Movie – Indiscreet (1958)

Movie – Indiscreet
Score : 8/10 
Year : 1958
Director: Stanley Donen 
Cinematography: Freddie Young
Music: Richard Rodney Bennet and Ken Jones
Country:  UK
Language: English 
Duration: 1h40 (IMDB) ; 1h35 (DVD) 

Writers: Norman Krasna (Play and screenplay) 


Full cast & team (IMDB) 

After returning from vacation to her home in London, theater actress Anna Kalman, under pressure from her sister, is introduced to a suave financier by her brother-in-law. They meet and start flirting and dating, despite the fact that this Philip Adams is married. There follows a series of comedic situations as each of them keep secrets of their own, in this overall entertaining and funny romantic comedy. 


Because most romantic comedies revolve around younger couples, this one stands out from the lot, especially in that period, as it centers around middle-aged persons who flirt with one another, with more emphasis on their feelings of needs of companionship and with more reserve and less passion than stories of younger generations. There is a sense of urgency in the face of societal expectations and pressures, but also some wishes to rebel against them. 

Indiscreet is the second film starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, previously seen in Hitchock's 1946 Notorious, a spy-noir film ; here, the setting is very different, and carries with it the societal pressure for women to get married, as seen and heard from the caring yet insisting sister to find a man and settle - and all the efforts everyone makes to ensure that this happens. 

Dialogues tend to be basic, with a few hilarious gems ; the rest is carried by the cast and their overall demeanor, Grant and Bergman being the main, Cecil Parker, Phyllis Calvert, David Kossof and Megz Jenkins support this entire set-up as, respectively, Alfred and Mrs. Margaret Munson (Anna Kalman's brother-in-law and sister), Carl and Doris Banks, each with their own contributions. 

Of note, Indiscreet is one of the first movies to popularize the split-screen technique, also trying to use it to come close to breaking american puritanical ideals of the 1950's , through certain of these scenes.

The musical score underwhelms and sometimes even tends to be over-the-top-dramatic when nothing happens on-screen ; the dvd's audio quality made this score difficult to listen to, with very few exceptions. Sadly, nothing to write home about. 

Costumes are varied, and as often, Ingrid Bergman eventually wears a white gown, though several others are seen before and after - did all movie costume departments decide that she must wear a white gown at some point ? 

A few moments in the acting between Grant and Bergman were somewhat clumsy in hand-placing ; a few were over-acted, and felt out of place ; but overall, acting was actually good as to be expected from the cast. The supporting actors mentioned above added some further comedic instances that made the movie quite funny and entertaining.

Interestingly, the movie isn't only set in London but also filmed in various locations therein ; Ingrid Bergman has real-life theater commitment in Paris, so she had accepted starring in this film if it could be filmed in London. 

Indiscreet was remade in 1988, with Robert Wagner and Lesley Ann Downe. 




****

Indiscreet... in the media 

I watched this movie on a dvd from the Cary Grant movie collection. 

This dvd can also be bought separately is EAN 5050582501797. It's locked to regions 2 & 4, presenting the movie alone, with no bonuses ; 
Image : color, letterbox 1.78:1.
Language and Sound: English 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital.
There are no subtitles and the menu screens to directly select a scene or play the movie is also only in English. 

Image quality isn't really great, for this half-forgotten and neglected movie, that seldom got treated, but, if I believe this review, the USA blu-ray edition from Olive pictures (EAN 887090052603) have improved both image and sound quality. Sadly, it seems to be region locked, or at least, not tested outside of the USA (as seen here), and doesn't offer any bonuses, just like the DVD I just presented. 

There is also a UK blu-ray+DVD from Infinity studios, ASIN B07NBCSTSP and released in August 2019, but I have no information on its content. 

Since France has only one dvd edition and nothing more, I may, eventually, get the Italian blu-ray edition, EAN 8057092002032, from Sinister Film, released  under the Italian title, Indiscreto. It also seems devoid of bonuses but at least has both Italian dub and original English language, both of them in dolby digital as well as DTS-HD-MA, with Ful-HD image and in  the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio.