Themes: Foibles of Marriage, Love Triangles, Lovers Reunited
Main Cast: Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Alan Mowbray, Olive Blakeney
Release Year: 1941
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
Ernst Lubitsch's That Uncertain Feeling was previously filmed by the director in 1925 as Kiss Me Again; both versions were inspired the Victorien Sardou-Emile de Najac bedroom farce Let's Get a Divorce. Six year into her marriage to preoccupied insurance salesman Larry Baker (Melvyn Douglas), Jill Baker (Merle Oberson) develops a case of hiccups. Phlegmatic Freudian psychologist Vengard (Alan Mowbray) suggests that Jill's affliction is caused by marital problems, whereupon she decides to enter into a new relationship with Vengard's star patient, hilariously neurotic concert pianist Sebastian (Burgess Meredith). Magnanimously agreeing to a divorce, Larry nonetheless remains in love with Jill, and she with him. They'll get back together, of course, but not until a multitude of delightful misunderstandings. Outside of Burgess Meredith's brilliant comic performance (obviously patterned on Oscar Levant), the film's highlight finds Larry trying to figure out the gentlest possible way to permit Jill to file for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
That Uncertain Feeling is a bubbly and effervescent concoction, a champagne cocktail that packs a nice, gentle wallop. As is often the case, Ernst Lubitsch is exploring the terrain where sex, marriage, and money all meet -- and while this meeting makes for rough going for the participants, it's all a joyride for the viewer. Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden Stewart's screenplay is beautifully structured and filled with witty banter and clever observations; helped by Lubitsch's unerring hand, it also easily takes the full measure of its characters with the minimum of fuss, so that a simple act like moving a party guest or hiding a particular vase is both amusing and meaningful. As for the cast, Merle Oberon is not quite up to the demands of the project -- she tries hard, but the effort shows -- though she still comes off more than acceptably overall and quite nicely in many places. Melvyn Douglas, on the other hand, is pitch perfect, sailing through the part with ease but hitting every note dead-on, whether manufacturing a masculine chuckle that is both appealing and irritating or finding the courage to slap his wife as she demands. Eve Arden is a delight in a small part, but the real comic jewel is provided by Burgess Meredith, playing his misanthropic pianist as a Mephistophelean leprechaun. His laser beam eyes piercing at the slightest provocation, Meredith's creation is both scary and hilarious, and gives the film the punch that makes it special. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Fräulein Seifenschaum ·Aufs Eis Geführt ·Blindekuh ·Zucker Und Zimmt ·Der Erste Patient ·Der Letzte Anzug ·Der Kraftmeier ·Wo Ist Mein Schatz? ·Schuhpalast Pinkus ·Der Gemischte Frauenchor ·Das Schönste Geschenk ·Der G.m.b.H. Tenor ·Leutnant auf Befehl ·Seine Neue Nase ·Ossis Tagebuch ·Der Blusenkönig ·Wenn Vier Dasselbe Tun ·Das Fidele Gefängnis ·Prinz Sami ·Der Rodelkavalier ·Der Fall Rosentopf ·Ich Möchte Kein Mann Sein ·Das Mädel Vom Ballet ·Meyer Aus Berlin ·Das Schwabenmädel ·Kohlhiesels Töchter ·Romeo Und Julia Im Schnee ·If I Had A Million(segment "The Clerk")
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