That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
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In this remake of his l925 silent feature KISS ME AGAIN, director Lubitsch pairs Douglas and Oberon as a seemingly happily married couple. Douglas is an insurance man who loves his job and home life, not realizing that Oberon is bored to tears. Douglas is also negligent in showing Oberon some amorous attention, which subconsciously causes Oberon to hiccup in the middle of the night. After visiting a psychiatrist (Mowbray), Oberon gets to the root of her problem. As she's trying to warm up Douglas, Meredith, an eccentric piano player, moves into their home and is soon pitching woo to Oberon. Douglas discovers what's going on behind his back and the trio all end up squabbling in a lawyer's office about a divorce. This film has its moments but on the whole is rather disappointing. Lubitsch's pacing is too slow for the humor, though there are a few moments when the famed "Lubitsch Touch" stands out. One particularly enjoyable sequence has Oberon trying to trap a nonexistent woman in Douglas' hotel room. The cast certainly lends the film some charm, but overall this remake is an unsatisfying effort. Meredith enjoyed working on the production and years later recalled, "I don't know when I had a better time in my whole career than during that period." Of Lubitsch, Meredith said, "He was very psychic. I'd fall down laughing because right away he'd improvise, in the middle of a scene he was doing for me, some very personal thing about my life, with his big cigar in his mouth, and he knew I'd come over and say, `How did you know about that?' and he'd say, `I have ways of knowing.' " Heymann's music earned an Oscar nomination. |
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| Academy Award Nomination: Best Score (Drama) - Werner R. Heymann Country of origin: U.S. Merle Oberon -- Jill Baker |