Film Snail

Sylvia Scarlett
Sylvia Scarlett

6.3

Sylvia Scarlett

NR·1935·95m

Summary

When her father decides to flee to England, young Sylvia Scarlett must become Sylvester Scarlett and protect her father every step of the way, with the questionable help of plenty others.

Crew

Director

George Cukor

Novel

Compton MacKenzie

Screenplay

John Collier

Screenplay

Mortimer Offner

Screenplay

Gladys Unger

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

June 19, 2022

6

Of all of the collaborative efforts that Katharine Hepburn ever made, this one has to be the most bizarre. Not because it is bad - though it isn't actually very good - but because she spends much of it a boy! Upon the death of her mother, her father (Edward Gwenn) must flee his creditors and so she ("Sylvia/Sylvester") determines to accompany him, cutting her Rapunzel-like locks and donning a suit as she goes. They encounter dapper rogue "Monkley" (Cary Grant) on the boat to England where they conduct a series of petty cons. Determined to get straight, she sets them all up as a seaside entertainment troupe and all goes well until she meets the dashing Brian Aherne ("Michael Fane") and starts to want to be a girl again. Can she tell him? How? Things are not helped by his keenness on "Lily Levetsky"... The dialogue is pretty weak, and rather relentless - and once the joke/gimmick wears off we are exposed to a rather lacklustre, almost pantomime, style of of story. Grant and Hepburn look like they are enjoying themselves and that certainly helps, but the humour is just a touch too contrived to last the seemingly long 90 minutes. Glad I've seen it, but I'm not sure I could recommend it.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$641,000.00

Revenue:

$497,000.00

Keywords

family relationships
scam
disguise
confidence game
woman dressed as man