In a sentenceWendy Hiller would like the scenery to stop interfering with her plans
Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) has firm ambitions and expects to act on them. A delay interrupts her plans, leaving her to wait while the future she has chosen begins to look less certain. Around her are Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey) and Catriona (Pamela Brown). The landscape and local folklore offer distractions from getting on with things, while Joan remains determined to pursue what she wants. As romance enters the picture, she faces an inconvenience she has not allowed for: the possibility that her ambitions might change.
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Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s romance is warm, funny and occasionally overfond of its own whimsy. Wendy Hiller’s stubborn Joan gives it enough human difficulty to keep the charm from becoming tiresome.
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger take a familiar romantic predicament seriously: what happens when a woman with firm plans is made to wait. Their answer is funny, generous and occasionally too pleased with its own charm. We recommend the film for Wendy Hiller, who gives Joan Webster enough stubbornness to compete with the scenery. The pleasure is watching someone reconsider without suddenly becoming a different person.
Wendy Hiller understands how much self-respect can be tied up in getting our own way. Her Joan has ambition, and the performance lets us understand why she might be reluctant to surrender it. We were moved more than we expected by her resistance to changing her mind. There is embarrassment in letting go of a plan, even a mistaken one, and Wendy Hiller makes us feel it without inviting us to despise Joan for having wanted something.
Roger Livesey’s Torquil MacNeil gives that stubbornness something worth pausing for. We believe in his appeal because the performance never seems to be working hard to secure our approval. There is a welcome ease between the two leads, even when Joan seems determined to make ease difficult. The comedy benefits from that difference in temperament, and the romance gives us time to enjoy their company before asking us to care deeply about them.
Erwin Hillier’s photography makes the surrounding landscape matter to Joan’s dilemma. We understand the temptation to stay and look, which saves the film from having to explain every attraction in dialogue. Alfred Junge’s production design feels at home beside that photography, helping the folklore seem to belong to somewhere people actually inhabit. The images make Joan’s impatience understandable while allowing us to see what she might miss by hurrying. We are given time to look around.
John Seabourne Sr.’s editing keeps the comedy light enough for the romantic hesitation to register. At 91 minutes, the film gives its central change of mind room to feel earned without treating every adjustment as a major occasion. Allan Gray’s music joins in the persuasion, and its warmth generally suits the performances. There are moments when we would prefer to be left to decide how enchanted to feel. A little less encouragement would have done no harm.
Our reservation is the way the film favours wonder and simplicity so openly that Joan’s ambitions can seem foolish before she has had much opportunity to defend them. We would like a little more sympathy for the practical advantages of having a plan. The folklore occasionally adds to that pressure, making the alternative seem almost compulsory. Wendy Hiller’s conviction matters here, keeping Joan’s wishes recognisable when the film is working hard to change them.
As a romantic comedy, it puts considerable trust in our willingness to watch someone hesitate. There is wit in that hesitation, and enough affection to keep the lesson from becoming a lecture. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger can be insistent about the charms on offer, but their leads remain good company through the persuasion. If you have little patience for whimsy, watch it for Wendy Hiller.
Parkinson calls the film entrancing and praises the performances of Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey. He also singles out its atmospheric photography and expert blend of romance and comedy.
Read the full review →Bradshaw finds the film an exceptionally lovable, joyful classic. He especially praises Wendy Hiller’s headstrong heroine and the film’s romance, whimsy, and sense of place.
Read the full review →The critic calls it one of the greatest, most forgotten romantic comedies and a perfect film to fall in love with. They praise its striking visuals and the way its landscape and folklore serve its central argument about wonder and simplicity.
Read the full review →The review presents the film as one of Powell and Pressburger’s most eloquent works. It particularly praises its evocation of the mysteries of the British landscape.
Read the full review →The review is positive, presenting the film as an engaging story of a woman whose ambitions change when she is delayed. It praises Wendy Hiller’s convincing portrayal of the character’s development.
Read the full review →
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