what a sweet and charming movie, so cute, so gentle, a delicious cup of fresh air! Just "knowing her" by name, I fell in Love with exquisite Clunny Brown, I name Jennifer Jones.Lovely, pretty, how she acts is exactly what is needed for he part. She is Clunny Brown !And Charles Boyer, yeah, wonderful, has the right tone too.What about that bloody temporary "lover", Reginald Gardiner, if I'm not wrong ? just perfect !I had that definitive smile all along, and still have it now...and would you believe I enjoyed every minute of Cluny Brown ?All the characters are pushed to their limits, frank and strong caricatures of different members of our human society...May be you might feel it's too precious and not realistic, but who cares ? Am I here to watch the news ? NO WAY ! And do not forget once it was like that, for real, and actually if it takes different shapes, it's still the same...So, great acting from all, I bow once more, and write : Hats off to Mr Lubitsch ! He's one of the true master of comedy !Some reviewers seem to have small complains about the plot, why not ? yes, it is quiet thin, but for myself I don't mind as long as it has all this kind of charm...Me ? You people I tell you, I'd rather watch plenty ones with a thin storyline played like this one, (finaly leaving me with a smile going up to my ears) rather ones with more elaborated plot, well played too, which let me a bad taste because they are too dark and hopeless...Yes, the undertone is frivolous, about deep and sad topicsbut personally, if not always, I believe it's a good way of healing human soul... It's not Life, it's Cinema, I like to dream and smile !!! They don't do like them anymore (or so seldom...) whispers an aging fox !A film is never really good unless the camera is an eyes in the head of a poet Orson Welles

Cluny Brown is an orphaned teenage girl working as a plumber's apprentice for her uncle, and living in London between the World Wars --and between classes. While cleaning out a clogged sink, she meets an older, expatriate Czech freedom-fighter, Professor Bilinsky, and starts a battle of the genders. She is also romanced by the scion of a gentry family and a local middle-class chemist (pharmacist).Cluny is lost in Britain between the wars. The British class system is still strong in the late 1930's. Cluny, however, does not fit into the rigid castes of the day. She's not exactly working class (she has too much natural intelligence and style) -- nor is she middle class (too independent) -- nor manor born (cockney through and through). She too practical for the chemist and too rough for the gentry. She ends up being hired as a maid, and not a very good one at that, dropping food and not knowing when, where, and to whom to speak. Of course, the Professor is also outside the system -- he has to borrow evening dress just for dinner and has no visible means of support.Cluny dates the other men before she realizes that she's a better match for Bilinsky -- and for the US, where class strictures are less strict.The acting is all-around excellent. Peter Fonda shows his chops at this early phase of his career. The screenplay and direction are especially fine. "Cluny Brown" is a wonderful treat. I saw it at a revival, but I urge you to rent it if you can.

The Lubitsch Touch is evident in this witty, intelligent film. Jennifer Jones shows a vivacity and humor she had never displayed before and would not again until her clever performance in "Beat The Devil". In one amazing scene where she cannot resist showing her wares as a Plumber (to the disdain of the other party guests) she gets to play a reaction to the debacle that is amazing in its combination of pathos and hilarity. Very interesting character actors including a very, very funny Una O'Connor (whose dialogue consists mainly of incessantly clearing her throat), the light as a feather and dead on playing of Margaret Bannerman, and also a chance to see Helen Walker. Charles Boyer plays with his customary light touch and is the anchor to this film, but finally it is Jennifer Jones' performance that takes one breath away and stays with you long after you've seen it.

Have seen this more than once on TV (though not for quite a few years now) and I'd be first in line if Fox Classics were to issue it on video. It's a slight bit of fluff, given the full Twentieth gloss, and elevated to sublimely sly tongue-in-cheek humor, courtesy of Herr Lubitsch. Everyone in the cast is in top form (Thank goodness David O. Selznick was willing to loan his treasure, Jennifer Jones, to Fox...She's a delight in this one!) Standouts are Sara Allgood as the mansion's oh-so-proper head housekeeper and Richard Haydn as the hilariously stuffy Mr. Wilson, Cluny's would-be suitor. The final shot of Jennifer falling in a dead faint (due to her impending, but not yet obvious maternity) seen through a 5th Avenue bookstore window, is one of the best curtains in screen annals!