User Reviews

This is so quintessentially 'English' you despair of what they'd make of it in Upper Sandusky. The short answer is of course it would never be shown there or indeed anywhere West of Penzance. It's the kind of world peopled by the kind of characters that Alan Ayckbourne has inherited and keeps alive and I for one am content. It's crammed to the gills with the kind of England that would be hard to find outside a play by Esther McCracken ans there should be a society for the preservation of the Quiet Weddings and Bonnets Over The Windmills of this world. There's a lovely irony in the fact that a revival of Quiet Wedding ended its run at the Coliseum on Saturday, September 2, 1939, just as the world it represented came to an end. This is a charming film that even the wooden Derek Farr can't impair and thank God Network have made it permanently available. All we need now is its big sister Quiet Wedding.

Having read Alex da Silva's comments on Marjorie Fielding's accent, I watched the film again and find that they just don't apply: she really does not say 'heppening' nor 'ectually', which was the way idle rich, aristocrats and royalty spoke. Her accent goes with the educated lower middle-class which the family is supposed to be. Charles Williams' music contributes to much of the film's charm. Otherwise, there isn't much excitement or intrigue and yet I keep going back to it. If you go onto the Pathé website you can find a short clip of the film being made in Hungerford in September 1945, with glimpses of the actors relaxing. I recommend Barbara White in 'It Happened One Sunday' where she does a very good Irish accent. I'm hoping to find 'While the Sun Shines' where she takes the lead in the 1947 film adaptation of the Rattigan comedy play, but it seems to be unobtainable at present.

Critics of the Denys-Miranda sub-plot might want to bear a couple of things in mind in order to enjoy this film in its entirety:

1. Cousin unions were legalized in England in the 1500s, and numerous happy English kindred share such family trees, including the royals themselves

2. Farr's character, due to the roughly half-generation age difference with Miranda and also in keeping with the british ideal of reticence, should be credited rather than faulted for reining-in his admiration for Miranda, and maintaining it as an undertone nearly until the very end. Those who find him to be stuffy might enjoy re-watching the film and studying his own character development as the story unfolds, particularly around the half-way point. The contrast between Denys and Miranda in terms of temperament also provides balance to their deepening relationship.

Additionally, those who criticize reliance of this story upon dialogue as opposed to action might be persuaded otherwise by the fact that unfolding character development is furthered by the reliance upon dialogue, which rather than making the film version stage-bound, moves enjoyably outdoors in all types of weather typical of late summer.

For example, the French doors and windows of the cottage are wide open even at night, with people dropping in at all hours, lending a refreshing atmosphere of welcome. Family and friends enjoy foraging walks and bicycle rides, as well as buckboard and old-model car rides with the top down, rather than being restricted to one set of scenery.

And if one ever had to be stagebound and stuck in one place, that one would be hard to beat! Viewers with a flair for cottage chic will enjoy the rough-hewn exposed beams and posts, as well as lush upholstery reminiscent of Waverly, and of course the quaintly humorous imperfections in door height, plumbing, etc.

Lastly, this film is a Freudian playground for anyone interested in the power of the Unconscious. From the beginning, we are led to believe that Miranda may exercise inordinate control over Denys, in spite of her youth. However, a small but important bombshell is casually dropped by Denys toward the end, something that the family knew all along but the audience is clueless about. It is that Miranda was accepted to a college in another country, and has come to the family gathering to say her goodbyes. Suddenly the film is viewable in a different light - one of abandonment issues. Miranda's college plans predate plans by Denys to accompany a woman he admittedly doesn't love to work and live in America. We see his initial declaration upon Miranda's arrival that he intends to escape her clutches for what it is - a verbal reversal and transferrence. Where is he intentionally standing when he narcissistically congratulates himself for kissing the unloved Hollywood woman? Right beneath his bathroom window, where Miranda is getting ready for bed. Older sister Marcia almost sees through the ruse in remarking that bringing the other woman to the cottage has played right into Miranda's hands...but Miranda isn't the one who brought the other woman into their midst, and now we see who is really unconsciously chasing whom, and who really wants to be caught. Denys, who is the baby of his nuclear family with a special connection to his adoring younger cousin, has had her entire lifetime to study and mold her psyche, and is a master of using reverse psychology and the power of suggestion on her in order to win his way without the appearance of coercion, from the beginning of the story right up until her final word to him. We feel the passage of the limited window of time keenly until that last word, as the young people are rapidly approaching a cut-off beyond which it will be too late to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done, and yet Providence seems to intervene, utilizing the Unconscious as a quantum field to pull off a direly needed chance meeting on the road at night which corrects their projected course.

Some of the Freudian sight gags are in plain sight, but don't miss the "Easter eggs" that are more difficult to spot, such as the way some chapter endings segue hilariously into the opening of the following chapter, to complete thoughts left dangling and state what can't be said out loud.