AN IDEAL HUSBAND starts off with cinematic flourish as it introduces its main characters, but soon settles down to become the drawing room Victorian comedy intended. PAULETTE GODDARD as Lady Cheveley, has a central role as a scheming aristocrat who blackmails HUGH WILLIAMS over a past indiscretion involving a stock exchange swindle that started his career.
Lavishly costumed, photographed in gorgeous Technicolor, it's directed at a stately pace by Anthony Asquith, who never manages to raise it above the level of an average drawing room comedy/romance. Miss Goddard is the American addition to a very British cast and gives a very uneven performance as the woman who sets out to destroy Williams' career unless she gets her way. At thirty-six, she's beautifully gowned and photographed, but seems to lack the refined quality one expects in such a role.
The delightful cast includes DIANA WYNYARD (as Williams' wife), GLYNIS JOHNS and SIR C. AUBREY SMITH, but the Oscar Wilde-based script is not one of his wittiest.
The strongest performance in the film is given by HUGH WILLIAMS as the troubled husband who considers resigning from public life and the one with the most comic flair is SIR C. AUBREY SMITH.
Not one of Wilde's most diverting comedies.
Lavishly costumed, photographed in gorgeous Technicolor, it's directed at a stately pace by Anthony Asquith, who never manages to raise it above the level of an average drawing room comedy/romance. Miss Goddard is the American addition to a very British cast and gives a very uneven performance as the woman who sets out to destroy Williams' career unless she gets her way. At thirty-six, she's beautifully gowned and photographed, but seems to lack the refined quality one expects in such a role.
The delightful cast includes DIANA WYNYARD (as Williams' wife), GLYNIS JOHNS and SIR C. AUBREY SMITH, but the Oscar Wilde-based script is not one of his wittiest.
The strongest performance in the film is given by HUGH WILLIAMS as the troubled husband who considers resigning from public life and the one with the most comic flair is SIR C. AUBREY SMITH.
Not one of Wilde's most diverting comedies.