Unfaithfully Yours (Criterion Collection)

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Preston Sturges has his great run in 1940-44, with a series of comedy masterpieces unparalleled in Hollywood film. 1948's Unfaithfully Yours proves that he still had the touch, if only he could have found a supportive studio for his genius. (It would've helped if Unfaithfully Yours had been a hit, which it was not.) Sir Alfred De Carter (Rex Harrison) is a witty, vain orchestra conductor, a celebrated man married to a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell). He becomes convinced of her infidelity, and while he is on the podium during a concert, he fantasizes three homicidal revenge fantasies--all set to the classics.

The conductor looks suspiciously like a self-portrait by Sturges, and the delicious dialogue comes pouring out of Rex Harrison like pearls from a goblet. The film's main disappointment is that it doesn't feature the teeming stock company of character actors that crowd Sturges's earlier pictures (although Rudy Vallee, Lionel Stander, and Edgar Kennedy come through nicely). The film, while morbid, is often laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has something sneakily brilliant to say about the gulf between art and life: how the exquisite timing and perfect mechanics of Sir Alfred's imagination come a-cropper when he actually tries to enact his fantasies. Unfaithfully Yours was remade in a not-bad version with Dudley Moore in 1984, but this one's the keeper. Too bad it couldn't save Sturges--this is the last worthy film in a too-brief career. --Robert Horton

Description

In this pitch-black comedy from legendary writer-director Preston Sturges, Rex Harrison stars as Sir Alfred De Carter, a world-famous symphony conductor consumed with the suspicion that his wife is having an affair. During a concert, the jealous De Carter entertains elaborate visions of vengeance, set to three separate orchestral works. But when he attempts to put his murderous fantasies into action, nothing works out quite as planned. A brilliantly performed mixture of razor-sharp dialogue and uproarious slapstick, Unfaithfully Yours is a true classic from a grand master of screen comedy.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant film with worthless commentary from alleged "experts".......2007-08-04

If there were a way to strip this disc of its atrociously pompous and utterly worthless commentary track, I would do so without hesitation. Three supposed "scholars" mumble on at excessive length, similar to people in a movie house who carry on aimless conversations to the annoyance of other patrons. An even bigger disappointment are the seemingly stream-of-conscious ramblings by Monty Pyton's Terry Jones, which make very little sense and add nothing to the enhancement of the film. The only worthwhile extras are the reminiscences of Preston Sturges' widow, the very charming Sandy Sturges, and an absolutely brilliant booklet essay by Jonathan Lethem (why on earth didn't Criterion permit him to do the audio commentary?). The film itself of course is marvellous, and among a sterling cast Edgar Kennedy (Sweeney the Private Eye) deserved a posthumous Best Supporting Actor nomination, but 1948 was not the era to acknowledge a masterful screen performance from a veteran comic of the old-time slapstick school. For Edgar Kennedy alone, UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is worth revisiting many times over, but avoid the "bonus material" at all costs.

The Last Sturges Classic.......2007-07-19

This film marked the beginning of the end for writer/director Preston Sturges. Subsequent to this his troubles with studios would limit his productivity; all that followed on film is the hit-or-miss "Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend" and the dismaying "Diary of Major Thompson." His real swan song of brilliance was this black comedy about a conductor who imagines several ways of `disposing,' shall we say, of his wife. Each scenario is deftly blended with a piece of classical music, and the film builds to a frenetic and frenzied comic pitch by the end. Sturges made better use of Rudy Vallee's comic talents than any other director, and Rex Harrison was always a master of the light comic touch. The extras on this disc are minimal (former Python Terry Jones offers an amusing introduction to the film), but the print--as always with Criterion--is pristine. Definitely worth picking up (and certainly far preferable to the disastrous 1984 remake with Dudley Moore; yikes).

An arid technical exercise and not nearly as funny as it thinks it is.......2006-08-31

Despite liking a couple of his movies, I've never been a fan of Preston Sturges, and a second viewing of Unfaithfully Yours did nothing to change that. With rare exceptions like Frasier or Comme une Image, most supposedly `sophisticated' comedies are usually either too clever by half or not half as clever as they think they are: this definitely falls into the latter category. It may be slightly more articulate, but it still comes down to pratfalls and clichés clumsily dispensed (not to mention an incredibly one-dimensional role for Linda Darnell as the wife whose sole reason for existence seems to be to worship her husband). Unfortunately it soon becomes apparent that despite his confidence in the early part of the film, Rex Harrison is entirely wrong for the part: aside from being so incredibly unsympathetic that he simply alienates you for most of the film, he has absolutely no facility for physical comedy, which renders what could and should have been a great comic setpiece where he accidentally trashes his hotel room far more thoroughly than any rock star ever could even dream of rather tedious and protracted. (Alfred Newman's surprisingly crudely over the top slide-whistle and horn 'comic' underscoring all but stones the scene to death, a surprising lapse of judgment from a great composer in a film revolving around classical music.) In the hands of an actor with a modicum of physical comedy timing it could have been gold, but instead it's almost reduced to a technical exercise.

But the same could be said for much of the film. The idea of having the execution and resolution of Harrison's fantasies dictated by the pace of the music he conducts (Rossini for murder, Wagner for mournful forgiveness, Tchaikovsky for suicide) is inspired, but it results in scenes that feel forced, as if at the mercy of a galley slave master's drumbeat. That the scenes themselves are so predictable doesn't help, as goodwill and admiration gradually gives way to boredom in the second half.

There are, however, two saving graces. One is the scene in private detective Edgar Kennedy's office, where Harrison is furious to discover that the man he has come to castigate is a knowledgeable fan with his own tale of loss. The scene is crudely performed and reads better than it plays, but there's heart and humanity there that's lacking in too much of the rest of the film. But the film's genuine standout moment is the orchestra rehearsal, one of the best pieces of filmed musical performance in the movies, not only showing how the music is constructed but showing the life, character and human soul behind it. The loss of those qualities in the rest of the movie is all the more keenly felt in an increasingly arid and overplayed technical exercise.

A classic that ranks among the greatest of black comedies.......2006-07-03

It is easy to understand why they changed everything but the bare premise of this movie for the 1984 remake. After all, the 1948 original staggered beneath the weight of massive burdens. Its star performer not only consented but actually seemed to delight in delivering precisely articulated dialogue in long blocks, one after another--and all at crackling pace, too. Worse, Preston Sturges' clever, witty script plainly assumed that his audience possessed both general knowledge and willingness to pay attention for whole minutes at a time. Worst, Sturges' plot satirized both movie stereotypes and audience expectations.

Those 1948 audiences, for good and sufficient reasons of their own, did not turn out in droves nor did they shell out much money to see "Unfaithfully Yours." The 1984 production team did their very best to avoid that dismal fate by jettisoning Sturges' near-perfect script, ruthlessly dumbing everything down and shrinking the film to fit the talents of twinkly little Dudley Moore.

(Rex Harrison to Dudley Moore, what a falling off was there!)

Harrison plays British conductor, Sir Alfred de Carter, whom the script clearly expects the audience to identify with the real conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham. The initial satirical thrust at audience expectations is that de Carter turns out to be a super-egotistical prima donna rather than the smooth, lovable and--yes!--twinkly Sir Thomas. By a series of satisfactorily ridiculous plot developments, Sir Alfred becomes convinced that his beautiful and much younger wife is having an affair with his assistant.

Sir Alfred has a high comedy encounter with a detective played by Edgar Kennedy, one of the finest second bananas in movie history. The detective does his level best to convince the wronged husband to ignore or forgive his wife's little failings, lest he lose far more than he can ever hope to gain from shallow, trifling revenge. In the course of the scene it becomes clear that the detective had not taken his own advice in the past and now bitterly regrets it. This is a wonderful scene, and probably Kennedy's last hurrah on the screen, for he died shortly thereafter--a perfect mixture of hilarity and wistfulness.

The egotist brushes aside the warnings of the detective and transforms himself into Othello's younger brother. Before, he had been over-generous and almost too-eloquent for belief with his loving words; now, he sneers and derides. If he does not quite get around to demanding that his bewildered wife hand over a handkerchief, it is only because time is short and he has a concert to conduct.

The performance begins with an overture by Rossini. The up-tempo music puts the conductor into a manic mood and his mind turns to a plot in which he murders his wife and casts damning suspicion on his rival. The elaborate machinations of the murder scheme satirize whole flocks of creakily overblown films from "The Bat" to "Philo Vance and the Kennel Murders." The second selection is the music of the pilgrims from Wagner's Tannhaeuser--a downer after Rossini. The conductor's imagination shifts from murderous revenge to world-weary forgiveness as it satirizes the emetic nobility of films such as the often-remade "Four Feathers." Finally, a Tschaikovsky piece moves Sir Alfred's thoughts to grim competitiveness. He will challenge his younger rival to a game of Russian roulette with his wife as a reluctant witness--think of about half the films made by John Barrymore or Doug Fairbanks, Jr.

After the concert, the conductor rushes off to his home to prepare for his elaborate murder scheme, only to come hilariously crashing against the harsh reality of ruthlessly hostile mechanisms, cheerily incomprehensible operating instructions and painfully fragile chairs.

In the end, the conductor's wife offers an explanation that allows him to dismiss all his suspicions and return to his original state of (illusionary?) wedded bliss.

With brilliant performances, crackling dialogue, smart plotting and fine physical gags, "Unfaithfully Yours" ranks with "The Ladykillers," "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "Monsieur Verdoux," the best of black comedies.

Five stars.

IDLE SPECULATIONS: Good as it is--and it is very good--"Unfaithfully Yours" might have been better still.

Rex Harrison, however brilliant he may be in the dialogue scenes, is not by any stretch of the imagination a physical comedian. Even though screen credit is given to a conducting coach, Harrison is painfully stiff as a conductor and as often as not behind the beat of the music he is supposed to be conducting. And the physical comedy sequence is weakened by the obvious substitution of a stunt double from time to time--not to mention the obvious fact that Harrison's record player is far funnier than he is. In 1948 there was an actor of the right age, one who who could have gotten away with the conductor's dialogue and would unquestinably have been side-splittingly funny while conducting or going two falls out of three with the demon record player--Charlie Chaplin. Now THAT would have been something to see!

Then there is the script. The film ends on a subtly false note. As "Unfaithfuly Yours" stands now, Linda Darnell's innocent wife neatly explains away every suspicion; she leaves not only her own virtue unblemished but also that of her unpleasant younger sister who throughout the film had been positioned as the eventual fall girl. At the very end of the film, the fully reconciled conductor and wife turn away to depart for a happy evening on the town.

I think that the studio or even Sturges, himself, cut a final scene to conform to the nervous dictates of the Film Code. I think that as the happy couple and their friends leave the hotel, they were intended to pass by Edgar Kennedy, the detective who had striven so hard to preserve the de Carter marriage. I think that Darnell and Kennedy were intended to make eye contact in shared acknowledgment that the pack of lies they had concocted to reassure Sir Alfred had worked. Then, at last, the conductor's straying wife would indeed have been Unfaithfully His.

'Fantasia' à la Hitchcock.......2006-05-19

Preston Sturges just might be the greatest writer/director ever to have worked in Hollywood. Of his great comedies, any one may be said to be his finest: the moving humor of Sullivan's Travels, the censor-defying scandal-causing hilarity of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, the high sophistication of The Lady Eve, the sarcastic finger pointing satire of Hail the Conquering Hero, or even the beautiful trifling bauble that is Christmas in July.

But my vote goes to Unfaithfully Yours, Sturges' blackest, most sinister, and most sophisticated comedy. Some might say it could never compare to his earlier Paramount comedies, but in my opinion, Sturges never displayed his great talent as a filmmaker better than in this Twentieth Century Fox classic.

In his adroit combination of highly sophisticated verbal comedy, pratfalling physical gags, and audio humor, Sturges has created a comedic tale of warmth, beauty, and, at times, memorable terror.

The plot concerns an orchestra conductor, who through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings, suspects his beautiful wife of carrying on an affair with his secretary.

During his evening concert, the conductor imagines three different ways of dealing with this problem, all while conducting some famous pieces of classical music.

First, we get Fanatasia gone terribly wrong, as the razor-yielding conductor violently slashes his wife's throat to the dazzling overture from Rossini's Semiramide. He then gives us a tale of remorse, as Tannhauser's Pilgrim's Chorus provides the backdrop for a brief moment of forgiveness. And he finally presents a disturbing game of Russian Roulette to the strains of Tchaikovsky's Francesca di Rimini Overture...

But it is not until after the concert is over that the conductor must choose which of the three plans he wants to actually use on his wife. Back at his hotel apartment, Sturges' conductor tries to put into reality his plans which worked out so perfectly in his imagination---with little to no luck.

No description of Unfaithfully Yours could ever come close to summarizing the genius contained within the film. Sturges has so much to say about the male ego, relationships, music, and pride that the film can be viewed as a commentary on all of these things.

The cast is uniformly marvelous. Although many lament the fact that Sturges wasn't allowed to use his trustworthy cast of stock actors he had used consistently in his Paramount features, he certainly got equally good players to fill in all of his parts. Controlling the picture is Rex Harrison, who plays the conductor. His venemous line delivery and collosal temper create one of the most memorable characters in the cinematic tradition. Linda Darnell, a beauty of enormous unsung talent, displays her subtle comic technique in this film, creating four different and distinct characters: the real wife, the seductive tramp in the first hallucination, the guilty lover in the second, and the jittery nervous paramour in the third. She, under the magic hand of Sturges, displays acting of the highest form. Second leads Barbara Lawrence and Rudy Vallee give wonderful comedic performances that always hit their marks head on. And every single supporting role, from the private detective to the hotel telephone operators, are solid gold.

In all, Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours is a film no fan can afford to miss. No matter what you have to do, you must see this film and bask in the glory that was Preston Sturges and the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Average customer rating:

This is a successful comedy project, all round.
Musical farce with flair
Charming!
Dudley Moore at his best
The Green Eyed Monster Runs Amuck

Unfaithfully Yours
Starring: Dudley Moore , Nastassja Kinski , Armand Assante , Albert Brooks , and Cassie Yates
Director: Howard Zieff
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007ZEOMI
Release Date: 2005-06-07

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This remake of Preston Sturges's 1948 comedy follows the same plot but doesn't produce nearly as many laughs, though it does have its amusing moments. Dudley Moore is a famous orchestra conductor who is convinced that his wife (Nastassja Kinski) is having an affair with his best friend, a flamboyant violinist (Armand Assante). So he plots an elaborate scheme by which he will kill them both and get away with murder. That fantasy, which he has while conducting an orchestra, rapidly falls apart once he actually tries to put it into motion. Moore and Assante compete for overacting awards, while Kinski was never much of an actress to begin with. Still, this was one of Moore's better roles during his brief bout with stardom in the '80s, and any movie with Albert Brooks (as Moore's venal manager) in it can't be all bad. --Marshall Fine

Description

The remake of the classic with Dudley Moore suspecting Nastasja Kinski of infidelity. Enterprising revenge scenes.

Customer Reviews:

This is a successful comedy project, all round........2007-07-01

UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1984), is an obvious movie pick for fans of
Nastassja Kinski, at her peak at the time (aged 25), and those of
Dudley Moore. To enjoy this picture, it will also help viewers if
they are (even moderate) fans of classical music ( such as of
Stravinsky's Violin Concertos, for example), in addition to good,
clean, above-board humor, never going bottom feeding for laughs.

The plot has to do with what goes on in a man's mind, when he's
acheived everything, such as the ultimate in public recognition
(Carnegie Hall conductor), wealth, career, success, money, and a
beautiful wife.

The answer, of course, is the fear and deep concern of losing all,
or any of those, especially the woman, played here convincingly by
Kinski, the latter who really comes alive (unlike many of her other
movies), with a playful, expressive, affectionate, fresh,
extroverted, revealing, feminine, elegant presence.

Surrounding that paranoia of jealousy and infidelity, Moore succeeds
in his own classy manner, in generating a multitude of laughs over
the 90 mins, although the picture does seem to go offrack at the 75
minute mark and afterwards, a bit psychotic.

The soundtrack is done to a perfection, comprising hand-picked
numbers that only a veteran of the business could have selected. The
the filming is fine, with a pleasing true widescreen on DVD.

The 1980's style is visible, the actors male and femalse generously
growing their hair shoulder-length, yet, the movie has aged well in
almost all aspects.

There are a number of catchy, clever, funny phrases, double
entendres, gags that keep the humor going such as "Young men are
like fast food.. quick but not all that good!"

There's also a short nude shower scene, for those documenting. It is
in this movie, that Kinski sports a Halloween hog mask, and not in
Hotel New Hampshire.

Armand Assante is almost unrecognizable from his height, youth and
nice guy image shown here, unlike many later roles as a tough guy.

Musical farce with flair.......2007-03-09

This is a movie about musicians that even a professional musician can respect. There's plenty of over-the-top silliness, but none of the usual Hollywood technical fakery. Particularly wonderful scenes: Richard Libertini enacting the murder of Desdemona upon a hapless eggplant; Dudley Moore's murder-fantasy sequence; Moore conducting Armand Assante in a pitiless, pell-mell rush through a concerto; the unraveling of the murder fantasy; and, finally, Libertini hotly cursing Moore's shoes. The best scene of all for this musician: Moore and Assante playing "Czardas" as a violin duet, Moore leaping around the restaurant while furiously trying to spear Assante with his bow.

Charming!.......2007-02-08

A great romantic comedy. If you like Dudley, then this is one of the best. Nastassia Kinski, Armand, Brooks and Libertini are excellent as well. If you don't know these actors, but like romantic comedies, and you like classical music, then do yourself a favor and watch this! I'll never forget seeing this when I was a teenager on HBO one late night, hilarious!! And, now, years later when I finally got it on DVD, it was really great to see again. Cheers.

Dudley Moore at his best.......2006-10-27

If you find Dudley Moore to be a very funny guy you will love this movie. Apart from "10" this is the "must have" Moore comedy. He, along with Nastassja Kinski and Armand Assante go through a myriad of scenarios involving the perception of infidelity. The cast is further enhanced by Albert Brooks and Richard Libertiny. Moore plays a middle-aged composer/conductor named Claude Eastman, Assante plays his best friend and famous violinist Max Stein. Nastassja Kinski plays Moore's wife Daniella who is about half Claude's age. The plot revolves around a lot of misunderstandings and misreadings between the main characters resulting in Claude's convictions about his wife and Max having an affair. Brooks' character is named Norman and is married to Carla (Cassie Yates). Libertiny plays Guiseppe who as Claude's buttler is hilarious with is thick Italian accent. Norman misunderstands Guiseppe and hires a private-eye to keep tabs on Daniella. He figures that is what his pal Claude wanted when in reality all he wanted was for him to look after her. Claude in turn gets a report from the private-eye who himself misconstrudes the information. Armed with what he thinks is proof, Claude sets a plan to get rid of his infidel wife and her lover (Assante). What happens after that is the juxtaposition of the events as Claude planned them and how they really turn out. The humor is silly and yet very clever. Moore's performance is fantastic as he plays another scene where his character is drunk (a la Arthur and very funny). My favorite scene happens in the kitchen and involves Moore and Assante (I will not reveal it so that you see it for yourselves). Brooks is well suited to play Norman against Yate's Carla who ends up being the one who starts it all. In all, the movie plays very well, is one of my all-time-favorite comedies and it could not have been casted any better. It almost feels as if the cast lived together for a while in order to nail their characters as well as they did. Films like this are hard to come by these days. Hollywood seems to concentrated in putting a lot of money and effects in their fare leaving films like this to smaller independent outfits. The movie also keeps a pretty high decorum regarding the handling of sexual themes. Once again, content over hype. This film prooves that you don't have to get rauchy or rely on gross-out humor to be funny. I highly recommend this film.

The Green Eyed Monster Runs Amuck.......2006-04-30

Dudley Moore plays a famous conductor recently wed to a young and beautiful European actress played by Nastassja Kinski. It is a good relationship and the couple loves each other until a misunderstanding leads to suspicion on Moore's part. He comes to believe his beautiful child bride is playing around. Worse, he thinks she is playing around with his prot?g?, a notorious womanizer. Its untrue but coincidences mount up to reinforce the idea until he is blind with rage and plots both of their murders.

It sound very serious thus far but remember that the jealous husband is played by Dudley Moore. That means that this is a comedy as he puts his plot into action with Moore's typically inept style. Nothing goes as planned and each instance is usually good for a few laughs.

This film was NOT as funny as I remembered it being when I was a kid but I did laugh and I did enjoy it. Particularly effective is the use of classical music to set the mood throughout. Often, the pieces used are familiar and even stereotypical but that does not stop them from being appropriate or well chosen.

Average customer rating:

Brilliant film with worthless commentary from alleged "experts"
The Last Sturges Classic
An arid technical exercise and not nearly as funny as it thinks it is
A classic that ranks among the greatest of black comedies
'Fantasia' à la Hitchcock

Unfaithfully Yours
Starring: Rex Harrison , Linda Darnell , Rudy Vallee , Barbara Lawrence , and Kurt Kreuger
Director: Preston Sturges
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( U ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00021Y8X2

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Customer Reviews:

Brilliant film with worthless commentary from alleged "experts".......2007-08-04

The Last Sturges Classic.......2007-07-19

An arid technical exercise and not nearly as funny as it thinks it is.......2006-08-31

A classic that ranks among the greatest of black comedies.......2006-07-03

'Fantasia' à la Hitchcock.......2006-05-19

Average customer rating:

Out To Sea & Unfaithfully Yours

Manufacturer: Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Double Feature
2 Dvds
Unfaithfully Yours
Out to sea

ASIN: B000VYM3X2
Release Date: 2007-12-04

Product Description

Double Feature Dvd, Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau in OUT to SEA. Also Dudley Moore in UnFAITHFULLY Yours.

DVD:

DVD

DVD