Review of Unfaithfully Yours (1948) by Steve N — 10 Dec 2010

Any short-list of the funniest films of all-time should have this Preston Sturges classic on it. Rex Harrison gives a tour de force performance as British symphony conductor and supposedly cuckolded husband Sir Alfred de Carter, playing him with the throttle wide open and displaying an extraordinary and enviable range of gifts, not the least of which is pantomimic comedy.

The sequence where he attempts to enact his elaborate and ill-fated scheme to murder Linda Darnell deserves to rank as one of most hilarious bits of film comedy ever done. Why the filmmakers (probably 20th Century Fox chief Daryl Zanuck, who took post-production away from Sturges) felt it necessary to rimshot some of Harrison's antics with sound embellishments I'll never know, but it counts as the only blemish in the movie.

Avoid the regrettable 1984 Dudley Moore remake at all costs.