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Out of Warner Brothers, Indiscreet is directed by Stanley Donen and stars Ingrid Bergman & Cary Grant, with support coming from Cecil Parker, Phyllis Calvert, David Kossoff & Megs Jenkins. It is based on the play "Kind Sir" written by Norman Krasna. Plot sees Bergman as Anna Kalman, an accomplished actress who can't believe her luck when she finally meets the man of her dreams, Philip Adams (Grant). However, Phillip is keeping a secret, a secret that Anna finds out about and promptly sets about getting even with him for.
Indiscreet is a very simple movie. Grant and Bergman re-team again 12 years after making Notorious with Alfred Hitchcock. Their chemistry is again sparkling and Donen utilises it to the maximum by naturally building the film around the charismatic stars. There's no hidden agendas here, the movie knows it is breezy and understands that good writing (edgy at times) and two comfortable actors can make for good entertainment. It starts off slow, but the character build up pays off once Grant & Bergman start their romance, in fact the comedy is indeed thin on the ground for the first half of the film. But once the secret at the core of the plot is out, the comedy kicks into gear, with a dancing party sequence joyous and alone is worth watching the film for.
Also note worthy is the London location which provides a fitting back drop to the well mannered, well to do, coupling of Anna & Phillip. While the costumes too are pleasing and hang nicely off of the two aesthetically safe-in middle-age actors. It's no screwball, far from it, so any expectation of that will surely disappoint newcomers. And true to say it's very old fashioned and of its time as regards its romantic ideals. But that's OK, we like light hearted well written comedy, especially when it's performed as smooth as it is here. 7/10
score 7/10
hitchcockthelegend 7 September 2010
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2307258/ |
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24-3-2021 04:56:01