As marvellous as Celia is, I just couldn't get past the fact that 31-year-old Jenny was being played by a 44-year-old. She was a little too care-worn to pass for a much younger woman, and it was poor casting to try to get away with it.
shareI agree, and this was the one drawback to the film. Her close-up when embracing John Gregson betrayed a woman much older than 31, and Celia Johnson was never that youthful-looking to begin with. Her miscasting is compounded by having the 33-year-old Gregson -- eleven years younger -- play her boyfriend. (And ironically, while she's playing a woman 13 years younger than her actual age, his character is said to be 34 -- a year older than Gregson was at the time!)
share^ How ungracious!
Celia is an actress. We are an audience, we aren't marriage counsellors.
Nothing ungracious at all. Simply a comment that she was far too old, in fact and in appearance, for her character in this film. The former is unarguable; the latter might be a matter of opinion, though it's truly impossible to imagine anyone contending with a straight face that she looked 31. She was never a youthful-looking person.
An audience has a right to expect a modicum of credibility when an actor or actress is cast in a role. Celia strained, if she didn't break, that credibility. This has nothing to do with her talent, only her suitability for the part. No performer is always right for any role.
I don't understand your "marriage counselor" (using my American spelling) comment. She was unwed in the film. Remarking on her age and appearance, as they relate to her character, has nothing whatever to do with marriage.
Boy what a tough audience. Had they not mentioned her age in the movie, which I thought they said 33 I doubt you would have posted this, she looked fine to me and only looked a few years older than her boyfriend.
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
Ah. I have viewed this film again and agree. Celia was too care-worn. Ralph was too young and affable. But, still, Margaret was marvellous!
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