To Paris with Love

United Kingdom

1955

78 Min

Color

1.37:1

English

Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
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PROD Edwin Astley, Antony Darnborough

SCR Robert Buckner, Sterling Noel

CAST Alec Guinness, Odile Versois, Vernon Gray, Elina Labourdette, Jacques François, Austin Trevor, Jacques B. Brunius, Claude Romain, Maureen Davis, Mollie Hartley Milburn, Michael Anthony, Pamela Stirling, Claude Collier

Romantic comedy charting the amorous adventures of a father and son in Paris and how the plans they secretly make for each other’s dalliance go astray. The plot of this 50s comedy of manners is extremely predictable but nevertheless watchable Technicolor entertainment that moves at pace. Alec Guinness‘ engaging performance as Col Sir Edgar Fraser is spot on, but Vernon Gray seems less at ease as his son.

A middle-aged aristocratic widower, (Col. Sir Edgar Fraser), and his son, John (Vernon Gray), take off to Paris in a Rolls Royce and play at matchmaking for each other. The baronet is convinced his son has led too far a sheltered life and it’s high time for him to experience some of the charms of Parisiennes. His son on the other hand, feels that his father has been isolated on his Scottish estate for too long, and would brighten up with some female companionship. Sir Edgar foists energetic redhead Lizette Marconne (Odile Versois) on his son, whilst John finds endearing sophisticate Sylvia Gilbert (Elina Labourdette) for his widowed father. The quartet switching partners leads to ensuing farcical complications. —Britmovie.co.uk

Director

Robert Hamer

A former editor with a flair for both darkly satirical comedy and even darker British film noir, Robert Hamer was a key figure in postwar British cinema. His sensitive talent was probably best showcased in the handsome and witty period-set comedy of murders, “Kind Hearts and Coronets” (1949) and the realistic yet superbly moody noir “It Always Rains on Sunday” (1947). Hamer was also responsible for what some critics consider the best segment in the classic horror anthology, “Dead of Night” (1945), in which a haunted mirror keeps displaying a murder committed long ago, and which begins to take possession of its new owner. Among other films, the adult and complexly plotted “The Spider and the Fly” (1949) and the witty and civilized detective comedy “Father Brown” (1954) stand out. Unfortunately, Hamer’s highly promising career was derailed by an alcohol problem and he died at the age of 52. —TCM