An Ideal Husband

1947
Approved
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A politician plans to expose a financial scandal, but an investor threatens to reveal his past secret if he does. His unforgiving wife adds to his dilemma of navigating the scandal and poten... Read allA politician plans to expose a financial scandal, but an investor threatens to reveal his past secret if he does. His unforgiving wife adds to his dilemma of navigating the scandal and potential exposure.A politician plans to expose a financial scandal, but an investor threatens to reveal his past secret if he does. His unforgiving wife adds to his dilemma of navigating the scandal and potential exposure.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

874

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Twelve British studio hairdressers and make-up men went on strike protesting Paulette Goddard's use of her own hairdresser during this film's production.

Goofs
At several points, the matte paintings at the top of the screen are poorly matched with the live footage below. This is particularly visible in the opening Hyde Park Corner scene where some of those riding in carriages 'lose' their heads or hats behind the trees that are supposedly in the background. On the Chiltern's grand staircase, and in the House of Commons lobby, the join between both parts of the shot is also visible.

Quotes
Laura Cheveley: Do you think it is quite charming of you to be so rude to a woman in your own house?
Viscount Arthur Goring: In the case of a very fascinating woman, sex is a challenge, not a defense.
Laura Cheveley: I suppose that is meant as a compliment. Oh my dear Arthur, women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are. That's the difference between the two sexes.

Connections
Remade as An Ideal Husband (1999)

Soundtracks
After the Ball
(uncredited)
from the musical "A Trip to Chinatown"
Written by Charles Harris
Arranged by Howard Carr
[Instrumental version played during opening credits, and again during the closing credits]

User reviews23

Review

Featured review

Classy version of Wilde in glorious Technicolor

Directed by Alexander Korda, costumed by Cecil Beaton. This is a good start for any movie, but when it is based on one of Oscar Wilde's great comedies, this starts to look like a real goodie.

The cast puts Diana Wyngard as Lady Chiltern, Hugh Williams as Lord Robert, Michael Wilding as Lord Goring, Constance Collier as Lady Markby, Glynis Johns as Miss Chiltern, and C Aubrey Smith as Goring's father, Lord Caversham. With them is Paulette Goddard, mainly known for her work in the USA, as Mrs Cheveley, the woman who 'looks like she has a past'. Now, An Ideal Husband can be witty and clever, or it can be screamingly funny and farcical (I saw a wonderful stage production which was firmly the latter): the film chooses wit over low comedy, perhaps the right idea as it works very well. The ladies are sumptuously costumed as you would expect, while the script barely tampers with the original stage play.

In comparison to the slightly later movie of The Importance of Being Earnest, this film bears up well. The cast is almost ideal and work together extremely well, and the colour certainly helps (as it did in Earnest too). Well worth a look.