Incannerax
What a waste of my time!!!
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Jerrie
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
edwagreen
Shades of "Lady for A Day," and its remake with Bette Davis of "Pocketful of Miracles," is shown here slightly when a dance hall queen, Greer Garson, wed a wealthy Walter Pidgeon, had a daughter with him and was summarily kicked out of the house by Pidgeon and his mother, Lucille Watson.Years later Garson returns for her wedding. The film is very much predictable with Garson and Pidgeon again falling for each other and Watson using Cesar Romero as the guy to break it up. Romero's mother, the usually quite funny Mary Boland, is wasted here.Taylor's husband-to-be is never shown and yet his parents are. Supposedly, he is off on maneuvers as the wedding approaches. Peter Lawford as the painter is infatuated with Taylor and romance blossoms.Garson and Pidgeon actually did some singing and the last scene where they are both caught in the mud of a rainstorm is humorous.Garson and Pidgeon had such wonderful chemistry between them in their more dramatic films.Certainly, this film was a change of pace for both of them and they make it work.Garson showed her usual dramatic flare in the scene where she meets her daughter for the first time in almost 20 years.She is also a keen mother who realizes that Taylor is falling for the Lawford character.
Emaisie39
Greer Garson had a charmed film career. She was discovered on the English stage by Louis B. Mayer when she was 33. Her MGM career stalled until she was cast opposite Robert Donat in the classic "Goodbye Mr. Chips"(1939) which made her an immediate major star and a worthy successor to fading MGM superstars Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Garbo. Her lovely, charismatic performance in this film brought her the first of seven Best Actress Oscar nominations. Truth be told her role was too small for such a nomination and Shearer's and Crawford's superb work in "The Women"(1939) should have gotten the nominations. Garson's next film was the disastrous "Remember"(1939) a glossy flat so-called comedy that had her much too prim and proper. But after Shearer unwisely passed on "Pride and Prejudice"(1940) Garson was cast in the central role and received raves from everyone. In retrospect she seems too old for this and the more youthful-looking classy Shearer would have been much better but this film made Garson an enormous star which she remained until a string of entertaining disasters in the early 50's. Of course Garson would win her Oscar for the excellent blockbuster "Mrs.Miniver (1942) -another dumb Shearer turn-down- and Garson would now be typecast in generally too noble and ladylike roles. Nonetheless Garson gave a sparkling performance opposite Crawford in the forgotten "When Ladies Meet"(1941) and gave marvelous natural performances in the hugely popular yet maligned "Adventure"(1946) and superb in the disastrous "Desire Me"(1947). The comedy "Julia Misbehaves" came right after and proved a tremendous hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Though superficially "the lady" once again this role allows Greer to be the comedienne and she succeeds splendidly. The sparkling script and direction, the MGM gloss, her great chemistry with Pidgeon, and the beautiful young co-stars Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Lawford add to the non-stop fun. She plays a wayward showgirl who wants to be part of her daughter's wedding even though she has not been around for years. It's the kind of light hearted romp that Hollywood tries to do now in days with Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Reese Witherspoon and surprisingly Diane Keaton. Of course these recent films rarely work as well as the delightful "Julia Misbehaves." After this Garson returned to the lady roles and had her last big hit with the stodgy technicolored "That Forsythe Woman"(1949). Most of the films that followed were failures except for her outstanding work in "Julius Caesar"(MGM,1953) and Oscar-nominated as Eleanor Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello"(Warner Brothers, 1960).
blanche-2
Greer Garson is again teamed up with Walter Pidgeon in the delightful comedy, "Julia Misbehaves," which also stars 16-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and a very adorable Peter Lawford. Taylor and Lawford are a subplot in this film, which mainly concerns Garson as Julia, an entertainer, showing up to attend the wedding of the daughter she hasn't seen since infancy. Because of the breakup of her marriage and her transient lifestyle, she left the child with her husband's family.This is a fun movie with some great scenes, the best of which is an acrobatic act featuring Julia. It is hilarious. Cesar Romero makes a game attempt at a Cockney accent, and is very good as Nicky, the head of the act who is interested in marrying Julia. Nigel Bruce is a man conned out of 6950 francs by Julia, and Lucile Watson is Julia's disapproving mother-in-law. Pidgeon plays Julia's husband, who hasn't seen her in years, but on encountering her again, realizes what he's been missing.Wedding plans don't go as expected once Julia is in the house. A very pretty Elizabeth Taylor gets her first screen kiss from Lawford, and they make a charming couple. But this isn't their film, it's Garson's, in a different type of role for her. She is up to the task. Over the years, perhaps due to some of the sentimental movies she made and being raked over the coals by Pauline Kael, Garson's reputation has suffered. However, she is terrific in "Julia Misbehaves," and this entertaining film is well worth seeing.
maxwelllimited
"Julia Misbehaves" is a charming comedy filled with romance and touching moments. Greer Garson sparkles as Julia, a penniless showgirl who has been invited to attend the very formal wedding of her daughter, Elizabeth Taylor, whom she hasn't seen since she was a baby. Along the way, she encounters acrobat Cesar Romero and his wacky family, rich aristocrat Nigel Bruce with an eye for pretty girls, and estranged husband Walter Pidgeon who begins to wonder how he ever let her go in the first place. All of the interactions lead into one humorous complication after another and show off Ms. Garson's comedic timing that was rarely seen in her usual dramatic roles.