But what it lacks is a solidly convincing performance from MAGGIE SMITH. Instead we get an over-the-top, absurd characterization of an eccentric elderly woman with money and romance on her mind as she tries to convince her stuffy nephew to change his straight-laced ways.
It's astonishingly overdone by Smith, so theatrical it makes Auntie Mame look like a demure housewife by comparison.
What moves here is the scenery, handsomely photographed in vivid Technicolor all over European locales--and sumptuous looking costumes, colorful, vivid, always in character. But someone should have told MAGGIE SMITH to tone it down several octaves. George Cukor has allowed her to perform as though she were spoofing every eccentric lady she ever played--and then some.
ALEC McCOWEN is subdued and very good as the bewitched and bewildered nephew who gradually comes to admire his aunt for her style. But the ending, where he and LOU GOSSETT, JR. toss a coin in the air, leaves everything very unresolved.
Summing up: Fluffy material that could have been so much better. But when has Hollywood ever done right by Graham Greene--with a couple of rare exceptions.
On the credit side: The twist at the end is clever until you stop to think about how it really doesn't make that much sense. Still, it's clever enough and it works.
It's astonishingly overdone by Smith, so theatrical it makes Auntie Mame look like a demure housewife by comparison.
What moves here is the scenery, handsomely photographed in vivid Technicolor all over European locales--and sumptuous looking costumes, colorful, vivid, always in character. But someone should have told MAGGIE SMITH to tone it down several octaves. George Cukor has allowed her to perform as though she were spoofing every eccentric lady she ever played--and then some.
ALEC McCOWEN is subdued and very good as the bewitched and bewildered nephew who gradually comes to admire his aunt for her style. But the ending, where he and LOU GOSSETT, JR. toss a coin in the air, leaves everything very unresolved.
Summing up: Fluffy material that could have been so much better. But when has Hollywood ever done right by Graham Greene--with a couple of rare exceptions.
On the credit side: The twist at the end is clever until you stop to think about how it really doesn't make that much sense. Still, it's clever enough and it works.