Somerset Maugham subdues his stammer to introduce four of his short stories in this highly entertaining, strikingly successful*, portmanteau pic. Ken Annakin best known of the four directors, but you’d be hard pressed to find much difference between them, largely because R. C. Sherriff’s adaptations do so well at capturing Maugham’s supremely objective house-style. Laid out like a fine meal, ‘The Facts of Life’ is the amuse bouche, a young man’s first trip to the Continent where he ignores Dad’s advice on Casinos, Lending & L’amour to his regret. That is, to father’s regret. Next, scion to a stuffy family Dirk Bogarde (very young here) shocks mater & pater in ‘Alien Corn’ with his artistic bent; he wants to be a classical pianist. Oh, dear! Sadly, unofficial fiancée Honor Blackman contrives to give him his shot. Enough tragedy, time to rub elbows with the hoi polloi as Maugham reports in ‘The Kite’ and finds snickers & snobbery (plus a whiff of authorial condescension) within intricate layers of working-class pecking order. Returning to the well-to-do for our main entrée, the sort of boulevard drama Maugham once made his own on The West End as Retired Colonel Cecil Parker tries to live down his wife’s literary success with a scandalous book of all too personal poems detailing a possible past love affair. Think how he’d feel if only he could make out the poetry! And how fortunate to have a lady friend on the side to explain it all to him. Yikes! Four courses; something less than a meal, but a satisfying nosh.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Two sequels followed: TRIO/’50 (best for ‘The Sanatorium’ with Michael Rennie & Jean Simmons) and ENCORE/’51 (not seen here).
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