Importance of Being Earnest The (1952) – full review!
Importance of Being Earnest The (1952) – full review!
Anthony Asquith directed and wrote the screenplay for this Oscar Wilde comedy play. It stars Michael Redgrave AND Michael Denison as the titled character(s) – a play on words Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff respectively. Ernest is actually a fictional character invented and later played by Jack in order to get out of social engagements and other situations with which he’d rather not deal. In other words whenever he needs an excuse to get away he says he has to go visit Ernest. Needless to say the pseudonym also allows him to ‘play’ without fear of being found out or tarnishing his real name and reputation. However he’s charmed his way into near nuptials with Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen Fairfax (Joan Greenwood) as Ernest. He hadn’t known but does learn that she had foreseen marrying someone actually named Ernest and therefore had attached a special importance to the name. Now Jack has to decide whether to be earnest by telling her his real name or have his name changed!
Algernon who uses just such a pseudonym of his own for the same reasons learns of Jack’s and ‘blackmails’ him into revealing his true name. While doing this Algernon learns that Jack has a comely young ward in the country named Cecily Cardew (Dorothy Tutin) who knows Worthing by his real name and thinks Ernest is Jack’s thief of a brother that needs ‘saving’. Margaret Rutherford plays Miss Letitia Prism who runs the country household for Jack. Over the years as Cecily’s guardian Jack has told her tales of Ernest that captured her imagination such that she’s grown a crush on this faux person. Based on Jack’s glowing description of Cecily Algernon decides to travel out into the country to meet her and quickly assessing the situation exploits her by taking the name of Ernest for himself!
When Jack returns to his country home he discovers and is incensed by what he finds – Algernon as Ernest wooing his ward Cecily. However after much discussion he decides to begrudgingly accept it for the time being; both men begin arrangements with Canon Chasuble (Miles Malleson) to have their names changed to Ernest in order to satisfy their would-be fiancées. However Gwendolen’s mother Lady Augusta Bracknell (Edith Evans) who has never approved of Jack (per his mysterious heritage; he was found in a bag in a London railway station!) and had earlier squashed their engagement arrives to find out what’s going on and speak her peace during which some interesting family ties are learned.
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