Main Cast: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Cesar Romero
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
After suffering nobly in several heavyweight MGM dramas, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon begged the studio to cast them together in a comedy. Though not an all-out laff riot, Julia Misbehaves strives hard to please. Garson plays an ever-in-debt British music-hall performer who relies on the largess of her friends to keep the wolf from the door. Pidgeon portrays Garson's ex-husband, who for the past 20 years has lived in Paris with their daughter Elizabeth Taylor. When Taylor becomes engaged, she sends Garson a wedding invitation. Broke again, Garson hastily joins an acrobatic act to earn steerage money, and charms British nobleman Nigel Bruce into giving her enough cash for a wedding present. Once she arrives in Paris, Garson sticks her nose into everyone's affairs, much to the dismay of the uptight Pidgeon. Garson even advises daughter Taylor to marry someone other than her betrothed. Despite her screwball behavior, Pidgeon can't help falling in love with Garson all over again--but it takes a zany sequence in and around a mountain chalet to knot together the many loose plotlines. Julia Misbehaves was adapted from The Nutmeg Tree, a novel by Margery Sharp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Julia Misbehaves turns out to be a surprisingly good comedy -- surprising, given that its leads were not known for their comedic performances, and given that there are some contrivances in the screenplay that come close to derailing it several times. The major problematic contrivance is the film's setup -- can one really believe that as aggressive and assertive a character as Julia Packett would simply have gone along with her husband's wishes that she not see her own daughter for a decade and a half? Fortunately, Julia is such a charming little confection that most people will be willing to overlook such lapses of reason. Much of Julia's charm is due to its delightful leading lady. Greer Garson performs with a lovely, delicate touch, skipping (rather than jumping) through the hoops that the screenplay tosses in her way and making the proceedings quite merry indeed. Her participation in the acrobat sequence alone is worth the price of admission. If Walter Pidgeon is not quite as loose as his partner, neither is the character, and the chemistry he has with his co-star makes up for any comedic deficiencies on his part. Besides, with Mary Boland, Nigel Bruce, and Lucile Watson on hand, there's no need for Pidgeon to worry about the film coming up short on comic know-how. Throw in an incredibly youthful and lovely Elizabeth Taylor and an equally young and handsome Peter Lawford, and you have a delicious little soufflé of a movie. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Lucile Watson - Mrs. Packett; Nigel Bruce - Col. Willowbrook; Mary Boland - Mrs. Gennochio; Reginald Owen - Bennie Hawkins; Henry Stephenson - Lord Pennystone; Aubrey Mather - Vicar; Ian Wolfe - Hobson; Fritz Feld - Pepito; Phyllis Morris - Daisy; Veda Ann Borg - Louise; Lola Albright; Harry Allen; Jimmy Aubrey - Drunk; Shirley Ballard; Nan Boardman - Saleslady; Edmund Breon - Jamie; André Charlot - Stage Doorman; Marcelle Corday - Gabby; Sidney D'Albrook - Waiter in Pub; Jean del Val - Croupier; Elspeth Dudgeon - Woman in Pawn Shop; Art Foster; Ruth Hall; Winifred Harris - Lady Pennystone; Joi Lansing; Connie Leon; Mitchell Lewis - Train Official; James Logan - Moving Man; Alphonse Martell - Frenchman in Theater; Torben Meyer - Commissar; Ottola Nesmith; Susan Perry - Girls in Hotel Lobby; Almira Sessions - Women in Street; Cyril Thornton; David Thursby - English Sailor; Patricia Walker; Victor Wood - Postman; George Goldsmith; Kay Norton; William Snyder; James Fairfax; Fern Eggen; Bertha Feducha - Woman in Theater; Stanley Fraser - Pawn Shop Clerk; Marjorie Jackson - Mannequin; Michael Kent - Acrobatic Troupe; Ray Saunders; Joanee Wayne - The Head; Herbert Wyndham - Piano Player in Pub
Credit
Daniel B. Cathcart - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Irene - Costume Designer, Jack Conway - Director, John D. Dunning - Editor, Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score), Hal Borne - Songwriter, Jerry Seelen - Songwriter, Jack Dawn - Makeup, Joseph Ruttenberg - Cinematographer, Everett J. Riskin - Producer, Jack D. Moore - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, Monckton Hoffe - Screenwriter, Gina Kaus - Screenwriter, William Ludwig - Screenwriter, Harry Ruskin - Screenwriter, Arthur Wimperis - Screenwriter, Margery Sharp - Book Author
Julia Misbehaves is a 1948romantic comedy film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon as a married couple who are soon separated by his snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when the daughter he has raised, played by Elizabeth Taylor, invites her mother to her wedding. This adaptation of Margery Sharp's novel The Nutmeg Tree was director Jack Conway's last film.
Plot
In 1936 London, mature showgirl Julia Packett (Greer Garson) leads a precarious life. She pretends to be contemplating suicide in order to finagle some money out of a male friend in order to pay her bills. Then, she receives a wedding invitation from her daughter Susan (Elizabeth Taylor). As a young woman, Julia had married wealthy William Packett (Walter Pidgeon). However, after fourteen months of marriage, his disapproving mother (Lucile Watson) had managed to break them up. Julia returned to show business, but left her infant daughter with her husband, so that the child could be raised in more secure circumstances.
On the boat trip to France, she meets and becomes attracted to Fred Ghenoccio (Cesar Romero), a muscular acrobat. Later, Fred proposes to her as her train pulls away from the station.
When Julia reaches her destination, she is penniless, so following her usual methods, she gets a stranger, Colonel Willowbrook (Nigel Bruce), to give her money, supposedly for a negligee and other clothing. However, she sneaks away before Willowbrook tries to become better acquainted with her.
Her mother-in-law is less than pleased to see her, but Julia manages to see Susan, who insists she stay. As time goes by, William's love for Julia revives. Meanwhile, Julia observes that Susan has strong feelings about lovestruck painter Ritchie Lorgan (Peter Lawford), though he is not her fiancé. Though Susan claims to be merely annoyed, Julia sees that Susan loves the young man and does her best to bring the two together. It works.
Meanwhile, Julia remains skeptical of William's restored love, unable to forget the past. Complications arise when Fred shows up to claim his "fiancée". However, when William encounters his old friend, Colonel Willowbrook, he learns of Julia's misdeed. William persuades his friend to pretend to not know him and interrupt their breakfast. The revelation of Julia's questionable method of raising funds sends Fred packing.
Eventually, Susan takes Julia's suggestion and elopes with Ritchie. When William chases after them, followed by Julia, they discover they have been tricked into going to the wrong place. Following Susan's instructions, servants drive away their cars, leaving them stranded for 48 hours in their isolated honeymoon cabin. Julia tries to walk away in a rainstorm, but ends up in the mud. When William comes to her rescue, he ends up sprawled in the muck as well, leaving them both laughing at their predicament.
