''Indiscreet'' is a 1958 British
romantic comedy film directed by
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and Choreography, choreographer whose most celebrated works are ''On the Town (film), On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of wh ...
and starring
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...
and
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
.
The film is based on the play ''
Kind Sir'' written by
Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna (November 7, 1909 – November 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films during a forty-year ca ...
. This was Grant's and Bergman's second film together, after
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
Notorious
Notorious means well known for a negative trait, characteristic, or action. It may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Notorious'' (1946 film), a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock
* ''Notorious'' (1992 film), a TV film re ...
'' (1946), and was one of the first films to popularise artistic use of the technique of
split screens. The film was remade for television in 1988 starring
Robert Wagner and
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model.
She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in ...
.
Plot
Anna Kalman is an accomplished London-based theatre actress who has given up her hopes of finding the man of her dreams. Through her brother-in-law, Alfred Munson, she meets a handsome economist, Philip Adams. She is instantly captivated by him and expresses visible interest in him.
At the end of their first meeting, she makes a pass at him to go on a date sometime later to which he politely states that he is married. He further adds that he is separated and unable to get a divorce from his wife. Anna is seemingly unperturbed by the fact and still asks him out whereupon he agrees.
They hit it off on their first date and continue seeing each other frequently. Soon after, they fall in love. Anna is then cautioned by her sister Margaret about the affair but she rebuffs her approach.
As their romance continues to blossom, Philip receives a temporary transfer notice to New York for his work at
NATO, which greatly distresses Anna as it will keep them apart for possibly five months.
On the day before Philip's scheduled sail, Alfred tells Philip that he knows Philip is a bachelor from Scotland Yard investigations and asks him the reason for this secret. Philip reveals that he is unenthusiastic about the idea of marriage but can't give up on women, which led him to develop this white lie. However, he assures Alfred that he sincerely loves Anna. He also tells that he plans to surprise Anna on her birthday the next day by delaying his departure by a few days and visiting her at midnight.
Anna informs Alfred and Margaret that she plans to go to New York to surprise Philip. To discourage her, Alfred unwillingly discloses Philip's plan. Margaret further worsens the situation by stating that Philip is actually unmarried. Anna becomes furious upon learning this, as she takes this as an insult to her dignity. She decides to go on as if nothing happened but secretly concocts a plan to get even with him.
She arranges an elaborate ruse where it will appear that she was having an affair with David, an old flame, when Philip comes to visit her at midnight on her birthday. But it does not go as planned when David meets with an accident and she is informed that he can't come. She tries to solve it by making her elderly caretaker Carl play the part of David. Despite this, her plan goes haywire when Philip comes and actually proposes marriage to her and leaves when he mistakes Carl for David. She is absolutely distraught by this, but luckily Philip returns and she is able to clear up the confusion. She tells him that she is happy the way things are. But now Philip is adamant about getting married and tells her so. Hearing this, Anna becomes extremely happy and the film ends with the couple embracing each other.
Main cast
*
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...
- Philip Adams
*
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
- Anna Kalman
*
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...
- Alfred Munson
*
Phyllis Calvert
Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...
- Margaret Munson
*
David Kossoff
David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV si ...
- Carl Banks
*
Megs Jenkins - Doris Banks
Production
No film studio sought the rights to the play ''
Kind Sir'', so
Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna (November 7, 1909 – November 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films during a forty-year ca ...
's co-producers -
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American director, writer, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing other musicals.
Early years
Logan w ...
,
Mary Martin, and
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...
- agreed to Krasna's offer to buy the rights himself for $10,000. Krasna did not tell his fellow producers he had lined up Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman to star in a film.
In March 1955 United Artists announced Krasna would direct a film version for that studio. It was originally announced that the film would be made with either
Marilyn Monroe or
Jayne Mansfield, and with
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
as the male star.
Krasna asked
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and Choreography, choreographer whose most celebrated works are ''On the Town (film), On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of wh ...
if he wanted to direct while the latter was making ''
Kiss Them for Me'' with Grant. Donen agreed "but only with Cary". Grant agreed but only if his co-star was Ingrid Bergman (the two had last acted together in ''Notorious''
946
Year 946 ( CMXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary for ...
. Bergman agreed provided the film could be shot in England, as she had a theatre commitment in Paris. Krasna agreed to make the changes from the play. Donen and Grant formed a company together, Grandon Productions, to make the film.
['INDISCREET' BEFORE THE CAMERA IN BRITAIN By STEPHEN WATT. New York Times 26 January 1958: X5.] In September 1957 Bergman announced she and Grant would star in the film for Warners.
Scenes in the Players' Club were filmed at the
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...
in London. The club agreed to let them film there but not to use their name.
Reception
Box office
The film ranked in the top 10 British box office hits in terms of gross profits in 1958. ''
Kinematograph Weekly
''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971.
History
''Kinematograph Weekly'' was founded in 1889 as the monthly publication ''Optical Magic Lantern ...
'' listed it as being "in the money" at the British box office in 1958.
It was popular and well reviewed. Logan saw the movie expecting to find it different from the play and was surprised to find it "verbatim" like ''Kind Sir''. "Krasna's writing and my taste were more than vindicated," said Logan. "Had I been well
irecting the playit would have been another story."
Accolades
''Indiscreet'' was nominated for three
Golden Globes
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, two
BAFTAs, and one
Writers Guild of America award but failed to win any of them.
The film is recognized by
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
in these lists:
* 2002:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated
1988 television remake
The film was remade as a 1988 television movie. It was announced in March 1987 as a vehicle for
Robert Wagner. Wagner pitched the idea to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
because he loved the original.
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model.
She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in ...
's casting was announced in February 1988. Filming was supposed to start in February 1988 but was pushed back to mid April. Filming finished by May.
The ''
Chicago Tribune'' wrote: "Leslie-Anne
icDown obviously is no Bergman... Wagner is no Grant, try as he may.... "Indiscreet" is more flimsy than brittle, filled with lighter-than-air dialogue and the old hiding-out-on-window- ledges and falling-out-of-rowboat gambits. On the up side there is Down, who at times looks positively
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
ian, whether parading around in backless dresses or demonstrating a very special talent for saucily closing doors with her tush."
The ''
Los Angeles Times'' said: "The vapidity of both
eadperformances is magnified by come-hither camera shots that linger too long on their empty faces... Down has a little more flounce to the ounce, but the best she can do as a woman deceived is to fly into a deep snit. Production values evoke the silky-bland noblesse oblige that has been canonized for TV by "
Dynasty" and "
Knots Landing
''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas (1978 TV series), Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially ...
"."
"Go out and rent the original on video cassette," said ''
The New York Times''.
[Reviews/Television; An Amish Farmer and a Prosecutor: eview O'Connor, John J. New York Times 24 October 1988: C.16.]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
Review of Broadway productionat Variety
1988 TV filmat
IMDb
1988 TV Filmat BFI
{{Authority control
1958 films
1958 romantic comedy films
British romantic comedy films
Films shot at Associated British Studios
Warner Bros. films
British films based on plays
Films directed by Stanley Donen
Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett
Films set in London
Films set in England
1950s English-language films
1950s British films