hyped garbage

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"The Reluctant Debutante" is a very good comedy of manners. Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall get top billing in a nice cast of young and "mature" stars of the day. The battle of manners plays out between Kendall and Angela Lansbury. These two are terrific in their rival- friend-rival relationship. Lansbury's Mabel Claremont is a far cry from the Jessica Fletcher of the long-running TV series (1984-96), "Murder She Wrote." The very talented Lansbury here is the noisy, butting-in, social busybody of London society. Kendall's Sheila Broadbent is a take charge, social butterfly who wants to get her stepdaughter lined up with the right man. The stepdaughter is Jane Broadbent (Sandra Dee) just arrived from the U.S., whom Sheila has never met, and her father hasn't seen in many years. All of this takes place in, around and because of "the season." In London, that means the coming out of 17-year-old girls through a grueling, seemingly endless round of debutante balls. Overseeing all of the wackiness that takes place, and suffering through long nights that end at wee hours of the morning, when he'd like to catch "a little nap before the office," is Rex Harrison as Jimmy Broadbent. Jimmy and Sheila didn't know what to expect of Jane. What will she look like? Her last photo was two years old and young. girls can change a lot in two years. Sheila wonders if Jane will like her. How will they get along? With all of this, Sheila hasn't even thought about Jane coming out in London society. But when they see the very attractive Jane, and run into Mabel Claremont and her daughter, Clarissa, Sheila announces that Jane too, will be coming out. Saxon plays David Parkson, and Peter Myers does a smashing job as David Fenner. He is a very funny overly snobbish sounding and acting eligible bachelor/suitor. All of the cast are fine. The film is a little slow getting started, but the comedy ramps up in the last half. This is a good film to show the comedy talents of all three mature leads. Harrison and Kendall were married at the time. It was her first and only marriage. She made only one more film after this and died a year later of leukemia. She was just 33 years old. In her short career, she was in 30 films and TV series. After a slow start in the 1940s, her star rose in the 1950s. She moved from TV series in 1951 to the silver screen. She won a Golden Globe for "Les Girls" of 1958. This was the first pairing of John Saxon and Sandra Dee. They would make three films together, all good movies. One of the funniest scenes is when Jimmy and Sheila hide in the kitchen to keep an eye on Jane and David. Another funny thing may not have been intentional – the strange flat where the Broadbents live. It looks like a tunnel off the living room to the bedroom section, and with a side door to the kitchen. In the end, Jimmy finds a way to save Sheila from the egg on her face. Here are some favorite lines from this film. For more dialog humor, check the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the film. Sheila, "Jimmy, if she brings him up here for a drink, she'll know we've been waiting up for her." Jimmy, "And so we have." Sheila, "But, darling, she musn't. Psychologically, it's wrong to let her see we're worried. You see, even if she isn't interested in David Parkson, she thinks we'd be against it if she was, she will be." Jimmy, "She was, she will be?" Sheila, "No, darling, she mustn't know. We must wait up for her, don't you see?" Jimmy, "But, Jane…" Sheila, "No, no, darling, in the kitchen."Sheila, "Now go in the kitchen." Jimmy, "The kitchen…?" Sheila, "To see if you can hear me." Jimmy, "But I can hear you from here." Sheila, "Oh, Jimmy, do try and understand. We're hiding in the kitchen. We have to know what's going on. Now run along." Jimmy, "My permission? I'm a married man. My wife and I make joint decisions." David Parkson, "Then tell her about Brenda Bassington." Jimmy, "She wouldn't believe it." David, "Do you?" Jimmy, "Yes." David, "Well, then." Jimmy, "Well, that has nothing to do with it. Truth doesn't mean the same to a woman that it does to a man. To them, it's what they want to believe, regardless of the facts…"Sheila, "Jimmy?" Jimmy, "Shhh. Later, darling." As they begin to dance, he kisses her tenderly.

'The Reluctant Debutante' had a lot going for it, with talented actors like Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall and Angela Lansbury and a fine director in Vincente Minnelli. Also like comedy and romance and there are fine examples of both individually and both together.Of which 'The Reluctant Debutante' is one of them. It is not without its imperfections. The story is thin which makes some of the middle act sluggish and repetitious. Some of Sandra Dee and John Saxon's lines are clunky and not a patch on the adults' material. John Saxon has his bland and wooden moments and Peter Myers is a bore. With all that being said, a huge amount of 'The Reluctant Debutante' works and incredibly well. Sandra Dee is a pert and charming presence and her chemistry with Saxon has its sweet moments. The adult supporting cast are much more impressive though.Especially Kay Kendall (who died far too young a year later with much more to give), who is exquisite in every sense, comic timing, looks, everything. Rex Harrison delivers a lot of delicious lines with deft ease, with a flair for knowing comic timing and nuance. The film is actually worth seeing for their performances and irresistible chemistry alone. Angela Lansbury makes a thankless role interesting. Minnelli delivers on creating grand spectacle and gorgeous visuals, and paces everything that helps bring believability to the romantic and particularly comedic elements.Scripting here is generally very good, at its best excellent. The comedic elements are delightfully witty and sophisticated and the romantic elements radiate with charm. There is a great deal of energy too. Lush music score too, with some great use of songs, the Cole Porter hits and "The Boy Next Door" are particular bonbons.Visually, 'The Reluctant Debutante' looks wonderful. It's beautifully photographed, with opulently designed sets, gorgeous colours that pop out at you and especially those to die for costumes.Overall, immensely charming and entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I agree with the other reviewers about this movie being lovely to look at, and Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall are indeed very funny, but I was astounded at what the 17 year old Sandra Dee got up to! Drinking sherry (sherry?! was that the usual cafe drink for teenagers then?) like she'd been doing it all her life, staying out until 5 in the morning, smoking, and at the end of it all deciding to marry a guy she'd only seen a couple of times! And ridiculously, her father (Harrison) is totally nonchallant about it all. I know that in a lot of these old movies people got married after only knowing each other a couple of days or weeks, but a 17 year old? It beggars belief, and became annoying. What was the point of making the daughter a teenager if everone was going to behave as if she was 30? A somewhat funny movie, but Sandra Dee is obnoxious rather than endearing, in my opinion

I quite like this movie.The story is written like a Restoration mistaken identity comedy (think Wycherly, Congreve or Farquahar) but without the low necklines and with much less bawdiness (yes, you may wonder what's left).The lines given Saxon and Dee are pretty bad - and although Saxon does the best he can, I don't think Sandra Dee does an interesting job at all - she looks quite bored (if pretty). When they're on screen, this is incredibly dull.Yet the adults, working with almost nothing, go all out and make this a pleasure -- you'll wish that the story were a variant of Unfaithfully Yours with Harrison or Kendall suspecting the other of infidelity and no children in sight.Yet despite all,Minnelli makes the movie stunningly beautiful (you very much want to be there) with great rich colors, London shown in glorious sweeping color, and the movie goes swiftly with wonderful and amusing editing ---- the costumes and sets are just so beautiful ---- Rex Harrison is in as finely comic a mode (don't expect his Henry IV or wonderful Julius Caesar here) as he's ever been - and that is VERY high praise -- -- Kay Kendall is a moviegoer's dream - stunningly beautiful, an exquisite comedic touch, wonderful with either a line or a pratfall. In movies like this, Genevieve, Les Girls, she is an aristocratic Lucille Ball if you can imagine that - as giddy, as wildly inventive -- but haute.-- Angela Lansbury takes a thankless part and really gets into it - and Lansbury is superb.So, sure, the story is gossamer, there aren't many amusing lines, but the panache brought by the director, costume and set designers, Harrison, Kendall and Lansbury combine to make this quite enjoyable.There's something to be said for a movie that you want to see again and again simply because you wish you were there. I own relatively few movies, but this is one.