The Feminine Touch

Very charming early 40's romantic screwball comedy. Don Ameche is a psychology professor at Digby College, which he decides to leave after being asked to pass a dimwitted football player so Digby can win an upcoming game. Prof. Hathaway is now free to publish his book on his theories on marital jealousy. Only he doesn't expect to be smitten with his editor, Kay Francis and likewise his wife, Rosalind Russell with Kay Francis' partner, Van Heflin. It's not heavy on plot; rather, its forte is in its snappy dialog, especially from Russell and Francis.

Here is one thing I especially love about 40's/50's romantic comedies: the bachelor pads, such as Van Heflin's here! They're always large and usually have a sunken living room with lots of cool furniture. You go up three steps and behold! A grand piano! As if this weren't enough, Heflin's also got a log cabin retreat outside the city (NY). Other outstanding 1940's visuals: Kay Francis' outrageous hats. Francis looks even better here than in the 30's. She even reminded me somewhat of Sean Young in BLADE RUNNER. Other highlights include the make-up exam Prof. Hathaway gives to Rubber-Legs, the football player in question at the beginning, at the request of the dean. The questions are deliberately idiotic, but Rubber-Legs bows out with a headache! For more abuse of football players at the hands of professors I recommend Disney's THE MONKEY'S UNCLE (24 years later). Then there's the scene in the publisher's office where Ameche and Russell find claustrophobic Elliott Morgan (Heflin) locked in a closet by Nellie (Francis)! Funny seeing a bearded Heflin through the keyhole. There's also a lot of coffee preparing and drinking in this movie, and some kind of statement about beards. At the beginning the football players are wearing beards until they defeat their opponent. Later, Francis declares that Elliott is hiding behind a beard for security (??) We're also treated to some 1940's feminism spouted by Don Ameche and scoffed at by Francis, who says those are the women (overly independent) who are alone at night.

This is a sprightly comedy with sturdy comedic performances from all. Give it a look - you'll feel good when you do!

Don Ameche plays a very cerebral professor who avoids dealing with his wife (Rosalind Russell) by over-intellectualizing their relationship. While she does love him, his refusal to act like a human being irritates her to no end--especially when he never shows an ounce of jealousy, no matter what she does. Even when Rosalind spends time with her husband's publisher, the lecherous Van Heflin, Ameche refuses to act jealous and he takes his marriage for granted. At first, I found Russell's demands for jealousy to be petty, but after a while I wondered how any woman could live with the cold and annoying Ameche. Only later in the film when Ameche loosened up and showed his wife that he cared was everyone able to live happily ever after.

This is a little comedy from MGM that tries very hard to entertain and generally does, though at times the humor does seem a tad forced. However, despite this and the shallowness of the script, the actors are fun to watch and the film has a certain kooky charm that make it a nice, though not especially deep, time-passer. Worth a look, but that's really about all.

Rambling and over-long comedy about a married couple (Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche) who argue over the idea of jealousy in marriage. He's a college professor who has written a dull book without having a clue what real jealousy is; she's the little wifey who secretly pines for a caveman type. They get involved with an unmarried publisher and his editor (Van Heflin, Kay Francis) who throw a monkey wrench into the marriage. It seems he's too flighty and she wants his full attention. Everything comes to a head when Heflin runs off to his island in the Adirondacks, only to be followed by Russell and then by Ameche and Francis. There, the men duke it out and the gals get down to a cat fight. Of course this silliness settles everything and both couples end up happy.

Sometimes way too talky and at other times just plain silly, but it's all quite watchable thanks to the four stars. The slapstick fight between Ameche and Heflin is the low point. But there's a dream sequence a la Salvador Dali that is quite funny.

Others in the cast include Donald Meek, Sidney Blackmer, Cecil Cunningham, Grant Mitchell, Gordon Jones, Anne O'Neal, Bernard Nedell, Henry Daniell, Julie Gibson as the singer (no, it's not Peggy Lee), and Robert Ryan as an extra playing a cop.

Rosalind Russell and Kay Francis come off best ... no surprise.

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.

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.