On Approval (1944 film)

For the 1930 British comedy, see On Approval (1930 film).

On Approval is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Clive Brook and starring Beatrice Lillie, Clive Brook and Googie Withers. It is based on the play On Approval by Frederick Lonsdale. Brook also wrote the adapted screenplay, moving the story from the 20th Century back to the late Victorian period.

Cast

• Beatrice Lillie - Maria Wislack
• Clive Brook - George, 10th. Duke of Bristol
• Googie Withers - Helen Hale
• Roland Culver - Richard Halton
• O. B. Clarence - Doctor Graham
• Laurence Hanray - Parkes
• Elliott Mason - Mrs McCosh
• Mollie Munks - Jeanne
• Hay Petrie - Hotel manager
• Marjorie Rhodes - Cook

Plot and background

Clive Brook took this popular play (originally set in the early 1920s) and placed it in the late Victorian era, where the concept would've been much more shocking. Brook wrote the screenplay (keeping very close to the original play), produced and directed the film. It's one of the very few films featuring Beatrice Lillie, often referred to as "The funniest woman in the world" for her eccentric personality and portrayals in so many amusing stage plays and revues.

The film begins with an amusing documentary-style prologue about contemporary life in 1942 England, which serves to introduce Brook's character, George, in the late Victorian era.

George is the 10th Duke of Bristol. He is haughty, irascible, and with a very dry sense of humor. He is also nearly broke. His friend, Richard, is in love with the wealthy, widowed, exacting, difficult (yet charming) Maria, but since he too is poor, he hasn't the nerve to propose to Maria. Helen is a wealthy American, due to her father's successful business and is in love with George. What follows is a witty and very funny series of events which cause all four to be stuck together at Maria's Scottish island home. How can two nice and two difficult personalities survive together in an isolated island estate?

Filmmaker Lindsay Anderson called the film "the funniest British light comedy ever made" (according to the DVD box).

Legacy

On Approval was the "dark horse" of the 2014 edition of the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. The first screening of On Approval, held at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on the first full day of the festival, was a sell-out prompting a second showing at the Chinese on the final day of the festival (which also sold out). The two screenings were introduced by film historian Jeffrey Vance, who also recorded an audio commentary track for the Blu-ray edition of the film.

External links

• On Approval at IMDb