The Grass Is Greener (1960)

An impoverished British earl (Cary Grant) and his wife (Deborah Kerr) have opened their ancestral estate to the public in order to make some money. When an American millionaire (Robert Mitchum) walks in and sweeps the wife off her feet, the Englishman must decide a course of action. Based on the play by Hugh and Margaret Williams (who adapted their play for the screen) and directed by Stanley Donen (CHARADE). This somewhat stagnant drawing room comedy owes a lot to Noel Coward so it's no coincidence that Coward's music is used as the film's underscore. The play was a popular hit in London's West End but was never brought to Broadway. Donen does very little to open up the movie's theatrical origins preferring to let the dialogue carry the picture. As a film, it's a testament to Star power. It's a talky piece with only the occasional barbed wit to punch it up but with genuine movie stars like Grant, Kerr, Mitchum and Jean Simmons (dressed by Dior and stealing the movie as a gin sipping chatterbox) in the four leads, it's eminently watchable. With Moray Watson recreating his stage role as the butler.