Julia Misbehaves (1948)

84% of users liked it
(121 ratings)

After suffering nobly in several heavyweight MGM dramas, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon begged the studio to cast them together in a comedy. Though not an all-out laff riot, Julia Misbehaves strives hard to please. Garson plays an ever-in-debt British music-hall performer who relies on the largess… More After suffering nobly in several heavyweight MGM dramas, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon begged the studio to cast them together in a comedy. Though not an all-out laff riot, Julia Misbehaves strives hard to please. Garson plays an ever-in-debt British music-hall performer who relies on the largess of her friends to keep the wolf from the door. Pidgeon portrays Garson's ex-husband, who for the past 20 years has lived in Paris with their daughter Elizabeth Taylor. When Taylor becomes engaged, she sends Garson a wedding invitation. Broke again, Garson hastily joins an acrobatic act to earn steerage money, and charms British nobleman Nigel Bruce into giving her enough cash for a wedding present. Once she arrives in Paris, Garson sticks her nose into everyone's affairs, much to the dismay of the uptight Pidgeon. Garson even advises daughter Taylor to marry someone other than her betrothed. Despite her screwball behavior, Pidgeon can't help falling in love with Garson all over again--but it takes a zany sequence in and around a mountain chalet to knot together the many loose plotlines. Julia Misbehaves was adapted from The Nutmeg Tree, a novel by Margery Sharp. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 39 min.
Directed By: Jack Conway
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 8, 1948 Wide
On DVD: May 26, 1993

Critic Reviews

, TIME Magazine
This semi-farcical rehash of Madame X, etc. might have been an entertaining movie, but it is done without gaiety, irony, style or even simple fun.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fast and vigorous in walloping over the comedy.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Maybe Miss Garson's wild adorers will think it the giddiest sort of lark, but it looks to this anxious observer like a fall on her beautiful face.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A charming comedy that shows off Garson's flair for light-heartedness in an unaccustomed role.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

Silly trifle but its fun to see Greer Garson cut loose.

Cast

            Greer Garson as Julia Packett

            Walter Pidgeon as William Sylvester Packett

            Peter Lawford as Ritchie Lorgan

            Elizabeth Taylor as Susan Packett

            Cesar Romero as Fred Gennochio

            Lucile Watson as Mrs. Packett

            Nigel Bruce as Col. Willowbrook

            Mary Boland as Mrs. Gennochio

            Reginald Owen as Bennie Hawkins

            Henry Stephenson as Lord Pennystone

            Aubrey Mather as Vicar

            Ian Wolfe as Hobson

            Fritz Feld as Pepito

            Phyllis Morris as Daisy

            Veda Ann Borg as Louise

            Lola Albright
            
            Harry Allen
            
            Jimmy Aubrey as Drunk

            Shirley Ballard
            
            Nan Boardman as Saleslady

            Edmund Breon as Jamie

            André Charlot as Stage Doorman

            Marcelle Corday as Gabby

            Sidney D'Albrook as Waiter in Pub

            Jean Del Val as Croupier

            Elspeth Dudgeon as Woman in Pawn Shop

            Art Foster
            
            Ruth Hall
            
            Winifred Harris as Lady Pennystone

            Joi Lansing
            
            Connie Leon
            
            Mitchell Lewis as Train Official

            James Logan as Moving Man

            Alphonse Martell as Frenchman in Theater

            Torben Meyer as Commissar

            Ottola Nesmith
            
            Susan Perry as Girls in Hotel Lobby

            Almira Sessions as Women in Street

            Cyril Thornton
            
            David Thursby as English Sailor

            Patricia Walker
            
            Victor Wood as Postman

            George Goldsmith
            
            Kay Norton
            
            William Snyder
            
            James Fairfax
            
            Fern Eggen
            
            Bertha Feducha as Woman in Theater

            Stanley Fraser as Pawn Shop Clerk

            Marjorie Jackson as Mannequin

            Princess Michael of Kent as Acrobatic Troupe

            Ray Saunders
            
            Joanee Wayne as The Head

            Herbert Wyndham as Piano Player in Pub
See full cast