922. Indiscreet (1958)

Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Cecil Parker

Director: Stanley Donen

Running Time: 100 mins

Indiscreet is a British film about a young actress who falls in love with a suave man that, while being a bachelor, is pretending to be married, and after she discovers this lie, she tries to figure out a way to get even with him.

This is labelled as somewhat of rom-com-drama. On the one hand, it’s got a relatively fun romance, as well as some good drama in the later stages all helped by good performances, but on the other hand, it’s not actually very funny at any point, awkward maybe, but never comedic enough to make you laugh much at all.

The best thing about this film, however, by a mile, was the brilliant performances. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman were excellent in their roles as lovers concealing secrets from one another, which provided for some entertaining tension throughout, and their sometimes melodramatic acting with regards to the seriousness of the whole affair really helped to give it that play-like feel, as the film is based on a play from a few years before.

As well as those two main players, the supporting cast of Cecil Parker and Phyllis Calvert was really strong too. Due to being based on a play, this film is limited to a cast of just 6 or 7 people, however these two, in the secondary roles, provide a successfully strong base for the story, and engage well with Grant and Bergman to make this a little bit more of a rounded film.

Away from the performances, the story is also quite a bit of fun. The romance in the first forty minutes, although it takes absolutely ages to really get going, is still relatively interesting, mirroring the first stage of Rebecca to some degree, whilst the latter stage, where it all kicks off, is a lot more exciting and actually relatively tense to watch.

However, the problem with this film, what really prevents you from enjoying it to the full as a result of the good story and acting, is the poor comedy. It may be slightly dated, but, not being much of a screwball comedy, it’s still not funny enough to ever give you a proper laugh, just the occasional chuckle, as most of the jokes come from awkward situations, not outright gags.

Overall, this gets a 6.9, due to its strong performances, interesting romance and exciting drama, however it really falls down on the comedic front, failing to ever really make you laugh and have a properly entertaining watching experience.