In 1959 and 1960, Deborah Kerr made a couple films that made adultery seem rather sophisticated and chic. "The Grass is Greener" and "Count Your Blessings" were both films involving very rich, handsome and well-bred folks who end up dealing with infidelity in their marriages. While this isn't a bad topic for the films, in both cases, the films were ridiculously written--way too well-mannered and seeming to say this sort of thing is inevitable. These films manage to take such a salacious topic and make it amazingly dull--pretty, but dull.
The film begins with a French soldier* (Rossano Brazzi) wooing a British lady (Kerr). While they seem to have nothing in common, they soon marry. Almost immediately, he is called into action and they don't even have a real honeymoon. What follows is incredibly stupid and makes no sense--he not only stays abroad fighting during WWII, but stays in the French military and doesn't even come home for a single visit until almost a decade later. This is supposed to be funny--with Kerr receiving letters from him promising to be home soon. Instead, any sane viewer will think he's abandoned her and doesn't give a crap about the marriage.
Out of the blue (I guess there were no more wars, even minor ones), the errant husband returns. What's amazing is that she lets him in the house. What's more amazing is that she learns that he's had LOTS of 'lady friends' while on these various assignments. It's pretty obvious they are saying he slept with lots of women--though only with his wife once (by which they had a child he's never seen and doesn't seem to care about one way or the other). What's funny or romantic about any of this (the film seems to think it is)?! Well, they inevitably divorce (duh) but they later want to reconcile (why?!)--but their young son WANTS them to divorce because he's been told how much fun it would be if they divorced. However, by the end they are reunited and everything's swell! What a pile of crap! He's a totally selfish jerk and she's a moron...and it's hard to care about a film like this. Plus, the film seems to be saying he cannot help himself because he's French!! In many ways, the couple seemed like an ultra-classy version of a couple from "The Jerry Springer Show"! With completely unlikable characters and a dull script, there wasn't much I liked about this one.
*Speaking of 'French', why in the heck did they cast Brazzi as a Frenchman considering he has a thick Italian accent?! There were many French actors who COULD have handled the job--why give it to an Italian?
The film begins with a French soldier* (Rossano Brazzi) wooing a British lady (Kerr). While they seem to have nothing in common, they soon marry. Almost immediately, he is called into action and they don't even have a real honeymoon. What follows is incredibly stupid and makes no sense--he not only stays abroad fighting during WWII, but stays in the French military and doesn't even come home for a single visit until almost a decade later. This is supposed to be funny--with Kerr receiving letters from him promising to be home soon. Instead, any sane viewer will think he's abandoned her and doesn't give a crap about the marriage.
Out of the blue (I guess there were no more wars, even minor ones), the errant husband returns. What's amazing is that she lets him in the house. What's more amazing is that she learns that he's had LOTS of 'lady friends' while on these various assignments. It's pretty obvious they are saying he slept with lots of women--though only with his wife once (by which they had a child he's never seen and doesn't seem to care about one way or the other). What's funny or romantic about any of this (the film seems to think it is)?! Well, they inevitably divorce (duh) but they later want to reconcile (why?!)--but their young son WANTS them to divorce because he's been told how much fun it would be if they divorced. However, by the end they are reunited and everything's swell! What a pile of crap! He's a totally selfish jerk and she's a moron...and it's hard to care about a film like this. Plus, the film seems to be saying he cannot help himself because he's French!! In many ways, the couple seemed like an ultra-classy version of a couple from "The Jerry Springer Show"! With completely unlikable characters and a dull script, there wasn't much I liked about this one.
*Speaking of 'French', why in the heck did they cast Brazzi as a Frenchman considering he has a thick Italian accent?! There were many French actors who COULD have handled the job--why give it to an Italian?