That Uncertain Feeling *** (1941, Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith) – Classic Movie Review 8,851

Ernst Lubitsch remakes his 1925 silent movie Kiss Me Again as the 1941 film That Uncertain Feeling, a daft but witty comedy about an insomniac wife (Merle Oberon), who gets psychosomatic hiccups and consults a psychoanalyst.

‘Success in business is 50 per cent hard work and 50 per cent the right cigar.’ – Larry Baker (Melvyn Douglas).

Director Ernst Lubitsch remakes his 1925 silent movie Kiss Me Again as the 1941 film That Uncertain Feeling, a sometimes daft but often witty comedy about an insomniac wife, Jill Baker (Merle Oberon), who gets psychosomatic hiccups and reluctantly consults a psychoanalyst, Dr Vengard (Alan Mowbray), who diagnoses that the problem is her supposedly happy marriage to insurance salesman Larry Baker (Melvyn Douglas). Then she meets confused pianist Alexander Sebastian (Burgess Meredith) in the doctor’s waiting room.

Burgess Meredith takes the acting honours as the zany fellow patient and pianist Alexander Sebastian, on whom the wife becomes infatuated, and Alan Mowbray is good value too.

It turns out that Jill is in fact a bored wife, and now she seeks a divorce from insurance salesman Larry to marry eccentric pianist Alexander. So Jill gets divorced and engaged to Sebastian, but, when she learns that Larry is seeing an attractive woman, she gets jealous and realises she still loves her ex-husband.

And, with other showy performers Olive Blakeney, Harry Davenport, Eve Arden, Sig Ruman and Richard Carle also in the cast, the two stars Oberon and Douglas have a hard time battling the competition, as good as they are.

That Uncertain Feeling is a sophisticated screwball comedy, nicely written by Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay) and Walter Reisch (adaptation), based on the 1880 French play Divorçons by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac, performed with lovely performances, and expertly guided by the famed Lubitsch touch. The production is by Lesser-Lubitsch and this is indeed lesser Lubitsch, but it is pretty smart fun anyway. It is fast moving and all over in just 84 minutes, brevity being the soul of wit.

However, it failed at the box office.

That Uncertain Feeling is directed by Ernst Lubitsch, runs 84 minutes, is made Sol Lesser Productions and Ernst Lubitsch Productions, is released by United Artists, is written by Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay) and Walter Reisch (adaptation), based on the play Divorçons by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac, is shot in black and white by George Barnes, is produced by Sol Lesser and Ernst Lubitsch, is scored by Werner R Heymann, and is designed by Alexander Golitzen.

It was nominated for an Oscar: Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture (Werner R Heymann).

The character played by the 30-year old Merle Oberon claims to be 22, raises it to 24 and later admits to being married at the age of 19, six years earlier.

The cast are Merle Oberon as Jill Baker, Melvyn Douglas as Larry Baker, Burgess Meredith as Alexander Sebastian, Alan Mowbray as Dr Vengard, Olive Blakeney as Jill’s friend Margie Stallings, Harry Davenport as Larry’s lawyer Jones,  Sig Ruman as Larry’s prospective client Mr Kafka, Eve Arden as Sally Aikens, Richard Carle as the Butler, and Rolfe Sedan as Art Dealer.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,851

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That Uncertain Feeling (1941, Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas).