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Plot:
- by Zoë
Shaw
Anna meets Philip,
and invites him to the ballet. He tells her that he is married, separated
and unable to get a divorce. She still agrees to their becoming friends.
Philip goes to New York, and in the meantime Anna's brother-in-law, Alfred,
discovers that Philip has never been married. Anna finds out too, and is
angered by this. She plans to make Philip jealous, but when he sees Anna in
her bedroom with another man, he decides not to propose to her as he had
planned.
Review:
- by Heather Doughty
This film, made in 1958, brings together Cary Grant
(Philip) and Ingrid Bergman (Anna) for the first time since "Notorious" in 1946.
It is a romantic comedy between two slightly older, but still impeccably suave and
beautiful characters. Grant plays Philip Adams, a financial expert while Bergman plays
Anna Kalman, an actress on the London stage. The two meet at a dinner meeting where Philip
is a featured speaker, and the sparks fly. However, he tells Anna that he is married,
separated, and unable to get a divorce. They continue their friendship/romance for a time,
until Philip is called away to New York on business. In the mean time, it is discovered
that he has never been married, and only told Anna he was married to avoid any permanent
romances. In true jilted style, she plots revenge which culminates in a hilarious scene
where Philip returns to London to propose, only to find another man in Anna's room. Of
course, after all of the confusion and bickering between our two stars, they end up
together. (Could we expect anything less of the wonderful Cary?) Although this movie is
not one of my favorite romantic comedies, the performances are wonderful and it's a movie
worth seeing.
VARIETY
Film Review - May 28, 1958
- by "Ron"
- submitted by Barry Martin
A beguiling love story delicately
deranged by the complications of sophisticated comedy,
"Indiscreet" is an expert film version of Norman
Krasna's 1953 stage play, "Kind Sir." Though
tedious in its opening reels, the Stanley Donen production warms
up in direct relation to the heat of the love affair and, in the
end, manages to fade out in a blaze of playful merriment.
Its stars, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, lift this Warner Bros.
release into the "must see" class, a pickup which the
boxoffice is likely to reflect.
Striking hardest is Miss Bergman,
who gives what well may be the most delightful performance of her
career. As the successful actress who has yet to find love,
Miss Bergman is alluring, most affectionate and highly
amusing. Grant makes a ripping gadabout, conniving and
gracious, his performance sometimes hilarious and always smooth.
Moving from the New York of
"Kind Sir," the locale of "Indiscreet" has
been shipped to London where Miss Bergman lives and wants to
love. Grant, a rich American who holds a NATO post, lives
there too (at least on weekends, commuting as he does from Paris)
and he too wants to love. But the difference is he wants
nothing of marriage and, to protect all concerned, advises Miss
Bergman on first meeting that he is a married man, separated and
unable to obtain a divorce. Still she invites him to the
ballet, and there is born a touching love. She, with her
heart full, settles for an affair with no strings attached.
Eventually finding out from her
nosey sister that Grant truly isn't married, Miss Bergman goes
into an enchanting tirade, blasting, "How dare he make love
to me when he's not a married man!" She sets a trap for
him, building a fire under his jealousy, and, after a rollicking
set-to, he proposes ... marriage.
Cecil Parker, as the
brother-in-law, becomes funnier as he becomes more unnerved, and
Phyllis Calvert is excellent as the sister. Megs Jenkins
turns in a fine performance as the maid, and David Kossoff, as the
chauffeur, admirably grabs the high spot of hilarity with his
pseudo-lover stroll-on.
Technical credit is difficult to
assess in light of the preview film being a work print.
Frederick A Young's Technicolor photography mostly stays indoors,
though what little he does show of London is distinguished.
Art Director Don Ashton has created a lush living room interior,
loaded with paintings, pillows and color, and his recreation of
the Royal Naval College's Painted Hall is artistically and
skillfully accomplished. Music by Richard Bennett and Ken
Jones is particularly effective in its romantic emphasis on
piano. And an engaging wrapping is provided by clever title
credits designed by Maurice Binder.
NEW YORK TIMES Film Review -
June 27, 1958
- by A.H. Weiler
- submitted by Barry Martin
Call it a tiny miracle or a testament to perseverance, but
"Kind Sir," Norman Krasna's comedy that did not capture
the heart of every critic and Broadway playgoer in 1953, has been
retitled "Indiscreet" and transformed into a thin but
impishly gay and enchanting film that was unveiled at the Music
Hall yesterday.
Mr. Krasna, who adapted his still
weightless play, has not given it any added body. But with
the assistance of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, who previously
proved that they were made for each other, and producer-director
Stanley Donen, who appears to be in favor of amour and an impious
joke, they have concocted a frivolous and diverting antic.
It should be noted, for the record,
that while the story is basically unchanged, these happily
irreverent goings-on have been switched from the original New York
locale to London's Mayfair. The change of scene seems to
have done the play and its principals a world of good.
Several episodes are set in the
authentic Painted Hall of the Royal Naval College and the Garrick
Club, as well as a tastefully furnished apartment in one of
London's more soignée sectors. They are
"naturals" for the color camera.
Shere color, however, is not
entirely what this company had in mind. The play's the thing
here, and our players, as we were saying, make the most of
it. They are involved once again with the idea that love
and/or a bit of dalliance can be fascinating to two mature
people. The lovebirds in this case are a famed actress who
has been ready for love for too long a time and an American
banker-diplomat who is the darling of NATO as well as women.
Before our lithe, handsome suitor
can make any strong point for a subject as serious as, say,
"hard currency," our heroine, as well as our hero, are
smitten. This, of course, would not turn the head or heart
of a shopgirl or a clerk, but our troupe, craftsmen to the core,
have come up with a gimmick.
Our man seems to be honest.
He defends himself by stating forthrightly that he is married and
therefore cannot be accused of misrepresentation. His sly
play works. Our lady, after a deliciously tender and subtle
courtship, becomes his devoted slave. She understands his
position and still is girlishly devoted to him.
But is our statesman tied down by a
spouse he cannot divorce? Not on your life. And when
our enchanted lady learns that this is his shield against the
slings and arrows of outraged dames, the fury of a woman scorned
is illustrated in happily carefree style.
All of this is fragile stuff, as
has been noted, but Miss Bergman, as the lady in love, emerges as
a most charming comedienne, a professional who can handle a gaily
irreverent line of dialogue as easily as a dramatic
declamation. Mr. Grant, as the poseur who captures her heart
and is hoist with his own petard, romps through his assignment as
to the manner born. He is the master of the lifted eyebrow
and the mysterious smile, "tools" he uses with
devastating effect.
Phyllis Calvert, as Miss Bergman's
proper and protective sister, and Cecil Parker, as her Foreign
Office brother-in-law, a gent who knows the score despite a cool,
precisely British, exterior, contribute strong support to our
entranced principals. David Kossoff and Megs Jenkins add a
few neat but unobtrusive touches to the proceedings as Miss
Bergman's understanding servants.
To repeat, "Indiscreet"
is as light, airy and weightless as a soufflé. But all
concerned have made it a most palatable concoction.
Review
Click here to read
Susanna's review of "Indiscreet"
Review
Click here to read Jenny's Crackpot
Reviews at the Cary Grant Shrine
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