No one should pass on seeing any film with Beatrice Lillie. And I have to confess I was looking forward to seeing On Approval which is a Frederick Lonsdale comedy of manners which made it to Broadway after Drury Lane in London in the middle twenties. But while I saw a faithful adaption of the rather dated play, I did not see the madcap Beatrice Lillie in this at all.Bea and Googie Withers play a couple of wealthy widows who are wealthy because their late husbands presumably made some good fortunes in whatever business they were in. A couple of aristocrats with cash flow problems played by Clive Brook and Roland Culver are looking to marry and live in a lifestyle they're accustomed to. To go to work doesn't appeal to these two twits at all. But a nice marriage to money is a lot easier.The play itself is all right if your taste runs to these kind of stories. It tries to be Oscar Wilde like, without any of Wilde's wit. And Lillie gives a good performance. But I was sitting at my computer screen waiting for her to rollerskate across the floor or break into her double damask dinner napkins routine. You can find that in the Bing Crosby film Dr. Rhythm which Beatrice Lillie co-starred with him.In fact DEMAND that TCM show that film if you want to see what Bea Lillie was all about.

This is a send up about British society people set in the 1890's that not only keeps your interest but gets progressively funnier with time. Beatrice Lillie plays Maria and Googie Withers plays Helen, with Maria deciding to go for a trial marriage for a month's holiday in Scotland with Richard. George, a Duke, tags along and through a series of planned misadventures, all four of them end up in the same castle on an island they have to row to to reach. This film must have been a breath of fresh air in 1943, as the war was still going on. Sixty five years later, it is still fresh. I had a great time watching it, it is a well made farce, and the acting is terrific. If you like British comedy at all, this is absolutely essential.

It says: "Women who are tired of their boyfriends come up with a new idea: exchange them." BUT - the exchange comes at the end, and is the films big surprise. Or was. I suggest replacing the current outline with something like this:"Nearly flawless period comedy, spicy but not vulgar. Two couples in the 1890's decide to see if they are suited for marriage by living together for a month on an island. Scandal ensues, though they are only living together, not 'living together'.Or are they?Ho!"(The significance of 'Ho!' will be clearer to the reader once the movie has been seen.)

in this 1944 film version of the Frederick Lonsdale play. Charming, caustic, biting, and very funny, On Approval centers on 4 people who end up together in a house in Scotland for a month to see if they are "suited" for marriage. Of course no one gets along, the servants leave instantly, and the weather is dreadful. Lillie made only a handful of films; what a pity. She's quite wonderful as the rich woman who disdains marriage. Clive Brook (best remembered for Cavalcade) is excellent as the Duke (son of a butcher's daughter) who assumes the airs of aristocracy without having money. Roland Culver and Googie Withers round out the bickering foursome. Surprisingly fresh and current. I'd seen the 1982 BBC play with Penelope Keith and remembered it fondly. This is different but equal. Lonsdale seemed at one time a copy of Wilde or even Coward. But he has a special way with words that makes for delightful dialogue. On Approval is worth looking for!