Discover
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George Cukor
Director -
Van Nest Polglase
Art Direction -
John Collier
Screenplay -
Pandro S. Berman
Producer -
Roy Webb
Music Director -
Mortimer Offner
Screenplay -
Compton MacKenzie
Novel -
Joseph H. August
Director of Photography
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CinemaSerf 6/19/2022 10:03:33 AM
Of all of the collaborative efforts that Katharine Hepburn ever made, this one has to be the most bizarre. Not because it is bad - though it isn't actually very good - but because she spends much of it a boy! Upon the death of her mother, her father (Edward Gwenn) must flee his creditors and so she ("Sylvia/Sylvester") determines to accompany him, cutting her Rapunzel-like locks and donning a suit as she goes. They encounter dapper rogue "Monkley" (Cary Grant) on the boat to England where they conduct a series of petty cons. Determined to get straight, she sets them all up as a seaside entertainment troupe and all goes well until she meets the dashing Brian Aherne ("Michael Fane") and starts to want to be a girl again. Can she tell him? How? Things are not helped by his keenness on "Lily Levetsky"... The dialogue is pretty weak, and rather relentless - and once the joke/gimmick wears off we are exposed to a rather lacklustre, almost pantomime, style of of story. Grant and Hepburn look like they are enjoying themselves and that certainly helps, but the humour is just a touch too contrived to last the seemingly long 90 minutes. Glad I've seen it, but I'm not sure I could recommend it.
Cary Grant
Jimmy MonkleyDennie Moore
Maudie (uncredited)Katharine Hepburn
Sylvia/Sylvester ScarlettFrank Moran
Minor Role (uncredited)Edmund Gwenn
Henry ScarlettBrian Aherne
Michael FaneNatalie Paley
Lily (uncredited)Lennox Pawle
l'ivrogne (uncredited)