The Reluctant Debutante Reviews

Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this fine sophisticated comedy is especially notable for the performance of the wonderful Kay Kendall, here playing the wife of Rex Harrison (her real-life husband at the time). Harrison has a daughter by a former marriage, Dee, for whom he plans a society debut in London, where she can meet all the right boys and, perhaps, find herself a high-born husband. Dee finds the British boys as interesting as a nun's memoirs, however, and is soon crazy over Saxon, an American musician with a bad reputation. All of the gossip about Saxon is false, but that's not learned until later, when Saxon suddenly becomes the recipient of a large bequest and a title from an aged Italian relative. In his first film since his triumph in MY FAIR LADY, Harrison is his usual suave, urbane self as the concerned father, and Dee shows more acting skill than she'd exhibited previously. Saxon also indicates that he's more than just another pretty face, and Lansbury contributes a nice turn as well. But it's Kendall's film all the way; she's charming, lovable, bubbly, and funny in what was to be her penultimate motion picture.