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13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
very British, very arch, very enjoyable, 14 April 2000
7/10
Author: Robert D. Ruplenas

This delightful film's script is a descendant of the sort of archly witty portrayals of British upper-class life that came from the pens of Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward (one of whose songs serves as musical lead-in, and at least one of whose tunes ["Mad About the Boy" - listen for it] serves as background music to comment on the action). The atmosphere of this sort of comedy may be a bit foreign to American tastes (the whole topic of infidelity is discussed in such a civilized and gentlemanly fashion among the parties- Stiff Upper Lip and all that - where Americans would be screaming at each other and going for weaponry) but as a devotee of British drama I enjoyed the movie hugely. It's a stellar cast - everyone shines, right down to Moray Watson in the small but delicious part of the befuddled butler Sellers. Jean Simmons is especially enjoyable in her out-of-character portrayal as the outspokenly vampish Hattie. Despite opinions below to the contrary, the incomparable Cary Grant fills the part of this down-at-the-heels English Lord like old brandy fills a crystal decanter. The sumptuous setting of the baronial manor and the high production values make the film beautiful to look at, to boot. (The fact that the unfortunate Lord is forced to open his manor to paying visitors to support his lifestyle is based on the historical truth of the confiscatory tax policies imposed on the British hereditary gentry by post-WWII Labor governments; everyone is entitled to their own opinions on these policies, but be assured the film makes no political comment).

It does stretch the imagination a tad that Victor could treat the whole issue of his wife's infidelity - going on right in front of his nose - in such a dispassionate manner, but that is a characteristic of this genre. Further, Grant manages to convince us that, beneath his outer imperturability, his wife's disloyalty has pained him deeply and he could not stand to lose her.

This is a not-well-known film whose appeal might be a bit specialized, but I think it's a minor gem. And I could not omit mentioning the charming opening credits with their bevy of delightfully cavorting babies.

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Cast Sparkles, 1 December 2002
8/10
Author: harry-76 from Cleveland, Ohio

Drawing room comedies seem to be a thing of the past. Their demise was apparently one reason Cary Grant decided to thin down his late career: his kind of parts just weren't being written anymore.

By the time this film version of a stage hit came out in 1960, the genre had just about run its course.

How fortunate to have four full-fledged stars take on the leading roles. What is Robert Mitchum doing in an English castle, interacting with "upper class royalty"?

For one thing, he plays a Texas millionaire--an impressive entree most places. Then, the rest of the cast are all transported Brits, so long established in America as to be de facto Americans. They can still deliver their clipped English lines, thought, with great flair.

("So, now you're a millionare, and I'm growing mushrooms . . . oh well, that's the way the world wags.")

Deborah Kerr is bright and vulnerable, Jean Simmons, pert and sophisticated, Robert Mitchum, cool and crafty, and Cary Grant urbane and witty. It's fun to see this quartet trading double entendres and quaint quips.

Stanley Donnen does his best with a stagy script, relying on his experienced cast to carry off the humor and action. It succeeds nicely, and its downright fun to follow their stylish jousts.

Tea, brandy, or champagne?

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Bad title, good movie, 20 June 2004
8/10
Author: gilgeoIII from san francisco, ca.

Although I'm a film buff, I was unaware of the existence this delightful,sophisticated comedy until I saw it recently on TV in Buenos Aires, of all places. Grant, Kerr and Simmons are splendid, as usual, and Mitchum is, well, Mitchum and that's good enough for me. The plot offers the conceit of Mitchum taking Kerr away from Grant, her fusty husband, because Mitch is hot and Grant's not, a rather daring concept for 1960. Grant, of course, has a trick or two up his sleeve and alls well that ends well. The witty dialogue and snappy direction (Stanley Donen) puts to shame the witless, charmless crap churned out by Hollywood hacks for the past 25

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Static but entertaining nonetheless, 9 December 2000
9/10
Author: nikodemus

Enjoyable cast and often deliciously witty dialogue succeed enlivening this otherwise rather static comedy. It can't shake off its staginess, which results in occasional moments of slight weariness, but for the most part, "The Grass Is Greener" is classy and quite entertaining. There are some splendid scenes between the four leading actors that make you smile. Really big laughs aren't guaranteed, but the film leaves an overall good feeling.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Attempt at a Sex quadrangle at one of "THE STATELY HOMES OF ENGLAND", 8 June 2006
7/10
Author: theowinthrop from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a film that does try to be good - and it is actually amusing at points. The central story about the aristocrats finding interest in an American millionaire (Mitchum) and an old flame of Grant's (Simmons) had potential. But the problem was that the screenplay is too talky and too cerebral, but not (paradoxically) as complete as it should be.

There are pages and pages of the dialog which are (frankly) long winded. Cary Grant is not amusing when explaining his behavior to people, even Deborah Kerr. Whatever emotional chemistry worked for them so wonderfully in AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER is cut down considerably here.

The additions of Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons does not really help. Mitchum's growing interest in Kerr, and her growing response to his seeing her in London is okay, but Simmons' relationship regarding Grant is not developed. We know they had an affair before he married her friend Kerr, and she has remained a friend of both, and she is funny regarding her open interest in sex, but why Grant's rejection of her is never really gone into. Also, at the tale end, there is the suggestion that Simmons and Mitchum might find each other a worthy lover. But nothing in the film really builds up to that final look between them! There are good moments - Grant and Mitchum going fishing, and muttering under their breaths about each other, and the business about the fur coat gift that Mitchum buys Kerr, and she tries to hide (and Simmons ends up wearing as her own). But the good moments are fragments. The duel scene towards the end is analyzed to death. It says a lot that the use of Noel Coward's song THE STATELY HOMES OF ENGLAND on the soundtrack at the start and end of the film is one of the highlights. One wishes Coward wrote the screenplay here - it might have been brighter or more consistent.

Because the cast really tries I have given it a "7", but it is not as good a film as it should have been.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Somewhat Indiscreet..., 18 May 1999
8/10
Author: Jonathan Doron (jrd@netvision.net.il) from Israel

Fine, funny and recommended. It has its weak points, the storyline is the least important with these fine actors and brilliant direction. Cary Grant and Jean Simmons' first scene together is absolutely wonderful. Deborah Kerr is also good; Robert Mitchum, maybe intentionally, is a bit of an odd player here. Familiar to the Grant-Ingrid Bergman split-screen telephone scene in Donen's Indiscreet, there's an adorable scene with all four leading actors here. Very very nice.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Bright, funny adult comedy set among the titled class in England, 26 August 2000
Author: Rene' Smeraglia from Washington, DC

The cast is obviously the star of this film, with headliners Grant, Kerr, Mitchum and Simmons each doing a fabulous job in a movie that depends very heavily on intelligent, witty dialogue strewn with double-entendres. The subject is adultery, and whether one (Grant) should make a public fuss when his wife (Kerr) is being swept off her feet by a rich American (Mitchum). Mix in a beautiful, if somewhat dotty, friend (Simmons) who makes sly observances throughout. Although set in England of the late 50s, the film doesn't show much countryside and occasionally feels a bit claustrophobic as the action takes place on a very few sets. The film feels like it has stage origins, and it plays much like Neil Simon's better film adaptations (e.g. California Suite, Barefoot in the Park). If you are a fan of any of these stars, this movie will entertain you.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
mature whit, 12 October 2001
Author: svannozzi from Mass, USA

This movie has a very mature whit, it is not an "adult film" but young people just won't get it. I watched it the first time in my twenties but did not appreciate it as I did when I saw it in my thirties and had been married for many years. Cary Grant's character is caught with the possibility of loosing the wife that is the center of his world. He must choose between making a fuss or letting her go quietly. He feels if he makes a fuss the choices are she will stay and they will both be unhappy or she will still go and he will have lost his stiff upper lip. The plot is added to by his wife's best friend that would be very happy to console him if his wife leaves. (hey I would be happy to console Cary Grant) The script is a hoot the dialogue lively and cunning. The only real action is a duel at thirty paces that shows who is willing to give his life for the love of his life. The set is a little constraining but the stately homes of Britain are pretty stuffy in real life. The casting of Robert Mitchum as the American millionaire is perfect, he is very American and everyone else is so very British his is really the odd man out.

I enjoy this movie every time and recommend it for a relaxing, amusing evening.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Quite a Weekend, 8 June 2006
5/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Lord Cary Grant and Lady Deborah Kerr as nobility have fallen on hard times and now they show their fabulous estate off to the tourists for pin money. One of those tourists is American millionaire Robert Mitchum who thinks the best sight he's seen is Kerr. He sweeps her off her feet and her marriage is put in danger.

Cary's not going to take this lying down and Mitchum is invited to the estate for the weekend. Along for the ride is Jean Simmons, a friend of Grant's and Kerr who wouldn't mind getting Cary on the rebound. It's quite a weekend.

Cary Grant and I assume Deborah Kerr's parts according the recent biography of Robert Mitchum were originally intended for Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall. When Kendall died, Harrison dropped out. Cary Grant's part probably would have been better in Harrison's hands. But you can't say that Grant didn't learn a lesson. He was widely quoted as saying after he turned down My Fair Lady that he wouldn't even by a ticket to see the film of Harrison didn't play Henry Higgins.

Simmons does come off the best in this comedy of manners. She's full of wisecracks and is no hypocrite about her life.

You know when you think about it the same premise was used for Sleuth with much more serious overtones. It's sometimes a small margin between comedy and drama.

Not the best work that any of this talented quartet has done.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Ahead of its time, 29 October 2005
8/10
Author: dishington from Pittsburgh

This delightful morsel is even more impressive given the bare post-Eisenhower era of its release. While we tend to view 1960 as the beginning of the JFK cultural renaissance, in fact the decade dawned with Ike in the White House and Nixon on the horizon. Extramarital hijinks, dealt with adult sophistication, tolerance and forgiveness are rare enough, but the Bible-thumpers must have bust a gut on this one. I disagree with those who chastise the title, I think it's perfect. That such a topic is explored without losing the light comedic magic of Grant, the earnest angst of Kerr, the irreverent sexuality of Simmons and the brooding strength of Mitchum is testament to the ability of Stanley Donen to guide without herding. It all fits, wonderfully, in a movie that glows brighter with the passage of time, and the tsunami of trash that was to follow.

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