Cluny Brown

A Lubitsch comedy set in England. Cluny Brown was raised in London by her plumber uncle. She likes tackling blocked drains and is good at it. The trouble is that a woman doing this work is not thought proper. To straighten her out, her uncle sends her to a country house as a maid. Among the family's guests is a Czech writer named Adam Belinski, a refugee from Europe whom nobody can quite place. The idea is class and place: everyone keeps reminding someone where they belong. Belinski objects and tells Cluny one thing; other people do not get to decide where anyone should be. The humour is fine and works entirely by implication; there are no big jokes, only what sits under the sentences. Jennifer Jones plays Cluny and Charles Boyer plays Belinski. Peter Lawford is in the cast. Ernst Lubitsch directed; it was the last film he was able to complete. A fine example for anyone who likes classical Hollywood comedy and Lubitsch's manner. For a viewer expecting pace, the film moves calmly and its humour is quiet.