CinemaSerf

Having packed their kids off for the weekend, the "Earl and Countess of Ryhall" (Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) are looking forward to a few days of rest and recuperation in their stately pile. Not that it's exactly private as they've long since had to allow the public to wander through at half-a-crown a time. One such visitor isn't so good at obeying the rules, though, when he ignores a "private" sign and walks into her sitting room. He turns out to be an American millionaire called "Delacro" (Robert Mitchum) and he's quite a charmer. So much so that he kind of sweeps her off her feet, and though her husband's arrival cools things for a time, pretty soon she has travelled to London ostensibly to see her hairdresser and to meet her wacky pal "Hattie" (Jean Simmons), but well... Thing is, her husband isn't quite prepared to give up the ghost on his marriage and so invites this man back to their home where the most genteel of games ensues as both men vie for the affections of the Countess whilst the mischievous "Hattie" does a bit of manoeuvring of her own. The story provides for an amiable clash between old and new money, but is really about the nature of true affection and decency. There's not really anything unpredictable about the plot nor it's evolution, but seeing these four folk on screen together does remind us of just what style and star quality is. Even Mitchum keeps his tongue in his cheek and there's also an enjoyable turn from Moray Watson as the aspiring writer-cum-butler who looks upon the antics here with a sympathetic if somewhat bemused attitude. It's aptly titled and worth a watch.