The imperfect lady

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Movie
German title The imperfect lady
Original title Julia Misbehaves
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 99 minutes
Rod
Director Jack Conway
script William Ludwig ,
Harry Ruskin ,
Arthur Wimperis ,
Monckton Hoffe ,
Gina Kaus
production Everett Riskin
music Adolph German
camera Joseph Ruttenberg
cut John D. Dunning
occupation
synchronization

The Imperfect Lady , also known as Julia Misbehaves (Original Title: Julia Misbehaves ), is a 1948 American comedy film starring Greer Garson , Walter Pidgeon and Elizabeth Taylor . Margery Sharp's novel The Perfect Lady ( The Nutmeg Tree , 1937).

action

Showgirl Julia Packett led a rather unconventional life in London in 1936 . In order to be able to pay her bills, she comes up with all kinds of ideas and even pretends to want to kill herself in order to get the necessary money from her friend Benny Hawkins. One day she receives an invitation to her daughter Susan's upcoming wedding. As a young woman, she had married the wealthy businessman William Packett. However, William separated from her after only 14 months - at the insistence of his mother, who disapproved of Julia as a daughter-in-law. Julia had to return to the stage and was forced to leave her daughter with her husband, who could offer him a good life. Julia finally makes her way to the south of France , where the festivities are to take place at one of the Packett's premises. Meanwhile, Mrs. Packett sends her son to Paris to prematurely intercept Julia, to whom William is still officially married.

On the way on a ship, Julia meets Fred Ghenoccio, who, together with his mother and brothers, earns his living as an acrobat . She joins the troupe and performs with them on stage in Paris. At this appearance, William is also among the audience and is amazed at Julia's acclaimed performance. Fred is also impressed by Julia and proposes marriage to her before she takes the train to the south of France. When Julia reaches the Packett's residence, her mother-in-law wants her to leave immediately. Julia insists on seeing Susan, however, and is deeply touched to see her daughter for the first time in all these years. Susan, who sent the invitation, is also happy and asks Julia to stay with her.

When Julia wants to buy presents for her daughter, she goes to a casino in order to win the necessary money for her purchases. However, because she loses at roulette , she lets the elderly Colonel Bruce Willowbrook court her. By tricking him into losing all of her luggage, she gets him to give her money for a promising negligee . With the money she finally pays for Susan's presents and sneaks out of the shop through the back door.

In the evening, while rehearsing for the wedding, Julia meets the young painter Ritchie Lorgan. Susan's fiancé, on the other hand, is absent and instead attends his bachelorette party. When Susan tells her mother that she can't stand Ritchie's constant advances, but she only talks about him, Julia is determined to set the two up. Susan, in turn, wants to reconcile her parents. The next day, Julia, William, Ritchie and Susan drive to a small cabin where Julia and William once spent their honeymoon. While Ritchie and Susan take a walk and get closer, Julia and William ride an old boat around on a lake. The boat sinks and they fall into the water. In the hut, they then take off their wet clothes and wrap themselves in blankets. They indulge in memories and begin to dance together. As they kiss, Ritchie and Susan suddenly stand in the doorway.

Back at the Packett's property, Mrs. Packett is delighted when Fred Ghenoccio arrives and introduces himself to her as Juliet's fiancé. She invites both him and his mother to spend the night in their villa . In the evening William Julia makes a second marriage proposal. However, she fears he will leave her again, which is why she poses as Fred's happy fiancée. The next day, William meets his old friend Bruce Willowbrook, who tells him about a woman who has swallowed him a large amount of money. When William recognizes Julia in the woman, he persuades Bruce to show up at the next breakfast and pretend not to know him. The following morning Bruce appears and accuses Julia of having dubiously pulled money out of his pocket. While William feigns understanding for Juliet's actions, Fred is outraged that Julia wanted a complete stranger to buy revealing nightgowns for her.

When Julia learns that William has led her by the nose and wants to storm away, a message arrives from Susan. You and Ritchie want to get married in the cabin. William and Julia drive to the cabin in separate cars, where they find another message from Susan that she and Ritchie have already married and are on their way to England . Susan has also instructed two servants to drive the two cars away, forcing Julia and William to stay in the remote cabin for the next 48 hours. Although a violent storm is raging, Julia tries to run away on foot. However, it doesn't get far and slips in the mud. William rushes to her aid and also slips, whereupon they both start laughing at each other.

background

Pre-production

The imperfect Dame based on Margery Sharp's novel The Perfect Lady ( The Nutmeg Tree , 1937) and was also used as stage play at New York's Broadway with Gladys Cooper listed. MGM boss Louis B. Mayer had acquired the film rights for $ 18,490 to bring his star Greer Garson a success with a comedy after two consecutive flops ( Man without a Heart , 1945; Desire Me , 1947). For her part, Garson was relieved to be able to escape her image of the noble, dignified heroine in film dramas such as Mrs. Miniver (1942) and Madame Curie (1943) through this film , in the role of an unconventional showgirl .

Filming

Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon were together in front of the camera for The Imperfect Lady for the fifth time. When filming the opening scene with Garson in a bathtub wearing a skin-colored swimsuit, director Jack Conway had everyone except Walter Pidgeon removed from the set, as Pidgeon argued that “as an actor who [on screen] he was four times was married to Greer Garson, [...] should have certain privileges ”.

The last scene shot for the film was Garson's acrobatic interlude to the song When You're Playing With Fire , in which she is lifted from a balcony onto a pyramid of acrobats. She insisted on doing all the stunts herself. She joked to reporters, “If I broke my neck doing it, it wouldn't be so bad. One way or another, MGM would have a finished film for a release. ”While filming, Garson met her future husband Elijah E. Fogelson, a Texas oil millionaire and friend of Peter Lawford , who had invited him to the set. The marriage lasted nearly 40 years until Fogelson's death in 1987. Elizabeth Taylor , who celebrated her 16th birthday while filming, received her first on-screen kiss from Lawford.

publication

The Imperfect Lady premiered on October 8, 1948 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The majority of the critics were not particularly enthusiastic about the comedy. It still grossed $ 4,497,000 at the US box office and made a sizeable profit at a cost of production of $ 2,706,000.

Reviews

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times described the film as a "fantastic slapstick farce", even if Greer Garson was sometimes "not in her element". According to Variety , the film's humor is far from subtle. One laugh follows the next, "so that many dialogues are lost and become superfluous". Time magazine found that Greer Garson's “beauty, vitality, and acting experience” featured in the film, but “her performance is almost never amusing or convincing”. The Hollywood Reporter , on the other hand, spoke of a "charmingly provocative performance that will undoubtedly please Greer Garson's fans."

For Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide , The Imperfect Lady turned out to be "surprisingly a good comedy - surprising because its main characters are not known for comedic interludes". The film's “charm” arises “primarily through its adorable leading actress”. With “graceful sensitivity” Garson “creates a cheerful atmosphere”. The lexicon of international films spoke of a “frivolous farce” that “doesn't really get going despite the star cast and comical details” and is “only moderately” amusing.

German versions

The first German dubbed version was created in 1949 by the Motion Picture Export Association based on the dialogue book and directed by Josef Wolf . In 1993 a second synchronous version was produced by Magma Synchron GmbH Berlin. Joachim Kunzendorf was responsible for the dialogue book and the dialogue direction .

role actor Voice actor 1949 Voice actor 1993
Julia Packett Greer Garson Tina Eilers Cornelia Meinhardt
William Packett Walter Pidgeon Wolfgang Eichberger Joachim Kerzel
Ritchie Lorgan Peter Lawford - Stefan Krause
Susan Packett Elizabeth Taylor Erika Georgi Dorette Hugo
Fred Ghenoccio Cesar Romero - Reinhard Kuhnert
Mrs. Packett Lucile Watson - Tilly Lauenstein
Col. Bruce "Bunny" Willowbrook Nigel Bruce - Gerry Wolff
Mrs. Gheneccio Mary Boland - Ingeborg Wellmann
Benny Hawkins Reginald Owen - Wolfgang Völz
Lord Pennystone Henry Stephenson - Erhard Köster

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, pp. 208-211.
  2. ↑ "After all, as an actor who has been married to Greer Garson four times, I should have some privileges." Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, p. 209.
  3. ↑ “Then, if I break my neck, it won't matter. MGM will still have a picture to release. " Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, p. 211.
  4. ↑ “ Julia Misbehaves […] is a fantastic knock-about farce. [...] she's out of her element. " Bosley Crowther : Greer Garson Cavorts in Very Unusual Fashion for Garson in 'Julia Misbehaves' . In: The New York Times , October 8, 1948.
  5. ↑ "Laughs are piled on top of each other, making a lot of the dialog unheard and unnecessary." See Julia Misbehaves . In: Variety , 1948.
  6. ↑ “Miss Garson has beauty, vitality and professional know-how. These are all visible, yet the performance is almost never joyous or even convincing. " See Cinema: The New Pictures . In: Time , October 11, 1948.
  7. ↑ "The result is a charmingly provocative performance which will invitably delight the Garson fans." The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, p. 212.
  8. ↑ “ Julia Misbehaves turns out to be a surprisingly good comedy - surprising, given that its leads were not known for their comedic performances […]. Much of Julia ' s charm is due to its delightful leading lady. Greer Garson performs with a lovely, delicate touch […] making the proceedings quite merry indeed. " Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com
  9. ↑ The imperfect lady. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 26, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  10. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de
  11. ↑ The imperfect lady. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on May 26, 2019 .