Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Grass is Greener (1960)

The Grass is GreenerWhat a wonderful movie. Who could ask for more, with a cast including Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum? Not to mention a duel, a missing mink coat, mushrooms, British manors and fishing?

A wonderful romance, that shows how fate and middle age can come together and create havoc on the seemingly happy, if not a bit dull, life of a settled English couple, whose large country estate doubles as a tourist atrraction to support itself. (with lots of American tourists who leave apple cores and sticky bits of paper all over the grounds!)

To make ends meet, the wife also happens to run a thriving mushroom growing business in the cellar! (phew that was a long sentence!)

Robert Mitchum is one of these camera toting tourist who "mistakenly" wanders into the private portion of the house, finding Lady Rile and the sparks fly!

It's a charming old-fashioned adult romantic farce, that's not too far fetched.

I don't even know what Dundee cake is, but I like this movie. Cary Grant as the befuddled, cool, supercilious, angry, calm, loving, clever, wronged, vengeful, forgiving Lord Rhyall does indeed excel. Deborah Kerr as the lady of the house who falls for Robert Mitchum, quite good. Mitchum's not bad at playing the cad. Jean Simmons as the bibulous, gossipy friend Hattie -priceless.

But the dialogue, the verbal joustings, the rapid-fire wit: a marvel. As it turns out, there's jousting of a non-verbal variety, too. There's a weekend spent fishing. There are mysteries solved. There are lies covered and uncovered. There are knowing glances. There are panicky schemes and "friendly" phone calls. And most of the time, for the happy viewer, there is laughter. And admiration of this very elegant, very witty, funny and serious film.

Buy The Grass is Greener (1960) Now

The movie is delightful, the DVD copy is very satisfactory. Its letterbox format is perfect for this movie, much better than an ananorphic format would have been.

My only complaint is that although the DVD is advertised as "Closed-Captioned" it has the "CC" logo on the case the DVD has NO captioning. This is quite disappointing for those who need captions.

Still, this DVD is the best way to see "The Grass Is Greener" outside of a movie theater.

Read Best Reviews of The Grass is Greener (1960) Here

The perfect marriage of Kerr and Grant hits a snag when dapper, and loaded, American tourist Mitchum shows up at their grand English country home. While these three hold their own in their respective roles, it is Jean Simmons as the not to subtle and nosy best friend of the couple who steals the show. Her complete enjoyment of everyone else's discomfort is a delight and the writing is witty yet dead on caustic too. Just the scene where she shows up at the house to "comfort" Grant is enough to make any viewer love this film. Definitely a must-see.

Want The Grass is Greener (1960) Discount?

This has always been a favorite film of mine. The story is old-fashioned yet fun and the cast is divine. Despite having the VHS, I wanted more and ordered the DVD.

Beware! This DVD claims on its packaging to have Closed Captioning, but it does NOT!! No subtitles in any language, no line 21 captioning.

Nor does it have anything else. "Interactive Menus" means scene selections. This plain vanilla release doesn't even have a trailer. This film and cast deserves better and I see no reason Lion's Gate reissued this DVD with nothing added.

Since I bought it online, I can't return it and neither Lion's Gate nor Artisan will take it back despite the error in labeling and false advertising which is not the fault of the people I bought it from.

Save 28% Off

No comments:

Post a Comment