After watching the Terence Rattigan DVD collection (with most of the adaptations being from the 70s and 80s) when staying with family friends last year, Rattigan very quickly became one of my favourite playwrights and he still is. His dialogue is so intelligent, witty and meaty, his characterisation so dynamic, complex and real and the storytelling so beautifully constructed.
'French Without Tears' (Rattigan's first successful play) is not my favourite of Rattigan's plays, or one of them. Do prefer 'The Winslow Boy', 'Separate Tables' and particularly 'The Browning Version' myself. Despite the story being flimsier than those three, and it doesn't lend itself as well to more cinematic film adaptations, faring much better to me with a live audience, the light as soufflé and mostly quite sophisticated comedy and the meat of the writing and characterisation still remains.
While not one of the best film adaptations of Terence Rattigan about, this 'French Without Tears' is a highly enjoyable and criminally underseen version of the play. Is the story fluffy and on the flimsy side? Sure, but it is also one of the more accessible stories of Rattigan's work subject matter-wise. Is it old fashioned? In a way, though modern audiences probably would get into it easily knowing what to expect. Does 'French Without Tears' work better on stage with a live audience? To me it does. Does that mean that it doesn't work at all as a film? Of course not, but other Rattigan plays fare better on cinematic terms, judging from director Anthony Asquith's later Rattigan film adaptations 'The Browning Version' and 'The Winslow Boy' (both even better) for example.
This film of 'French Without Tears' looks lovely, with suitably intimate and beautifully composed photography and sumptuous costumes and sets. The star in this regard is David Lean's (yes that David Lean, before he went on to even greater things) editing, especially in the carnival scene. The music is energetic and is pleasantly orchestrated.
Furthermore, the script does capture the play's wit and zest, not all but for stage-to-film translations enough of it does do, Rattigan's gift for light humour, writing that provokes thought and a darkly painful side, which brings complexity and dimension to the subject matter, and his attention to meaty characterisation still shines, even if the story still feels flimsy, the humour sparkling and as light as a souflee and other parts are very sophisticated.
Charm, heart and zest is all over 'French Without Tears', which flies by and while it is a very short film (just over an hour) one wishes a little when it's over that there was more. The highlight is the drunk scene which is hilarious. Asquith does a great job directing, very assured while understanding the intimacy of the relationship between dialogue, camera and acting.
Of the splendid cast, Ray Milland and Roland Culver, both on very natural, sparkling form, are the standouts. Ellen Drew is very charming, one can totally see what the characters see in her.
In summation, hugely enjoyable and should be made available on DVD. 8/10 Bethany Cox
