"The Reluctant Debutante" is a very good comedy of manners. Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall get top billing in a nice cast of young and "mature" stars of the day. The battle of manners plays out between Kendall and Angela Lansbury. These two are terrific in their rival- friend-rival relationship. Lansbury's Mabel Claremont is a far cry from the Jessica Fletcher of the long-running TV series (1984-96), "Murder She Wrote." The very talented Lansbury here is the noisy, butting-in, social busybody of London society. Kendall's Sheila Broadbent is a take charge, social butterfly who wants to get her stepdaughter lined up with the right man. The stepdaughter is Jane Broadbent (Sandra Dee) just arrived from the U.S., whom Sheila has never met, and her father hasn't seen in many years. All of this takes place in, around and because of "the season." In London, that means the coming out of 17-year-old girls through a grueling, seemingly endless round of debutante balls. Overseeing all of the wackiness that takes place, and suffering through long nights that end at wee hours of the morning, when he'd like to catch "a little nap before the office," is Rex Harrison as Jimmy Broadbent. Jimmy and Sheila didn't know what to expect of Jane. What will she look like? Her last photo was two years old and young. girls can change a lot in two years. Sheila wonders if Jane will like her. How will they get along? With all of this, Sheila hasn't even thought about Jane coming out in London society. But when they see the very attractive Jane, and run into Mabel Claremont and her daughter, Clarissa, Sheila announces that Jane too, will be coming out. Saxon plays David Parkson, and Peter Myers does a smashing job as David Fenner. He is a very funny overly snobbish sounding and acting eligible bachelor/suitor. All of the cast are fine. The film is a little slow getting started, but the comedy ramps up in the last half. This is a good film to show the comedy talents of all three mature leads. Harrison and Kendall were married at the time. It was her first and only marriage. She made only one more film after this and died a year later of leukemia. She was just 33 years old. In her short career, she was in 30 films and TV series. After a slow start in the 1940s, her star rose in the 1950s. She moved from TV series in 1951 to the silver screen. She won a Golden Globe for "Les Girls" of 1958. This was the first pairing of John Saxon and Sandra Dee. They would make three films together, all good movies. One of the funniest scenes is when Jimmy and Sheila hide in the kitchen to keep an eye on Jane and David. Another funny thing may not have been intentional – the strange flat where the Broadbents live. It looks like a tunnel off the living room to the bedroom section, and with a side door to the kitchen. In the end, Jimmy finds a way to save Sheila from the egg on her face. Here are some favorite lines from this film. For more dialog humor, check the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the film. Sheila, "Jimmy, if she brings him up here for a drink, she'll know we've been waiting up for her." Jimmy, "And so we have." Sheila, "But, darling, she musn't. Psychologically, it's wrong to let her see we're worried. You see, even if she isn't interested in David Parkson, she thinks we'd be against it if she was, she will be." Jimmy, "She was, she will be?" Sheila, "No, darling, she mustn't know. We must wait up for her, don't you see?" Jimmy, "But, Jane…" Sheila, "No, no, darling, in the kitchen."Sheila, "Now go in the kitchen." Jimmy, "The kitchen…?" Sheila, "To see if you can hear me." Jimmy, "But I can hear you from here." Sheila, "Oh, Jimmy, do try and understand. We're hiding in the kitchen. We have to know what's going on. Now run along." Jimmy, "My permission? I'm a married man. My wife and I make joint decisions." David Parkson, "Then tell her about Brenda Bassington." Jimmy, "She wouldn't believe it." David, "Do you?" Jimmy, "Yes." David, "Well, then." Jimmy, "Well, that has nothing to do with it. Truth doesn't mean the same to a woman that it does to a man. To them, it's what they want to believe, regardless of the facts…"Sheila, "Jimmy?" Jimmy, "Shhh. Later, darling." As they begin to dance, he kisses her tenderly.

I guess there's a little bit of "I Love Lucy" in every domestic comedy. How could there not be with such limited material. In this instance, Rex Harrison is married to Kay Kendall. Sandra Dee is Harrison's American daughter by his first wife. Dee visits the couple in London and Kendall decides on a coming out party for her during the season. (Evidently these cotillions or whatever they are have a "season", like grouse, because they all seem to come in a rush.) The problem is that, at one of the parties, Dee meets the darkly handsome young John Saxon and they fall for each other. Saxon is evidently nothing more than a bongo player in the band -- hardly suitable for the daughter of Lord and Lady Broadbent.The story adheres to all the conventional values of the period. By the end, when Dee and Saxon finally have their embrace unfettered by the conditions of social class, he turns out to be the new Duke of Positano. It would hardly do for him to be nothing more than an itinerant drummer.But the film is a success, in that it's usually funny and sometimes funny as hell. (There's a weak spot in the middle, with eavesdroppers falling farcically in and out of the kitchen.) It's from a play but writer Epstein and director Vincente Minelli have effectively opened it up. Your attention is politely directed to the virtually wordless ten-minute montage in which Harrison and Kendall are forced to attend party after party, each indistinguishable from the other. Everyone dashes around in tuxedos and evening gowns, chattering madly, while Harrison -- fiercely bored but still extremely polite -- heads towards the champagne. The parties keep him up until early in the morning and he suffers from daily hangovers and lack of sleep. Harrison is so confused that at one party, instead of Lord and Lady Broadbent, he has himself announced as "Broad and Bently Laidlaw" or something. Americans of a certain class have their coming out parties too, from the planning of which fathers are ordinarily excluded. One such father, asked about his feeling towards cotillions, put his head in his hands and moaned that they were hideous check-signing ceremonies. (That's not in the movie; it's in a documentary.) Dee and Saxon are a little flat, especially John Saxon, although they both look the part. Saxon is a mannequin but Dee at least has her slight shoulders to emphasize her bust, and that fruity voice suggestive of Bayonne. The rest of the cast are superb. Kay Kendall is the elegantly beautiful but dizzy step mother, always anxious, always confused, and with a nose that could serve as a ship's prow. Rex Harrison is superb in this light comedy. He's able to turn a scene with no dialog -- something as simple as Saxon following him into the men's room -- into a ludic gem.The direction and performances would carry this frothy comedy of mix ups even if the sometimes sparkling dialog did not.

I have watched this film so many times that I know the dialogue verbatim. Of course, it is not a significant film in the history of cinema, but good luck finding many as charming. For one thing, the cast is amazingly attractive with Kay Kendall off the charts. She is so beautiful and stylish and her comic timing is glorious. The scene with she and husband, Rex Harrison trying to spy on their daughter is priceless and their chemistry is palpable. I find that she died only a short time later and that is really depressing. She was so lovely and funny; modern actresses would suffer by comparison. Only someone like Kate Winslet is anywhere near her league.

This is my favorite comedy. Rex Harrison plays a man in London remarried to a strikingly lovely Kay Kendall. His daughter comes to live with them from America, played by Sandra Dee. She is just the right age for a "Coming Out Party", so her step-mom Kay Kendall sets about to get her ready and invite all the eligible bachelors.John Saxons plays a young man named David. Sandra meets John Saxon and likes him immediately. But a friend of Kay Kendall's Angela Lansbury who also has a daughter coming out, tells her what a terrible person John Saxon is. Angela Lansbury's own daughter likes the palace guard David.Sandra cannot stand him. John Saxon is as always the handsomest man in the movie with his smoldering good looks. He is a drummer who plays at these coming out parties.Sandra likes David ( John Saxon ) but there is another David who is one of the Palace guards.This other David looks like and acts like Edgar Bergen's dummy Mortimer Snerd. He is the classic bore. With two young men with the same name you can just imagine all the fun of mistaken identity and misunderstandings. Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall are so hilarious as they go from party to party night after night, till they are not quite sure who's party they are at or why they are there. A laugh a minute. It all makes for loads of fun and laughs. Between going to all the parties Rex and Kay have to keep their eye on Sandra, which makes for more fun then I can relate. Sandra likes Saxon and sneaks out to see him. A wonderfully hilarious comedy~ Don't miss this movie. You will be glad you saw it. Go buy it because you are going to want to see it over and over again. I think I will slip my copy in the VCR now and enjoy this movie too. Enjoy!