Product Description

In this pitch-black comedy from legendary writer-director Preston Sturges, Rex Harrison stars as Sir Alfred De Carter, a world-famous symphony conductor consumed with the suspicion that his wife is having an affair. During a concert, the jealous De Carter entertains elaborate visions of vengeance, set to three separate orchestral works. But when he attempts to put his murderous fantasies into action, nothing works out quite as planned. A brilliantly performed mixture of razor-sharp dialogue and uproarious slapstick, Unfaithfully Yours is a true classic from a grand master of screen comedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32951 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2005-07-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.com
Preston Sturges has his great run in 1940-44, with a series of comedy masterpieces unparalleled in Hollywood film. 1948's Unfaithfully Yours proves that he still had the touch, if only he could have found a supportive studio for his genius. (It would've helped if Unfaithfully Yours had been a hit, which it was not.) Sir Alfred De Carter (Rex Harrison) is a witty, vain orchestra conductor, a celebrated man married to a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell). He becomes convinced of her infidelity, and while he is on the podium during a concert, he fantasizes three homicidal revenge fantasies--all set to the classics.

The conductor looks suspiciously like a self-portrait by Sturges, and the delicious dialogue comes pouring out of Rex Harrison like pearls from a goblet. The film's main disappointment is that it doesn't feature the teeming stock company of character actors that crowd Sturges's earlier pictures (although Rudy Vallee, Lionel Stander, and Edgar Kennedy come through nicely). The film, while morbid, is often laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has something sneakily brilliant to say about the gulf between art and life: how the exquisite timing and perfect mechanics of Sir Alfred's imagination come a-cropper when he actually tries to enact his fantasies. Unfaithfully Yours was remade in a not-bad version with Dudley Moore in 1984, but this one's the keeper. Too bad it couldn't save Sturges--this is the last worthy film in a too-brief career. --Robert Horton

DVD features
A charming video introduction from Monty Python's Terry Jones provides a pleasing appreciation (although like many video "introductions," it gives away major plot points including the ending). A 20-minute interview with Sandy Sturges, the director's widow, gives wonderful background on the picture and on their relationship (including a delicious history of the film's final life). Novelist Jonathan Lethem contributes a lovely essay on the film, and a trio of Sturges scholars carry on a conversational commentary track. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Unfaithfully Yours
Preston Sturges conceived, produced, wrote and directed this comic symphony at the peak of his creative powers, deftly combining fast, stinging dialogue with moments of inspired physical comedy. Harrison is in his element, with all his trademark cantankerousness on full display (reminiscent of a much younger Henry Higgins) and Darnell's an ever tolerant vision. Look for immortal comic Edgar Kennedy as a music loving detective.

One of Sturges' very best
Only The Lady Eve forces me to edge this movie out of number-one spot among Preston Sturges' comedies. The dialogue is snappy as ever (Doltish husband: "Too much temperament! Give me the simple viewpoint!" His wisecracking wife: "You've got it, kid. You don't have to yearn for it.") but the slapstick of the finale is cleverer by far than any in his other movies. The use of music is inspired, both in Harrison's concert revenge-fantasies and in his later attempts to put them into action, when the music is spiked with comic effects. A little slow to get started, this movie soon enough develops a quirky, unpredictable, and completely fascinating story line. Don't deprive yourself of seeing this!

my favorite comedy
This is the 5th (and last) of Sturges' truly inspired comedies (the others being "Hail the Conquering Hero", "Miracle of Morgan's Creek", "The Lady Eve", and "The Palm Beach Story") and its failure at the box office is probably why it was the last. I find it incomprehensible that it failed -- it starts a little slowly, perhaps (although I actually quite like the beginning), but the last 30-45 minutes (after the concert) is just heaven. Basically the movie is a slapstick comedy, but surely the most sophisticated slapstick comedy ever, and what I find astonishing is how perfectly cast Rex Harrison turned out to be in a pratfalling role (?!?!?!?). My kids and I laugh out loud just thinking about the scenes in this movie, must less watching it. If you haven't seen this movie and ever liked ANY movie made before 1950, you should watch it. It really is fun for the entire family, and belongs in any video collection.