Alas, little is left here of Oscar Wilde's famous play, "Lady Windemere's Fan", as so much screen time is now taken up with the added present-day sequences. Nonetheless, George Sanders and Martita Hunt still have all the best lines. On the other hand, Richard Greene is so mediocre an actor, he diverts audience sympathy in the wrong directions. Otto told me it was one of the very few times in his career that he disliked a movie whilst actually shooting it. I don't agree with him. The movie is very stylishly directed and has all the hallmarks of Preminger's middle-career style, particularly in its long takes and fluid camera-work. I particularly liked the long take of Sanders and Crain on the balcony while dancers whirl (slightly out of focus) in the ball-room below. It's certainly not Otto's fault that the movie is over-cluttered with dialogue and that Wilde's wit has been drained off and that many of the players have little charisma and are just plain dull. Miss Crain, for instance, could be described as a dull actress in a dull part. Yes, in all, the movie is rather disappointing, but it's a good example of how NOT to adapt a Victorian comedy of manners. Don't try to make it topical. That just dates it all the more. When Googie Withers revived "The Circle", she actually set it BACK to the 1890s. And that was a very successful adaptation, both with critics and audiences!

This 1949 version of Oscar Wildes Lady Windermere's Fan is lovely, performed with wry wit and delicious innuendos. Madeleine Carroll plays Mrs. Erlynne brilliantly along with George Sanders as Lord Robert Darlington, together they take us back to a different era. The now elderly Mrs. Erlynne recounts memories of love , loss and a mother's sacrifice and this story is played out in flashback in Victorian era London, with Jeanne Crain as the beautiful, young Lady Margaret Windermere and Richard Greene as Lord Arthur Windermere. Martita Hunt amuses as the Duchess of Berwick, a typical gossipy, upper-class matron. This is not a classic film of Oscar Wildes classic story, but it is very thoughtfully done and this film version moves along at a pleasurable pace. I must correct a fellow reviewer, we are told the fate of Lady and Lord Windermere, early in the story Mrs. Erlynne tells Lord Darlington she has visited their grave as they were killed together in the first bombing of London during WW II. I enjoyed this story about the hypocrisy and morals during the Victorian era , and Madeleines Carroll's delightful performance I would watch again. But this is a film I encourage the reader to watch and decide for themselves.

Still, another picture depicting a mother's sacrifice. Don't you think it was naive of Jeanne Crain never to realize that Madeleine Carroll was her mother? Who else but a mother would speak to Crain in the way Carroll did?Carroll steals the film as a woman with a past who returns to London to secure her dead daughter's fan. The only way she can prove her involvement with the fan is to reintroduce herself to the elderly George Sanders, once a lover of the Crain character so many years ago.This is definitely a film describing the mores, culture and gossip of London society, circa turn of the century. Martita Hunt, as the duchess, is just perfect in the part of the gossiper thriving attention.Carroll gave up a potential life of luxury to save her daughter's marriage. Didn't anyone think it odd that Carroll, so much older, could actually be the lover of Crain's husband, Richard Greene, her son-in-law?

I was looking forward to this old film because of its cast -- the lovely and talented Jeanne Crain, Madeleine Carroll, Richard Greene, and the always interesting George Sanders. Unfortunately, the first third of the film was rather disappointing...almost dull. But then, the mystery begins and things get far more interesting -- why is Richard Geene paying large sums of money to Madeleine Carroll? Is it an affair? Almost certainly...except that it isn't.Jeanne Crain was, in my view, one of the loveliest actresses of her era, and she shines here, although I would say this film is more of an ensemble cast than a star vehicle. Madeleine Carroll -- in her last film -- is absolutely riveting here, not to mention mysterious. It's a rather odd film for George Sanders in that he's the character he so often played in the parts of the film that are flashbacks, but a very elderly gentleman for much of the story. Richard Greene, whose career pretty much stalled after the way, was still doing nicely here...a fine and underrated actor, though this is far from his best role.I was a little disappointed at the end of the film that we have no idea what happened to Jeanne Crain and Richard Greene. Dead in the war? We never know.Personally, I slightly preferred the 2004 film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde story -- "A Good Woman", which takes place in Italy. It starred Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Wilkinson. It had its own flaws, but it didn't suffer from the first third of the film being awkward. Although, I thought the rest of the Jeanne Crain version was better. Kind of a toss up, really.