Please Believe Me ** (1950, Deborah Kerr, Robert Walker, Mark Stevens) – Classic Movie Review 9363

Horror expert Val Lewton unexpectedly produced a light-as-air romantic comedy as his last film in which Deborah Kerr plays Alison Kirbe of London, who is pursued aboard ship to the United States by three apparently eligible men (Robert Walker, Mark Stevens and Peter Lawford) who all think that she is wealthy after she has received a telegram from Texas saying she has inherited a livestock ranch.

The script isn’t at all bad, but the screwball soufflé fails to rise. At best director Norman Taurog’s 1950 black and white film Please Believe Me only mildly amusing, with a tentative performance from Kerr, who had yet to make her impact in Hollywood, and merely modestly engaging turns from the men.

Also in the cast are James Whitmore, Spring Byington, J Carrol Naish, Carol Savage, George Cleveland, Ian Wolfe, Bridget Carr, Henri Letondal, Gaby André and Leon Belasco, so there is considerable relief in the character playing.

MGM wanted to dump Kerr for June Allyson, but Lewton insisted on keeping her.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9363

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