English Without Tears

English without Tears is a movie of surprising length, considering that its less than 90 minutes long. Perhaps it is so because the war was on in 1944 when it was released - but this is more a farce than comedy.

For such a short movie, there is a lot going on. There is the plot about the butler and one of the girls who professes her love for him. Then there is the plot about the English Instructor with whom the students cheat on their real instructor with. Then there is the farce element of mistaken manners, and confused situations.

There is even an S and M theme going on with how one of the characters treats another, and it serves as their own personal turn on.

Lillie Palmer is radiant and under used in this film. However the casting of frigid and rigid Penelope Dudley-Ward makes the heroine unsympathetic and engaging. Michael Wilding is wooden at ease and uncomfortable when he should be relaxed. It all simply doesn't work.

The most ironic line of all in the movie is "I do not understand jokes because I have no sense of humor" is said by a woman to her uniformed date at a dance, to which the gentleman retorts with "Then I will explain the joke to you".

Movies, like jokes aren't funny when they have to be explained either.

Considering that it uses as its backdrop the mounting militarisation of Britain between the summer of 1939 and the beginning of 1943 this is a fantastically inconsequential and unfocused piece of escapist fluff.

A sequel in name only to 'French Without Tears' (1939), based on Terence Rattigan's West End hit of 1936, which had got the newly formed company Two Cities Films on its feet five years earlier; they prevailed upon Rattigan to lend his name to this occasionally risqué nonsense utilising material which had been left over by Rattigan when he recently completed his play 'When the Sun Shines' in 1943. If you can't be bothered to keep track of the elaborate ebb and flow of romantic entanglements that flit before you, there's always the usual collection of familiar faces in supporting roles to enjoy, particularly cherishable contributions coming from Peggy Cummins, Margaret Rutherford and Roland Culver.

... though somewhat confusing. I would have been the first to attempt a synopsis for this movie but the plot to me was a bit oblique. Not only do we have a romance across "class distinction" lines with the backdrop of a slightly daffy female aristocrat trying to protect English migratory birds, but there is something to do with an interpreter played by the beautiful Lilli Palmer who neither looks nor sounds like a Brigid Knudsen. And our heroine, Joan, played by Penelope Ward, getting all mad at the criss-cross of relationships the meaning of which people scope out on the basis of one remark or juxtaposition. At least Joan gets a bit of come-uppance when a foreign political cartoonist sketches her toothy upper class face a bit too faithfully; that funny showcase is never revisited so it's almost like a red herring, but never mind. The political cartoonist is one of the menage of trois or quatre or cinq that gets Joan and others upset; the other major player is a Frenchman who I kept expecting to get with Lilli/Brigid, especially as she looked and sounded so much more French herself.

But the priceless person in this little exhibition, aside from Margaret Rutherford as our dotty aristocrat, is Michael Wilding, who went on to fame as Elizabeth Taylor's second husband. He apparently never rated himself as a good actor but he is very effective here, and very funny in spots. And not bad-looking. Transparently an attempt to cash in on the success of My Man Godfrey about a romance with one's butler from across the pond, for my money this one was even better, which does happen occasionally with rip-offs. Notwithstanding that that sort of thing might never have happened -- my stepfather insisted that British aristocracy would never look beyond their class so Pygmalion/My Fair Lady was completely fraudulent, too, in his view. But despite some of the stumbles, it can be forgiven on the basis of sprightliness and maybe any awkwardness adds to the comedy.

Primula Rollo who plays the 2nd AT went on to marry David Niven . In 1946 she died in a freak accident at Tyrone Power 's house aged 26 . She fell down cellar steps during a game of hide and seek . Broke Niven's heart .

"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."