Genevieve (1953)

A young barrister (John Gregson) and his best friend (Kenneth More) are classic car buffs. Every year they participate in a London to Brighton auto race expressly for classic car owners. But the friends are very competitive which irritates their traveling companions, the barrister's wife (Dinah Sheridan) and the friend's latest girl, a trumpet playing model ((Kay Kendall). Written by William Rose (GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER) and directed by Henry Cornelius (I AM A CAMERA). I'm not much of a fan of British comedies of this era (the Ealing comedies leave me cold) but I find this one quite charming and irresistible. Rose also wrote one of my favorite all time comedies IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and one can see the seeds of that film here. It helps that the four leads are all immensely likable (even when their characters irritating) but the scene stealer here is Kay Kendall in a winning combination of beautiful and funny. The film was a huge hit (and received 2 Oscar nominations) and Hollywood would soon beckon Kendall. With Joyce Grenfell, Geoffrey Keen and Michael Medwin.