Al Bridge, Alan Bridge, Barbara Lawrence

Preston Sturges has his great run in 1940-44, with a series of comedy masterpieces unparalleled in Hollywood film. 1948's Unfaithfully Yours proves that he still had the touch, if only he coul...( read more  read more... )d have found a supportive studio for his genius. (It would've helped if Unfaithfully Yours had been a hit, which it was not.) Sir Alfred De Carter (Rex Harrison) is a witty, vain orchestra conductor, a celebrated man married to a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell). He becomes convinced of her infidelity, and while he is on the podium during a concert, he fantasizes three homicidal revenge fantasies--all set to the classics.

The conductor looks suspiciously like a self-portrait by Sturges, and the delicious dialogue comes pouring out of Rex Harrison like pearls from a goblet. The film's main disappointment is that it doesn't feature the teeming stock company of character actors that crowd Sturges's earlier pictures (although Rudy Vallee, Lionel Stander, and Edgar Kennedy come through nicely). The film, while morbid, is often laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has something sneakily brilliant to say about the gulf between art and life: how the exquisite timing and perfect mechanics of Sir Alfred's imagination come a-cropper when he actually tries to enact his fantasies. Unfaithfully Yours was remade in a not-bad version with Dudley Moore in 1984, but this one's the keeper. Too bad it couldn't save Sturges--this is the last worthy film in a too-brief career. --Robert Horton

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14 critics

Unrated, 105 min.

Directed by: Preston Sturges

Release Date: December 10, 1948

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DVD Release Date: July 12, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (100)


  • September 21, 2007
    This is an amazingly dark comedy for the time it was made. A famous conductor suspects his wife of having an affair and imagines three different ways to deal with the problem according to the mood of the music he is conducting: murder, russian roulette or the surrender of his wi...( read more)fe to her 'suitor'. Rex Harrison is magnificent in this.
  • September 22, 2009
    I love the criterion collection.
  • February 18, 2009
    "I doubt that you played Russian Roulette ALL THE TIME with your father"

    the quick witty dialogue in this delightful black comedy is hilarious, the scenes of physical comedy aren't so much and make the flick feel more dated than it would otherwise. rex harrison is masterful in ...( read more)the lead role.
  • August 10, 2008
    good stuff well acted and engaging
  • September 15, 2007
    Rex Harrison is brilliant! I hardly stopped laughing!
  • June 28, 2007
    "im am bitterly disappointed to hear that you're a music lover!"
  • May 31, 2007
    I like everything Preston Sturges did, period. This is a funny show.
  • September 28, 2006
    This looks really crap.
  • September 25, 2006
    One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I heart Preston Sturges.

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