Behind The Stately Mansions Of England-Cary Grant’s “The Grass Is Greener” (1960)-A Film Review

DVD Review

By Sam Lowell

The Grass Is Greener, starring Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons, Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum, 1960

The old saw the grass is greener meaning what you don’t have and the other person do makes you envious, jealous or whatever other untoward emotion comes to mind has various applications not all of them serious, or seemingly serious. That idea gets full play in this 1960s film under review, The Grass Is Greener, a comic look at the other side, the comic side of the old saw. The comic look in the film takes place in one of the stately mansions of England and involves a certain amount of hanky-panky by adulterous adults. Usually adultery gets serious play in dramas and such but here it will all work out in the end-maybe.    

Hey, wait a minute what about one of those ten commandments, you know the one about not coveting (nice word) thy neighbor’s wife (or husband to be up to date, coveting wives and husbands if you are in a polygamous society or sect to cover every possibility). That rule gets short shrift here. This is the skinny. The owners of the old family estate, the Earl, Victor, played by Cary Grant, and his wife the Countess, Hilary, played by Deborah Kerr are up against it what with taxes and upkeep now like many aristocrats in post-World War II England. Their solution was to open their mansion to royalty crazy tourists, including lots of Americans who secretly long for the royal touch. Fair enough.                      

But one of those Americans, a rich one, a rich oil man, Charles Delacro, Delacroix, or whatever his surname was, played by Robert Mitchum not known for his comedic talents, barges into the private area of the mansion and confront the Countess, Hilary, and makes a big play for her with plenty of old time sweet and high blown words. Normally such a situation would have the guy shown the door. Not here, not Hilary in the end, since above and beyond those tax and upkeep problems she is bored with her life, bored with hubby (amazingly bored with Cary Grant the epitome of suave and sexy manhood in those days-go figure) and very open to an affair. Hence the bit about coveting thy neighbor’s wife above. And along the way to show his devotion and to tweak Victor as well Charles provided a now politically incorrect mink coat.      

Remember this is a comedy and so some hi-jinks come into play as does the Victor’s ex-girlfriend an American heiress, Hattie, played by Jean Simmons who is covering for Hilary while she is having her affair and at the same time trying to rekindle her own past affair with the Earl. Victor showing that nth degree of good breeding, a smart guy when you think about it instead of beating himself over the head for his inadequacies or his fallen wife for her indiscretions attempts to win her back from that upstart arriviste American, oil millions or not. He makes a lot of big sophisticated and witty talk to his wife, to Charles, and to anybody else who will listen.

Here is the closer. Victor challenges Charles to a duel, a duel of honor like back about ten generations before as the way to settle this violation of his sense of honor. By hook or by crook they have their duel in which the Earl is mysteriously wounded (mysterious since the Earl’s butler acting as second had put blanks in each gun). This gallant behavior wins Hilary back and Charles finally is shown the door. Hattie, well she walked out with him-and with that now politically incorrect mink. So breathe a sigh of relief as Cary Grant keeps his title as a guy that women do not leave.