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Qu'est-ce que maman comprend à l'amour!

Original title: The Reluctant Debutante
  • 1958
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
2K
YOUR RATING
Qu'est-ce que maman comprend à l'amour! (1958)
A teenage American girl while visiting her father, is thrown into London society during the "Debutante Season".
Play trailer2:24
1 Video
99 Photos
ComedyRomance

While visiting her father, an American teenage girl is thrown into London society during its "Debutante Season."While visiting her father, an American teenage girl is thrown into London society during its "Debutante Season."While visiting her father, an American teenage girl is thrown into London society during its "Debutante Season."

  • Director
    • Vincente Minnelli
  • Writers
    • William Douglas-Home
    • Julius J. Epstein
  • Stars
    • Rex Harrison
    • Kay Kendall
    • John Saxon
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Vincente Minnelli
    • Writers
      • William Douglas-Home
      • Julius J. Epstein
    • Stars
      • Rex Harrison
      • Kay Kendall
      • John Saxon
    • 39User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:24
    Official Trailer

    Photos99

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    + 94
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    Top cast18

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    Rex Harrison
    Rex Harrison
    • Jimmy Broadbent
    Kay Kendall
    Kay Kendall
    • Sheila Broadbent
    John Saxon
    John Saxon
    • David Parkson
    Sandra Dee
    Sandra Dee
    • Jane Broadbent
    Angela Lansbury
    Angela Lansbury
    • Mabel Claremont
    Peter Myers
    Peter Myers
    • David Fenner
    Diane Clare
    Diane Clare
    • Clarissa Claremont
    René Aranda
    • Quaglino Diner
    • (uncredited)
    Georges Billy
    • Quaglino Diner
    • (uncredited)
    Jean-Paul Blonday
    • Quaglino Diner
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Cullum
    • English Colonel
    • (uncredited)
    Henri Guégan
    • Man at the Airport
    • (uncredited)
    Carl Jablonski
    • Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Roger LaVern
    • Soldier on Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Ambrosine Phillpotts
    Ambrosine Phillpotts
    • Miss Grey
    • (uncredited)
    Sheila Raynor
    Sheila Raynor
    • Broadbents' Maid
    • (uncredited)
    Michel Thomas
    • Quaglino Diner
    • (uncredited)
    Pierre Vaudier
    Pierre Vaudier
    • Quaglino Diner
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Vincente Minnelli
    • Writers
      • William Douglas-Home
      • Julius J. Epstein
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews39

    6.72K
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    Featured reviews

    angelknpenny

    A Particular Favorite

    I have watched this film so many times that I know the dialogue verbatim. Of course, it is not a significant film in the history of cinema, but good luck finding many as charming. For one thing, the cast is amazingly attractive with Kay Kendall off the charts. She is so beautiful and stylish and her comic timing is glorious. The scene with she and husband, Rex Harrison trying to spy on their daughter is priceless and their chemistry is palpable. I find that she died only a short time later and that is really depressing. She was so lovely and funny; modern actresses would suffer by comparison. Only someone like Kate Winslet is anywhere near her league.
    camibear7

    Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall in the comedy of the Year!

    This is my favorite comedy. Rex Harrison plays a man in London remarried to a strikingly lovely Kay Kendall. His daughter comes to live with them from America, played by Sandra Dee. She is just the right age for a "Coming Out Party", so her step-mom Kay Kendall sets about to get her ready and invite all the eligible bachelors.John Saxons plays a young man named David. Sandra meets John Saxon and likes him immediately. But a friend of Kay Kendall's Angela Lansbury who also has a daughter coming out, tells her what a terrible person John Saxon is. Angela Lansbury's own daughter likes the palace guard David.Sandra cannot stand him. John Saxon is as always the handsomest man in the movie with his smoldering good looks. He is a drummer who plays at these coming out parties.Sandra likes David ( John Saxon ) but there is another David who is one of the Palace guards.This other David looks like and acts like Edgar Bergen's dummy Mortimer Snerd. He is the classic bore. With two young men with the same name you can just imagine all the fun of mistaken identity and misunderstandings. Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall are so hilarious as they go from party to party night after night, till they are not quite sure who's party they are at or why they are there. A laugh a minute. It all makes for loads of fun and laughs. Between going to all the parties Rex and Kay have to keep their eye on Sandra, which makes for more fun then I can relate. Sandra likes Saxon and sneaks out to see him. A wonderfully hilarious comedy~ Don't miss this movie. You will be glad you saw it. Go buy it because you are going to want to see it over and over again. I think I will slip my copy in the VCR now and enjoy this movie too. Enjoy!
    donwc1996

    Delightful Romp

    I saw this film with my family at Radio City Music Hall in 1958, the year of the film's release and it took the house down. The entire audience burst into applause at the film's conclusion. What simple days those were. Alas, I miss the great days of movies so much I haven't been in a movie theater in 30 years. Thirty years ago people were nice. Not any more. People in movie theaters are just as rude as they are everywhere else. To escape in such a simple delight as this film is all I can do these days aside from my daily solitude which I refer to as ZEN and which occupies most of my time. But occasionally along comes a delightful film like this and I am flooded with happy memories of my youth when everything came up roses. I have such fond memories of Kay Kendall not just in this film but also in Les Girls which was just as marvelous. She was a treasure, taken much too soon.
    gregcouture

    Minnelli and Kendall - a great team!

    I saw this one during its first-run release at the Beverly Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif. The CinemaScope projection there was top-notch, doing full justice to Minnelli's always creative use of the wide screen. Among MGM's A-list ingredients was the casting of Kay Kendall, whose elegance and comic verve made this confection as enjoyable as one could have hoped. How I wish she had lived to make many more screen memories. Her early death was a real loss. This title appears to be available on video only in a VHS version, which no doubt means that it is probably not letterboxed. "There oughta be a law!"
    8woodsywoods

    A thoroughly delightful romp which will keep you coming back for more

    I love this film... So does my wife, we love it together. love love love. Rex Harison is very dry, with always brilliant delivery a little Henry Higgins'esquire on occasion but funnier in my opinion this time round. Kay Kendall's Sheila is astonishing and full of wonder for her snobbery, competitive instincts and neurosis. She makes me hoot.

    The foolish David Fenner is infuriatingly silly yet gold to watch.

    The music captures the feel of the 50's beautifully, with an almost Cliff Richard like quality... Actually my wife is disputing that comment, it's much more American than Cliff in her opinion. It's jazzy. jazz jazz jazz. Big band. It makes me want to dance every time I see it. One of my favourite quotes from Sheila whilst dancing... "mmmmm, this song drives me out of my mind"

    You can watch this film over and over, we have been for the last 15 years and it doesn't get old at all. Watch it with different friends and they will love you for it. That's what we do. love love love.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      For years, John Saxon said he had been bothered by something about Sandra Dee during filming that he just couldn't put his finger on. Decades later, he figured out what it was: Dee's mother had lied about her age to get her more adult roles. She was only 16 years old at the time of filming.
    • Goofs
      The date for Jane's ball is shown onscreen as being scheduled for a Monday. However in a scene set on a day that is stated to be the day before Jane's ball, Jimmy gets dressed to go to work. Jimmy is a banker. The day before the ball would have been a Sunday, when his bank would have been closed. Another clue that the filmmaker forgot which day the ball was on is that Jimmy complains he hasn't slept since Sunday.
    • Quotes

      Sheila Broadbent: No, darling, it's Jane. She's no good with men. She doesn't know any, and she doesn't want to know any.

      Jimmy Broadbent: Well, she's a wise girl.

      Sheila Broadbent: Oh, darling, it isn't funny. Now, you've got to talk to her.

      Jimmy Broadbent: Talk to her? Why should I?

      Sheila Broadbent: Well, because you're a man, and you can tell her what the young men want.

      Jimmy Broadbent: [leering undertone] My dear!

      Sheila Broadbent: Oh, don't be silly, darling, of course you can. I'm sure they don't change that much.

      Jimmy Broadbent: No, you bet they don't.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Madame's Place: Naked All-Star Bowling Competition (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      Main Title
      (uncredited)

      from La femme modèle (1957)

      Music by André Previn

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 5, 1959 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Reluctant Debutante
    • Filming locations
      • Paris, France
    • Production company
      • Avon Productions (II)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,030
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 34m(94 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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