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The Reluctant Debutante (14-Aug-1958)
Director: Vincente Minnelli Writer: William Douglas-Home From a play: The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas-Home Dance Music and Arrangements by: Eddie Warner and His Orchestra Producer: Pandro S. Berman Keywords: Romantic Comedy American teenager Jane Broadbent visits her aristocratic father and stepmother in London, and they decide to present her as a debutante to British society at their equivalent of a cotillion. But Jane will have none of this; she meets and falls for band member John Saxon. Sandra Dee's role was originally cast to Debbie Reynolds. Kay Kendall was already suffering from undiagnosed leukemia at the time of filming.
CAST REVIEWS Review by anonymous (posted on 1-Apr-2006) I have been a Kay Kendall
fan for as long as I can remember, the first time I ever saw her was
when "Simon and Laura" was shown on t.v. one Sunday afternoon in the
1960s when I was in my teens and I was just so taken by her glamour and
elegance and her enormous skill as a film comedienne which is a very
difficult thing to do. And oh, that sexy voice! I remember feeling
extremely sad when I asked who she was and my mother replied: "Kay
Kendall, she's dead now." It just didn't seem possible, there she was
so vibrant and alive on our small black and white screen, no colour
t.v. in those days (though I have seen this film in colour several
times since) but inspite of my feeling of sadness, I waited eagerly for
more of her films to come on t.v. But to "The Reluctant Debutante", I
saw this film recently at the National Film Theatre in London and, as
always, in spite of the excellent performances from the other cast
members, including of course Kay's husband Rex Harrison and Angela
Lansbury, who unfortunately is not given that much to do, I found
myself just watching Kay. From the moment she appeared in that
oversized hat and dark red clothes, she just took over the screen,
lighting it up and mesmerising me in the process. In a way, she is like
a latter day Carole Lombard, updated to the 1950s, adept at screwball
comedy but with an air of sophisticated womanhood that few other stars
of that era have been able to match. And in The Reluctant Debutante,
the talent that she nurtured through "Genevieve", "Simon and Laura" and
her only Hollywood film, "Les Girls" in which she displayed a talent
for song and dance - with Gene Kelly, no less - all came together in
this film. Falling through doorways, jumping about, it is hard to
believe she was desperately ill at the time. Indeed, even though the
film is hugely enjoyable and entertaining, it is heartbreaking to watch
Kay in "The Reluctant Debutante" knowing she had but a short time to
live. When I saw the film at the NFT recently, it was almost a full
house, too, which was very pleasing. How many of today's stars will be
able to still pack a cinema in fifty years' time long after they have
died? It is proof indeed that I am not the only one who adores Kay,
thus ensuring this lovely talented lady will never be forgotten. Her
tragic death at so young an age is all the more poignant on account of
that talent and her warm feminine personality. Her grave is in St.
John's Churchyard in Hampstead in north London, not far from where I
live and there seems to be an anomaly concerning her date of birth. A
lot of records give it as 21st May 1926, as you do, and film guides
quote this year as well but her tombstone definitely says 21st May
1927. She lies peacefully in this quiet little churchyard in London
opposite another actor, Anton Walbrook of "Gaslight" and "Dangerous
Moonlight" fame.
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