The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

★ 7.2 1h 35m IMDb

Two young gentlemen living in 1890s England use the same pseudonym ('Ernest') on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities.

The Importance of Being Earnest

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Cast

Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave as Ernest Worthing Died 1985 · Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, UK Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He is the father of actors Vanessa, Corin and Lynn Redgrave..
Michael Denison
Michael Denison as Algernon Moncrieff Died 1998 · Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, UK John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison CBE (1 November 1915 – 22 July 1998) was a noted English actor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Denison, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list...
Edith Evans
Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell Died 1976 · London, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE (8 February 1888 – 14 October 1976) was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a num...
Joan Greenwood
Joan Greenwood as Gwendolen Fairfax Died 1987 · Chelsea, London, England, UK Joan Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 27 February 1987) was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, w...
Dorothy Tutin
Dorothy Tutin as Cecily Cardew Died 2001 · London, England, UK Dame Dorothy Tutin, DBE (8 April 1930 – 6 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two Evening Standard Awards for...
Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford as Miss Prism Died 1972 · Balham, London, England, UK Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Sp...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 7/10 Sep 09, 2022
There's little point in outlining the plot here - it's not what the film is about. It is the combination of characterisations and the wonderfully witty writing of Oscar Wilde that make this a thoroughly enjoyable film to watch. It makes no bones about it's theatrical origins - even featuring a curtain at the start and the finish, and that sets us up for a cracker of a comedy that swipes at snobbery, pomposity, crass stupidity, deception and offers us a tour de force effort from the inimitable Dame Edith Evans ("Lady Bracknell"). Anthony Asquith has created a delightfully honest interpretation of the play - the dialogue is pithy and quickly paced, few lines are wasted and the talents of Michael Redgrave, Michael Denison, Dorothy Tutin, the perfectly cast Joan Greenwood as "Gwendoline" and Margaret Rutherford as the prim "Miss Prism" combine to give us a genuinely laugh-out-loud series of scenarios that are a joy to behold. It's colourfully set, the costumes a delight (though, I felt seriously gaudy at times!) and the comically timed mannerisms, gestures and charisma of the performers is great, too. It is rare for a piece of theatrical comedy to transfer so effortlessly to the big screen, but here it all looks so very natural...

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