"Her Man Gilbey," originally titled "English Without Tears," is a British comedy, drama and wartime film made in 1944. No doubt, it was designed to help keep up the spirits of the Brits during World War II. The film debuted in London on July 28, and by that time hopes were much higher about an Allied victory and eventual end to the war. The D-Day landing at Normandy on June 6 had put the Germans on the run in France.
Michael Wilding is the star of this film as Tom Gilbey, and he carries the film. The time span is more than five years. Gilbey goes from being the butler in the large household of Lady Christabel Beauclerk and her family, to a major in the British Army. Penelope Dudley-Ward is Joan Heseltine, part of the family, who is in love with Gilbey. That is, before the war. A few other characters add some humor or charm.
Rutherford's Lady Beauclerk has a couple of very funny scenes, one in a talk before a League of Nations gathering in Paris - all about birds. The suspicions of delegates from some other countries provides a little humor. Lilli Palmer plays Brigid Knudsen, a multi-lingual interpreter who winds up in London privately tutoring foreigners in English. Lady Beauclerk does her patriotic duty and turns her mansion into a type of club and social center for the allied foreign officers. Joan is teaching large groups of men to speak and properly pronounce English. Peggy Cummins plays Bobbie Heseltine, her younger sister, who wants Joan and Tom to get together. Roland Culver is Sir Cosmo Brandon. Claude Dauphin is Francois and Albert Lieven is Felix.
The plot bounces around a bit, and all these characters had substantial parts. One has a feeling of being a little taxed at trying to keep track as the story packs quite a lot into a short film of 87 minutes. So, the comedy is rather sparse, the romance is sort of on the sandwich ends, and the wartime Homefront drama and comedy takes up the last two-thirds.
It's a fair film, mostly interesting for the fine cast, although it does give an authentic picture of one piece of the Homefront at that time in WW II London. With the title change for obvious connection to the highly successful Hollywood comedy of 1936, the best this film can be is a distant cousin to "My Man Godfrey."
Here's the best line in the film, while Gilbey was still working as a butler before the war. Tom Gilbey, "We can't alter human nature. Foreigners, after all, are foreigners."
