You would never guess that this picture was plagued by such horrendous production difficulties because it feels such a fun, silly hour and a half of pure happy enjoyment.
This film marked the end of an era; it was the last of those wonderfully frivolous 1930s romantic comedies starring the gorgeous Jessie Matthews. Despite the problems of making this and considering that it didn't perform too well at the box office, it's actually pretty good and surprisingly just as enjoyable as her other pictures. Gaumont-British officially went bust during filming and its original director (and husband of Jessie Matthews) was fired during the takeover by Rank. All of this turmoil makes this feel quite different to her earlier films - but not in a bad way.
The modus operandi of the new studio wasn't the same as G-B's opulent style. This was rushed, there's less attention to detail, the sets look cheaper, there doesn't seem to be any budget for Jessie's usual designer dresses and most significantly of all, the there's no musical numbers. That the new regime dropped all of her song and dance numbers signalled the end of her career as a musical film star. The silver screen would never again glow with the incandescence of her incredible and exceptional sensuous dancing or hear her singing - times were changing. Like Joan Blondell (who like Jessie Matthews was also the sexiest woman in the world!), she was a superstar in the 30s but as time moved on she found herself just getting bit parts. Both she and Joan Blondell personified that cheerful naïve optimism in the face of adversity which was so necessary through the 1930s but that mood would not fit in the 40s when people realised that the world was a much darker place.
What would have been a musical romantic comedy is now relegated to being just a comedy but that focus actually makes this a funnier faster-paced comedy - a very funny and cheerful comedy. Michael Redgrave, who was parachuted into this at the last minute makes a far better and authentic male lead than Barry MacKay who'd been in her last few films. What makes this almost close to comic genius is that Redgrave and everyone else play their parts completely straight and seriously even as the story gets more and more absurd. Alastair Sim is hilariously bonkers and just so weird then just as you think it can't get any more crazy, Mr Jaggers from GREAT EXPECTATIONS tuns up swinging off a Swiss mountain thinking he is a bird bellowing 'tweet, tweet, tweet.' It's almost Monty Python!
