''Woman Hater'' is a 1948 British

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Terence Young and starring Stewart Granger,

Edwige Feuillère Edwige Feuillère (born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti; October 29, 1907 – November 13, 1998) was a French stage and film actress. Biography She was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti to an Italian architect father and an Alsace-born mo ...

and

Ronald Squire Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Sq ...

. The screenplay concerns Lord Datchett, who, as a consequence of a bet with his friends, invites a French film star to stay at his house but pretends to be one of his employees while he tries to romance her with the help of his butler. When she discovers his subterfuge, she decides to turn the tables on him.

Plot

Lord Datchett believes women are vain, trivial and dull. He is irritated when French film star Colette Marly arrives in London and takes the table in a restaurant where he wanted to sit. He is scathing of her claims in the newspaper that she is tired of publicity and of men pursuing her, believing it to be an attempt to get more attention. He predicts that if she were really left alone she would throw herself at the first man she met. After being challenged by a man at his club, Datchett decides to invite her to stay at his house, aiming to stage a "scientific experiment" and prove his theory. Marly is weary of the demands of her publicity-seeking agent and being besieged by

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

hunters and journalists. When she receives Datchett's invitation to stay at his house, she accepts in the hope of some solitude. Arriving at his country house with her maid Clair, she is greeted by Datchett's butler Jameson and Lord Datchett who pretends to be Henry Dodds, Datchett's estate manager. The other staff have also been informed to help maintain the deception. Datchett tries to discover more about Marly, but she is initially unforthcoming. Slowly they become friendly, after they go riding and when Datchett contrives for them to get locked in a cellar for several hours and get drunk on brandy. Clair meanwhile flirts with both Jameson and Patrick, the Irish gardener, provoking them into jealousy and rivalry. When Reverend Meadows arrives at the house with a christening party for whom Datchett had previously agreed to be a godfather, Marly accidentally discovers Datchett's true identity. Her first angry reaction is to prepare to leave, but then she decides to play along with Datchett's pretense, but intending to teach him a lesson. While out boating on a lake, she pretends to be in distress so that he can rescue her, but when he is knocked unconscious, she becomes the rescuer, but makes him believe he did it. Datchett's elderly mother Lady Datchett arrives, and he persuades her to join in the ploy and she tries, but without much success. Eventually, Datchett admits he is in love with her and Marly triumphantly reveals that she knows who he really is and what she has done. He goes away, crestfallen, but she then realises she is in love with him. At the suggestion of Clair, Marly stages a drowning for a second time. Datchett, about to return to London after admitting the experiment was a failure, hears her cries for help and goes to rescue her, but once again, she ends up rescuing him. Safely on the bank, they confess their mutual love and embrace.

Cast

* Stewart Granger as Lord Datchett *

as Colette Marly *

as Jameson *

Jeanne de Casalis Jeanne de Casalis (22 May 1897 – 19 August 1966) was a Basutoland-born British actress of stage, radio, TV and film. Born in Basutoland as Jeanne Casalis de Pury, she was educated in France, where her businessman father was the proprietor of ...

as Clair *

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin, OBE (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He ...

as Harris *

Miles Malleson William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...

as Reverend Meadows * James Hayter as Burrell the gatekeeper *

Dandy Nichols Dandy Nichols (born Daisy Sander; 21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress best known for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the character Alf Garnett who was a parody of a working class Tory, in the BBC s ...

as Mrs Burrell *

Mary Jerrold Mary Jerrold (4 December 1877 – 3 March 1955) was an English actress. She was married to actor Hubert Harben, and mother of actress Joan Harben and celebrity chef Philip Harben. She made her London stage debut as Prudence Dering in ''Mary Pe ...

as Lady Datchett *

David Hutcheson David Hutcheson (14 June 1905 – 18 February 1976) was a British character actor. He made his film debut in ''Fast and Loose'' in 1930 and played his only lead role in 1934's '' Romance in Rhythm''. He went on to specialise in hooray henrys, sil ...

as Robert * W.A. Kelly as Patrick *

Georgina Cookson Antoinette Georgina Cookson (19 December 1918 – 1 October 2011) was a British film, stage and television actress. She died in Sydney, aged 92, on 1 October 2011. Family Cookson was the daughter of racing driver Roger Cookson and Sybil Tayl ...

as Julia * Henry Edwards as Major * Stewart Rome as Colonel Weston *

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

as Spencer *

Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-sa ...

as Autograph hunter *

Davy Burnaby George Davy Burnaby (7 April 1881 – 18 April 1949) was a British actor who appeared in more than thirty films between 1929 and 1948. He was born in Buckland, Hertfordshire and made his screen debut in the 1929 film ''The Devil's Maze''. He die ...

as Grandfather *

Vi Kaley Vi Kaley, (19 November 1878, Lambeth - 1967, Marylebone), was a British actress. She was married to Alfred Artois. Partial filmography * '' Lloyd of the C.I.D.'' (1932) * ''A Royal Demand'' (1933) * ''Gay Old Dog'' (1935) * '' The Man Without a F ...

as Grandmother *

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', ''Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son o ...

as Fletcher *

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

as Mrs Fletcher * Eddie Sutch as Harry Fletcher

Production

In January 1948, it was announced Australian writer Alec Coppel had sold a story to Stewart Granger called ''Woman Hater''. French actor Edwige Feuillère would co star. The casting of French actor was announced shortly afterwards. Granger was one of the biggest stars in British cinema at the time, best known for appearing in melodramas. He said he wanted to make the film as it gave him a chance to appear in a comedy. Feuillère arrived in London in mid-February. She had been learning English for three months, a process interrupted by appearing on the Paris stage in '' The Eagle Has Two Heads'' which had been a huge success. She was one of a number of French actors appearing in British films at the time, others including Mila Parély in '' Snowbound'',

Anne Vernon Anne Vernon (born Édith Antoinette Alexandrine Vignaud; born 7 January 1924) is a French actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1948 and 1970, including three films that were entered into the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. She ...

in ''

Warning to Wantons ''Warning to Wantons'' is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Donald Wilson and starring Harold Warrender, Anne Vernon and David Tomlinson. The screenplay, written by art historian James Laver and the director, was based upon Mary ...

'', and

Anouk Aimée Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus (born 27 April 1932), known professionally as Anouk Aimée () or Anouk, is a French film actress, who has appeared in 70 films since 1947, having begun her film career at age 14. In her early years, she studi ...

in '' The Golden Salamander''. Filming took started in March 1948, mostly taking place at

Denham Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ''Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s th ...

with sets designed by the art director Carmen Dillon. Location work was done in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

Compton Wynyates Compton Wynyates is a Tudor country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellated and turreted in parts. Following actio ...

, the home of the

Marquis of Northampton A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

. "Comedy is serious business", said Granger. "It is not always easy to get into the spirit of light hearted sophisticated comedy." The art director, editor, set designer and casting director on the film were all women.

Reception

The film was released in London in October 1948. British critics were harsh on Granger's performance. ''Variety'' said "Normally, farce doesn't call for much in story values, but relies on laughter-raising situations and snappy dialog. With ''Woman Hater'' the situations are too obviously contrived and the dialog so patently transparent that many of the frivolous interludes lose much of their value, and only serve to underline the thinness of the plot." The film did not appear on the list of the "most notable attractions" at the British box office in 1948 or 1949.

Media releases

VCI Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD on 3 July 2012.

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Alec Coppel 1948 films 1948 romantic comedy films 1940s English-language films British romantic comedy films Films directed by Terence Young Films set in London Films shot in Warwickshire Films shot at Denham Film Studios British black-and-white films 1940s British films Two Cities Films films