The Reluctant Debutante

1958 "MGM presents the Comedy-Romance in luscious COLOR!"
6.7| 1h34m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 14 August 1958 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Jimmy and Sheila Broadbent, welcome to London Jimmy's 17-year-old daughter, Jane. Jane is from Jimmy's first marriage to an American and has come to visit her father and the step-mother she has never met. While visiting Sheila has the idea of making Jane a debutante, an idea Jane resists. Difficulties range from Jane's apathy to being placed on the marriage block, the determined efforts of Sheila's cousin, Mabel Claremont, to win wealthy David Fenner for her debutante daughter Clarissa, and Jane's attraction to David Parkson, an American drummer who plays in the orchestra at the coming-out balls.

Genre

Comedy, Romance

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Director

Vincente Minnelli

Production Companies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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The Reluctant Debutante Audience Reviews

UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
rodlevis The inimitable Kay Kendall steals this film along with Rex Harrison her husband, Angela Lansbury, and also with John Saxon & Sandra Dee. With the traditional MGM production values, Cinemascope, and a story line you cant help going along with, this is a film that deserves a better video presentation than it has received. One of the truly special film treats and possibly amongst each of the star' most winning performances. A treat.
Dunham16 The seven character play is a romantic comedy of the London social season of 1958 seen through the eyes of an American girl swept into it while visiting her dad in London. Four of the seven cast in this second movie version of the story among several which preceded and followed are familiar to American movie goers - Angela Lansbury, Sandra Dee, Rex Harrison and John Saxon the other three including Kay Kendall in the lead role more familiar to British movie goers. Its strongest feature is the expansion of a seven character play on a single set in the play which was once often staged in American summer stock revivals in theaters across the country is its cinemascope view of technicolor London among the scenes Whitehall and several grand ballrooms. The movie is largely a technicolor expansive setting featuring a massive cast mostly in long shots of London scenes. In some cases the scenes in which some or all of the seven characters talk as if on a stage set to say all the lines of the play is not often the strongest aspect of the film. In the original play only the character of David Fenner was the generic slapstick physical comic character played here for the second time in a motion picture by Peter Myers. In the movie in which Rex Harrison and the lead, Kay Kendall use a larger sound scope and physical movement scope than they might when saying the same lines onstage in a revival of the play now and then not work as well as they might on the more intimate single set of the play. Sandra Dee, Angela Lansbury and John Saxon seem more at ease saying their lines in the movie exactly as they might onstage in the revival of the play.
debo-mills I agree with the other reviewers about this movie being lovely to look at, and Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall are indeed very funny, but I was astounded at what the 17 year old Sandra Dee got up to! Drinking sherry (sherry?! was that the usual cafe drink for teenagers then?) like she'd been doing it all her life, staying out until 5 in the morning, smoking, and at the end of it all deciding to marry a guy she'd only seen a couple of times! And ridiculously, her father (Harrison) is totally nonchallant about it all. I know that in a lot of these old movies people got married after only knowing each other a couple of days or weeks, but a 17 year old? It beggars belief, and became annoying. What was the point of making the daughter a teenager if everone was going to behave as if she was 30? A somewhat funny movie, but Sandra Dee is obnoxious rather than endearing, in my opinion
smithy-8 This is a cute movie, made funny by Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall. Both actors are superb in comedy, especially in this comedy. It's hard to believe Ms. Kendall would be gone a year later. According to Mr. Harrison's autobiography, he knew his wife was dying, but she did not know. This movie is a wonderful valentine Rex Harrison gave to his wife, Kay Kendall.A few years earlier, Kay Kendall made a very funny movie, "Simon and Laura" with Peter Finch. Movie is not available on video, so watch for it on television.