O Pecado de Cluny Brown

I loved this movie. Charles Boyer is always such a smooth actor. Im a sucker for a French accent. It was simple movie with a simple plot. Jennifer Jones was cute in the movie but not the best acting I've seen her do. I really liked her character though. I've watched this movie about 15 times and I cant really explain why, except that it makes me feel good. This is the kind of movie you want to watch if its a rainy, cold day outside and you can curl up with a cup of cocoa. The cocoa will warm your insides and the movie Cluny Brown will warm your heart. I will always treasure this sweet simple romantic comedy. Keep in mind that this is a very old movie and the purpose was for entertainment back then, not detailed plot twists. I think that this movie is worth watching, but don't stop after the first 15 minutes, it does get better. Just watch it!!!Trust me!!

For years I had searched for this movie in the vain hope of ever finding it. Till last night I found it on Youtube. My sincere thanks to the person who uploaded it and gave me the chance at last to see this little treasure.

I'm curious to know how today's movie going audience brought up on a combination of action adventure and mindless idiocy would come to this movie. Its so far out of what's being made to today as to be from a totally different world. And yet I would like to think that people would love it for what it is, a charming piece of old world cinema.

It is possible that this movie could be made today. Though I'm not sure who would be able to play all the parts with the sincerity the cast do in the movie without going over the top. Especially I wonder who could play a character like Cluny with the charm and depth that Jennifer Jones brings to it.

Jennifer Jones's Cluny is one of the most captivating characters I've ever met on screen. So engaging, so charming, so innocent.

Jennifer Jones acting is sublime. I couldn't help but watch the different expressions on her face through each emotion she was going through. Good facial expression is always for a me a good sign that the actress is immersed fully in the part.

Charles Boyer's Adam Belinski must be the kind of man women dream about meeting but probably never will. Handsome, french accent, worldly wise, kind, gentle, understanding. He is of cause the perfect man for Cluny as against the boring Wilson played with great verve by Richard Haydn. I hated the character, lol. But I thought Haydn's performance quite brilliant too.

The rest of the cast do a fine job too. And the ending is perfect.

Cluny Brown (1946)

"It's never too late for a cat." And this is the essence of the movie, a supposed satire on British manners pre-WWII, but more likely just a bit of delightful nonsense. The star for me is the delectable Jennifer Jones who is more than just a pretty decoration-she gives her role as a uninhibitted working class woman a kind of Audrey Hepburn freshness. Before Audrey Hepburn.

Charles Boyer is no doubt the most esteemed star here, but he's his usual self with a bit of forced charm. Director Lubitsch makes the whole scene quite delicious, so it's the big view that makes the small pieces click. (And this is what he is famous for, setting the European scene with a subtle, sharp eye.) There is humor here (it's a comedy, yes) but there is a kind of elegand disdain that is something more than that.

And it's beautifully filmed, by young (great) cinematographer Joe LaShelle.

What holds it all back for me is the writing, which is a kind of forced comedy, creating situations that are "made" for comedy. An awkward confrontation, an improbable entry of one character into another character's world. There is whispering and disbelief and nonchalance all mixed together in a way that is, in fact, lighthearted, but isn't as funny or bright as you would want.

And so the movie zips on, quite fun and lighthearted but always (for me) missing some basic gut humor or even a more trenchant critique of its subject, the British upper class. I did, I have to admit, love the ending, which was perhaps inevitable, but which pulled of a clever telling of the future of the leading characters. Fun, well done! And Jones is sublime even when she's goofy.

The Lubitsch Touch is evident in this witty, intelligent film. Jennifer Jones shows a vivacity and humor she had never displayed before and would not again until her clever performance in "Beat The Devil". In one amazing scene where she cannot resist showing her wares as a Plumber (to the disdain of the other party guests) she gets to play a reaction to the debacle that is amazing in its combination of pathos and hilarity. Very interesting character actors including a very, very funny Una O'Connor (whose dialogue consists mainly of incessantly clearing her throat), the light as a feather and dead on playing of Margaret Bannerman, and also a chance to see Helen Walker. Charles Boyer plays with his customary light touch and is the anchor to this film, but finally it is Jennifer Jones' performance that takes one breath away and stays with you long after you've seen it.

Ernest Lubitsch used the charms and abilities of his leads Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones to get some maximum performances out of them and make his next to last film Cluny Brown a great success. I've not heard that Lubitsch had to contend with Jennifer's husband and Svengali David O. Selznick on the set, but it's a safe bet they clashed because Selznick could not help interjecting himself where his wife was concerned.

Jones is the daughter of English plumber Billy Bevan and the most interesting thing is that in this English setting her non-English speech pattern is perfectly acceptable even against Bevan's cockney accent. Jones was also perfectly acceptable in another English part in Love Letters and certainly got no criticism. The camera always loved Jennifer Jones and in parts like Cluny Brown as the girl next door she lit up the screen.

Boyer as often as not played a whole lot of European types not necessarily French. Here he's a Czech refugee over in the United Kingdom fleeing from Mr. Hitler. The film is set in Neville Chamberlain Great Britain and Boyer is one of many bringing unpleasant news to the British public.

After Bevan rescues Jones from Boyer and Reginald Gardiner Jones is placed as a maid at a country estate where she meets Boyer again. There should be some class barriers, but Boyer breaks them down and Jones is more than agreeable.

Lots of agreeable Lubitsch touches and a minimum of Selznick interference make Cluny Brown still a treat after over 60 years.