The Feminine Touch

I am second to none in my admiration for Roz Russell, but she was clearly second choice for this role. The wife is supposed to slay men at first sight and make them behave like idiots. Sorry, but that's not Roz. It seems tailor made for Hedy Lamarr, who would have been at the height of her beauty in 1941. Even the Adrian wardrobe looks designed with Lamarr in mind. Someone above mentioned Lana Turner, but she would have been too young at this time. Also, Roz plays it like a half-wit, something Lamarr wouldn't have to resort to, as a war-bride who had trouble with American idioms and customs. Ameche, Heflin and Francis are terrific as usual, as is the rest of the supporting cast. And I loved the production design, van Heflin's couch and lamps in his NY apartment are particularly terrifying, as is Kay Francis's "beaver-mouse ears" hat. And I LOVE that Dali-esquire dream sequence. Someone ought to do a compilation of the Dali-inspired dream sequences from the period. There were lots.

I agree with "Aeovox" below that this is an unusual film, and also an unsatisfactory one. I was drawn to it by the presence of Don Ameche and Rosalind Russell in the cast. I thought the whole premise of the film - the Dionysian wife's unhappiness with her Appolonian husband's refusal to recognize the emotional legitimacy of jealousy, and her subsequent attempts to make him jealous - was a bit tenuous, and it is executed in a rather - to me at least - incoherent way. The movie is far too talky, although that talk often is quite witty (and just as often seems implausible and pointless), and goes on far too long. The slapstick bits are weak. On the whole, despite the good efforts of Ameche and Russell, I found this a disappointment.

If you like quick, witty banter of the silver screen, or if you like Rosalind Russell in her fast-talking screwball comedies, you've got to rent the cute flic The Feminine Touch. I couldn't stop laughing, and I don't even like screwball comedies! The good news (for me) is that it's very light on the screwball. It's a pretty intelligent script that focuses on whether or not jealousy is good (or even necessary) for a marriage.

Don Ameche is a stuffy professor with a knockout wife (Roz - if you don't think she's pretty, just cut her a little slack) that most of his students have crushes on. But he never gets jealous; he doesn't believe in it. In fact, he's written an entire tome on the subject. Roz is a little more hot-blooded than he, and she would love for him to punch out one of her admirers to show he still loves her. When Don's manuscript is finally noticed by a big-time publisher, the lovely assistant (Kay Francis) gives Roz something to be jealous of! While Don and Kay are in constant conference about his book, Kay's boss and boyfriend who refuses to settle down (Van Heflin) continually makes the moves on Roz.

This movie is so funny, it's hard to point to just one favorite scene. I love when Don gets pressured by the dean of the college to give a football star a make-up exam. He assures him the test is easy to pass, because he "gave it to the janitor's eight-year-old son and he passed with flying colors". The test: given a wooden block and a piece of candy, which would you rather eat? I love seeing Van in the different role of the immature philanderer, always making up different phobias for attention. Don's comic timing is fantastic (not surprising, given his background on the radio), and there's no reason why he didn't take over as the head of all screwball comedies, instead of Melvyn Douglas or Cary Grant. Roz is hilarious as always, and she has physical and verbal comedy to show us her larger-than-life persona. Poor Kay is relegated to the "unwanted" one, but she keeps up with the other three in their pace and energy. For a hilarious evening after a hard week, rent this classic.

Charming goof-ball comedy played by experts. Roz, looking great, is sassy and fun one of the greatest at the slow burn ever. She comes across as a bit addle-pated at times but she also has an enormous amount of patience with her husband, a good but not very sensitive man.

This was Kay Francis' last part in an A level film and a shame since she is both humorous and chic. Her slide into low grade junk and obscurity within a few years of this is an example of the way Hollywood wastes talented performers once they are no longer as big at the box office. Since this is an MGM film and she made a good showing in the picture it's surprising they didn't take her on. Her brand of sophistication seems right up their alley and even if no longer a leading lady she could have done well in support.

Ameche's character as I said is a rather clueless blow-hard but his natural charm makes him less irksome than he would normally be. Heflin, fresh off his Oscar for Johnny Eager, is well cast as a would be gigolo who thinks he is more suave and irresistible than he in fact is.

Overall a bit dated in it's attitudes, unsurprisingly, but the four stars make it worth watching.

This film was made in the days when dialogue was king, and this dialogue requires the viewer to pay attention. There are elements of Rosalind Russel's performance in "His Girl Friday" with stinging repartee delivered subtly by the four stars. Good acting is required here too, because much is conveyed through the actors eyes. Scenes with Russell, Francis, Heflin, and Ameche all on screen at once are a real treat, and no one upstages anyone else. I would guess they had fun making this funny picture, which is underrated by many people who do not follow the actors' exchanges.

Look too, for Robert Ryan who is uncredited in his early pre-war days, and an uncredited song by a barely 21 year-old Peggy Lee, who had just joined Benny Goodman's Band; and oh, my, you can hear her rich, cool, perfect pitch starting to come alive.