Why, Miss Pettigrew, You're Beautiful
DVD: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
I'm completely fascinated by movies that involve makeovers, which, I must confess, make for a pretty diverse group. They range from the 1980s drama Jacknife, with a scruffy Robert De Niro memorably transforming for girlfriend Kathy Baker, to Ernst Lubitsch's sexy pre-code The Smiling Lieutenant, in which Claudette Colbert performs an intervention for the demure Miriam Hopkins via "Jazz Up Your Lingerie."
The ritual jazzing up of lingerie is precisely the right activity for viewers of this week's spanking-new DVD, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
Miss Pettigrew, for those of you who missed the movie's run earlier this year, is a fizzy, dizzy comedy set in an era when everyone went to the pictures instead of the couch in front of the TV, and ladies concealed their lingerie beneath frocks rather than displaying it for everyone on the Number 70 bus.
Then again, the 1930s weren't really all that innocent, as Miss Pettigrew reminds us with its references to the casting couch, feminine wiles, and the power of a shimmery, curve-hugging evening gown. Mr. Hays, call your office!
The story, which Simon Beaufoy and David Magee adapted from Winifred Watson's 1938 novel, concerns a single amazing 24-hour period in the life of Guinevere Pettigrew, modest, meek, and middle-aged. Yup, that's Frances McDormand—you remember Marge Gunderson from Fargo, hon!—as the hard-luck Miss Pettigrew, a British nanny on the hunt for a job and a square meal. Guile and desperation bring Miss P. to the eye-popping London flat of Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams), an aspiring actress in search of a social secretary.
Within moments it's no longer entirely clear which of the two women is needier, which is guiding the other, and which more intent on her reinvention. But when Guinevere reveals a talent for improvisation in the face of Delysia's complicated love life and uncertain career, it soon becomes evident that both women are trying on identities like so much clothing and make-up.
Of course we experience the literal makeover, too, when Delysia introduces Guinevere to the glamorous world of beauty maven Edythe Dubarry (Shirley Henderson) and her fiance (Ciaran Hinds), a lingerie designer who sincerely respects women. Henderson, known to a generation of kids as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movie series, makes great use of her distinctive voice and look playing a character who could glide with ease into the 1939 version of The Women. Meow!
Sweet, ditzy, adorable Amy Adams nearly steals the movie as a woman juggling three lovers—Mark Strong, Tom Payne, and a smoldering Lee Pace—but in the end she shares honors with Frances McDormand, who invests Guinevere Pettigrew with a nice blend of vulnerability and strength. And as for Ciaran Hinds, all I'm going to say is it's a pleasure to see him back on screen, and playing such a mensch too.
Obviously none of this would come off if chemistry, comic timing, and class were lacking here, or if director Bharat Nalluri and his crackerjack team didn't approach the material with such affection. But it all comes together thanks to the terrific script, deft editing, and fabulous sets and costumes. Be sure to reserve time for a viewing with Nalluri's commentary track on, or you might miss the Merchant Ivory-caliber attention to detail that went into the production.
And if you hang on for all the DVD's extras, including two featurettes, you'll discover just how close Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day came to being made in the golden age of Hollywood! And if today's version of Miss Pettigrew wouldn't have escaped the disapproval of Mr. Hays, let alone the Legion of Decency, it's still a comedy with a sound heart.
For doing the right thing never goes out of style.
I'm completely fascinated by movies that involve makeovers, which, I must confess, make for a pretty diverse group. They range from the 1980s drama Jacknife, with a scruffy Robert De Niro memorably transforming for girlfriend Kathy Baker, to Ernst Lubitsch's sexy pre-code The Smiling Lieutenant, in which Claudette Colbert performs an intervention for the demure Miriam Hopkins via "Jazz Up Your Lingerie."
The ritual jazzing up of lingerie is precisely the right activity for viewers of this week's spanking-new DVD, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.Miss Pettigrew, for those of you who missed the movie's run earlier this year, is a fizzy, dizzy comedy set in an era when everyone went to the pictures instead of the couch in front of the TV, and ladies concealed their lingerie beneath frocks rather than displaying it for everyone on the Number 70 bus.
Then again, the 1930s weren't really all that innocent, as Miss Pettigrew reminds us with its references to the casting couch, feminine wiles, and the power of a shimmery, curve-hugging evening gown. Mr. Hays, call your office!
The story, which Simon Beaufoy and David Magee adapted from Winifred Watson's 1938 novel, concerns a single amazing 24-hour period in the life of Guinevere Pettigrew, modest, meek, and middle-aged. Yup, that's Frances McDormand—you remember Marge Gunderson from Fargo, hon!—as the hard-luck Miss Pettigrew, a British nanny on the hunt for a job and a square meal. Guile and desperation bring Miss P. to the eye-popping London flat of Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams), an aspiring actress in search of a social secretary.
Within moments it's no longer entirely clear which of the two women is needier, which is guiding the other, and which more intent on her reinvention. But when Guinevere reveals a talent for improvisation in the face of Delysia's complicated love life and uncertain career, it soon becomes evident that both women are trying on identities like so much clothing and make-up.
Of course we experience the literal makeover, too, when Delysia introduces Guinevere to the glamorous world of beauty maven Edythe Dubarry (Shirley Henderson) and her fiance (Ciaran Hinds), a lingerie designer who sincerely respects women. Henderson, known to a generation of kids as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movie series, makes great use of her distinctive voice and look playing a character who could glide with ease into the 1939 version of The Women. Meow!
Sweet, ditzy, adorable Amy Adams nearly steals the movie as a woman juggling three lovers—Mark Strong, Tom Payne, and a smoldering Lee Pace—but in the end she shares honors with Frances McDormand, who invests Guinevere Pettigrew with a nice blend of vulnerability and strength. And as for Ciaran Hinds, all I'm going to say is it's a pleasure to see him back on screen, and playing such a mensch too.
Obviously none of this would come off if chemistry, comic timing, and class were lacking here, or if director Bharat Nalluri and his crackerjack team didn't approach the material with such affection. But it all comes together thanks to the terrific script, deft editing, and fabulous sets and costumes. Be sure to reserve time for a viewing with Nalluri's commentary track on, or you might miss the Merchant Ivory-caliber attention to detail that went into the production.
And if you hang on for all the DVD's extras, including two featurettes, you'll discover just how close Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day came to being made in the golden age of Hollywood! And if today's version of Miss Pettigrew wouldn't have escaped the disapproval of Mr. Hays, let alone the Legion of Decency, it's still a comedy with a sound heart.
For doing the right thing never goes out of style.
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