when he did this, but he was operating without the established resources of a major studio like MGM or Paramount. So, when That Uncertain Feeling failed to light the box office on fire he couldn't continue his own production company. I suppose it's not the greatest surprise. While his fellow filmmakers loved him, Lubitsch never seemed to be a big box office draw on his own, and this small misfire of a film wasn't the kind of thing he needed to make in order to launch an independent filmmaking career.

Jill Baker (Merle Oberon) is a happily married woman. So happy, in fact, that her friends tell her that she needs to see psychiatrist about it because it's just not natural. Naturally, he tells her that she's wrong, and she begins to find little things wrong with her husband Larry (Melvyn Douglas) that begin to irk her. One day, while waiting to meet with her psychologist, she encounters Alexander Sebastian (Burgess Meredith) in the waiting room. He's a man who hates everyone and says "phooey" to a painting of a tree. She's fascinated by this man, and when he takes her to an art gallery where hangs a post-modern, surrealist portrait of him, she's hooked. She invites him to a large dinner party Larry is throwing for some Hungarian potential clients, introducing him to Larry for the first time.

I'm not entirely sure why I don't connect with this film, but I find it interesting that it's a similar situation as Lubitsch's earlier films like Angel: a bored middle class wife decides to have an affair. It's just in this instance, it's kicked off by a trip to a psychiatrist rather than boredom. I suppose where I get lost is in the mechanical machinations of the plot. The point is that Larry wants to keep Jill as his wife, and so he decides to give into the affair, assumedly because he believes Jill will come running back to him the second the reality of the whole thing hits her. It's one of those fake character decisions made to make a movie work, and the whole movie hangs on it. The film ends up an ever-increasingly unbelievable series of decisions by Larry carrying him all the way through a divorce in the hope that Jill will learn to appreciate him more.

Like many Lubitsch films, though, the point of the film isn't the overall plot but the search for comedy within individual sequences, and that's where the movie is at its best. The dinner scene with the Hungarian clients is amusing as Alexander takes over because he knows more of their language than the single word toast Larry teaches Jill. The scene where Larry and Jill have to manufacture evidence for a successful divorce suit is the exact right kind of mixture of comedy and pathos that marks Lubitsch's best work since they decide on a slap from Larry to Jill but Larry has to get himself drunk to do it, creating enough time for the secretary meant to witness the scene to slip out from discomfort. It's unfortunate that the scene is captured in a movie of such mechanical unbelievability, though.

The resolution of the film hinges on the same kind of straining of credulity, using circumstance to get our characters into a situation where a happy resolution can come about. The actual scene that comes about is nice, leading the kind of ending that Lubitsch was trying to get to in One Hour With You except that while the narrative moves of That Uncertain Feeling are mechanical and largely unbelievable, they are populated by characters performing actions that do actually support the eventual conclusion of reconciliation.

Supported by nice performances from the main trio, especially Meredith who seems to be having a blast playing a curmudgeon, this movie's issues are all at the script level. While the comedy is largely there, the actual plotting just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's unfortunate because there was something there that could have been the best telling of this story that Lubitsch had returned to several times before.

It's always kind of weird to find this sort of odd film out from a filmography, especially in the smack dab middle of much greater films, but Lubitsch was a man. He could miscalculate and make lesser work, especially in an era when filmmakers didn't take 2-3 years to develop projects all the time. This could have been a much better film with a longer writing schedule from Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden Stewart. As it stands, it's an intermittently entertaining film that simply doesn't come together like it should.

That Uncertain Feeling is a very odd romantic comedy. In the years of Third Finger, Left Hand and Hired Wife, this one really doesn't measure up. Merle Oberon plays a married woman whose most serious problem is a case of hiccups when she's nervous - poor thing! She ends up going to therapy for it; again, I feel sorry she has so much excess time and money to waste. Instead of curing her hiccups, Dr. Alan Mowbray gets her to think critically about her marriage to Melvyn Douglas. And while in therapy, she meets another of Mowbray's patients, eccentric musician Burgess Meredith. Merle becomes so attracted to him, she decides she wants a divorce.

No offense to Burgess, but he's not the sexiest guy on the planet, and he never plays characters who are supposed to be. So why was he cast in this "irresistible" role? Melvyn's character is also very strange, refusing to fight for his wife and letting her board the crazy train and ride it all the way to end of the line. Unless you love really quirky movies that don't make any sense, I wouldn't recommend this one.

A tale of the seven year itch, except the marriage has only lasted six years, and it's the wife (Merle Oberon) instead of the husband (Melvyn Douglas) who is starting to get bored. In a word, this one is dreadfully dull, and that despite legendary director Ernst Lubitsch and the radiant Oberon. It doesn't work as a romance - Douglas and Merle Oberon have no chemistry, and the pianist she takes up with (Burgess Meredith, the only one who breathes life into his part) is abrasive and unlikeable. It doesn't work as a comedy - the script is flat and unfunny, and I honestly can't think of a single moment of real cleverness. As for the Lubitsch touch, there are no signs of lightness or any kind of crackle here, just blandness and everyone involved just going through the motions. I'm the first to despise the Production Code, but I don't think we can assign the blame to it - the film the very next year from Lubitsch, 'To Be or Not to Be' was fantastic, as was 'Ninotchka' from 1939. Regardless, this is one to skip.

That Uncertain Feeling is a less popular but nevertheless very interesting Ernst Lubitsch film. Like so many of his other works (e.g. The Love Parade, One Hour With You, The Smiling Lieutenant) it shows an unhappily married couple's path back to a healthy relationship. Since one can guess the outcome right from the start, the movie is not engaging because one would speculate the outcome throughout the runtime but rather because Lubitsch makes the most boring plot engaging and interesting - and he manages to do it over and over again with the same plot. That is the reason why "The Lubitsch Touch" is now common vocabulary among film scholars. That Uncertain Feeling certainly doesn't lack those nice moments, either, see for instance (spoilers) Lubitsches delightful buildup to the "keeks" moment. This movie is no lesser Lubitsch film, in fact I believe it is one of his better works. Most of the negative ratings of this film will probably be down to relatively poor production quality.

A mild romantic comedy that's atypical of Lubitsch. Merle Oberon looks gorgeous. Her clothes are sensational. Melvyn Douglas is not credible as her crass insurance-executive husband. This is the man who taught Garbo to laugh in the same director's "Ninotcha" and was generally suave and somewhat iconoclastic. As the movie proceeds, he settles into a trick-playing husband not quite consistent with the man who've first met.

Burgess Meredith is sort of wasted as the annoying pianist Oberon meets in a psychiatrist's waiting room. (Alan Mowbry is hilariously dry as the analyst. And in some ways, this is a comment on psychoanalysis.) The Meredith character is the most interest. It is a very convincing study in absolute narcissism. He may be accomplished, indeed; but whether he is or not, he is his own greatest fan and protector.

There are swipes at modern art as well as those at analysis. In some ways, it's a little retrograde.

But it's beautifully shot and the design is fabulous. This is the New York City we'd all love to live in. And Oberon looks ravishing. Her performance is convincingly comic, too, though she is so match for Eve Arden in an all too small role.