THE CONSTANT HUSBAND [1995 / 2020] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
A Hilarious Madcap Tongue in Cheek British comedy!
Rex Harrison gives a memorably smooth performance as an amnesiac with a singularly dedicated attitude towards matrimony in this classic comedy by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Co-starring Margaret Leighton, Kay Kendall and Cecil Parker, and ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ is featured as a remaster from original film elements in both its full screen and widescreen as-exhibited aspect ratios.
An Englishman wakes up in an unfamiliar hotel bedroom with amnesia. A specialist at the local hospital tells him it was brought on by some kind of upset and they both set out to unearth the patient's past. What they find is shocking not just to themselves but also to the man's seven wives!
FILM FACT: The film was made in Shepperton Studios, with shooting finished in early June 1954, just a week after the studio's owner and the film's intended distributor, British Lion Film Corporation, went into receivership on 1 June 1954. The opening scenes were filmed on location at New Quay and Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Mid Wales, and others at Kensington, Millbank, Wormwood Scrubs, Holborn, and St. Paul's, London. When the film was screened by the censors at BBFC on the 10th September, 1954, it was submitted by Frank Launder's company Launder Productions, as it did not yet have a new distributor. In January 1955, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and the Boulting brothers formed a new company, British Lion Film Corporation Limited, which took over the running of Shepperton Studios as well as British Lion's distribution business, and the film finally received its world premiere at the London Pavilion on the 21st April, 1955. Sidney Gilliat says the film was plagued by problems with the Technicolor stock.
Cast: Rex Harrison, Cecil Parker, Sally Lahee, Kay Kendall, Nicole Maurey, Valerie French, Ursula Howells, Jill Adams, Roma Dumville, Robert Coote, Raymond Huntley, Noel Hood, Eric Pohlmann, Marie Burke, George Cole, Derek Sydney, Guy Deghy, Margaret Leighton, Eric Berry, Michael Hordern, Charles Lloyd Pack, Arthur Howard, John Robinson, Michael Ripper, Jack Armstrong (uncredited), Alan Beaton (uncredited), Ernest Blyth (uncredited), Wallace Bosco (uncredited), Alfred Burke (uncredited), Jack Carter (uncredited), Joe Clark (uncredited), Paul Connell (uncredited), Mike Conner (uncredited), Arthur Cortez (uncredited), Victor Coventry (uncredited), Renee Cunliffe (uncredited), George Curtis (uncredited), Fred Davis (uncredited), Doreen Dawn (uncredited), Arnold Diamond (uncredited), Arthur Dibbs (uncredited), Peter Edwards (uncredited), Joyce Everson (uncredited), Anthony Faramus (uncredited), Chick Fowles (uncredited), Rodney Goodall (uncredited), Nora Gordon (uncredited), Victor Hagan (uncredited), Laurence Hepworth (uncredited), Jack Hetherington (uncredited), George Holdcroft (uncredited), Ned Hood (uncredited), Lindsay Hooper (uncredited), John Howard (uncredited), Gordon Humphries (uncredited), Pat Kenyon (uncredited), Olive Kirby (uncredited), Sam Kydd (uncredited), Frank Littlewood (uncredited), Evie Lloyd (uncredited), Geoffrey Lovat (uncredited), Martin Lyder (uncredited), Jack May (uncredited), Enid McCall (uncredited), Jill Melford (uncredited), Myrette Morven (uncredited), Richard Neller (uncredited), Cecil Paul (uncredited), Joe Phelps (uncredited), Ernie Priest (uncredited), Ernie Rice (uncredited), Janette Richer (uncredited), Johnny Rossi (uncredited), Peggy Scott Sanders (uncredited), Stuart Saunders (uncredited), Jeff Shane (uncredited), Jeff Silk (uncredited), Monica Stevenson (uncredited), Fred Stroud (uncredited), Graham Stuart (uncredited), Robert Sydney (uncredited), Nicholas Tannar (uncredited), George Thorne (uncredited), Stephen Vercoe (uncredited), Pearl Walters (uncredited), Frank Webster (uncredited), Leslie Weston (uncredited), Russell Westwood (uncredited), Eric Wetherell (uncredited), Paul Whitsun-Jones (uncredited), George Woodbridge (uncredited), Johnny Wyne (uncredited), David Yates (uncredited) and Muriel Young (uncredited)
Director: Sidney Gilliat
Producers: E.M. Smedley-Aston, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat
Screenplay: Sidney Gilliat (original screenplay) and Val Valentine (original screenplay)
Composer: Malcolm Arnold
Make-up Department: George Partleton (Make-up artist) and Gladys Atkinson (Hairdresser)
Costume and Wardrobe Department: Anna Duse (Dress designer) and Bridget Sellers (Wardrobe supervisor) (uncredited)
Cinematography: Edward Scaife, B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 + 1.37:1
Audio: English:
Subtitles: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Running Time: 88 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: London Films / British Lion Film Corporation Limited / Network
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ [1995] begins with Charles Hathaway [Rex Harrison] wakes up to music coming in through the open balcony doors of a hotel room and when he looks in a mirror he has no idea who he is or where he is let alone how he got there. As heads out to where the fishermen are tending their nets on the beach he initially thinks they are speaking Dutch until they explain he is in Wales.
After collapsing he ends up in a hospital where he is seen by psychiatrist Professor Llewellyn [Cecil Parker] who helps him piece together his life leading him to Monica [Kay Kendall] an attractive wife in a large house. Unfortunately for Charles Hathaway it doesn't stop there as he learns that he has another six wives and is in fact a cad who has been playing attractive women for their money. Disgusted by who he was before he suffered the memory loss Charles Hathaway decides the best place for him is in prison for bigamy. The question is will his seven wives agree?
Rex Harrison is superbly cast as an amnesiac philanderer in this jolly romp from British film-makers Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Indeed, it is said that Rex Harrison's performance secured him the role of Henry Higgins in the Broadway production of “My Fair Lady.” Giving Rex Harrison a run for his money are Kay Kendall, who of course he later married, and of course Margaret Leighton and French actress Nicole Maurey also give Rex Harrison a good run for his money. The Technicolor photography gives the film a very pleasant period sheen, while the witty screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Val Valentine ensures that this light-as-air comedy is a total delight.
As a big fan of British comedies from the past I always look forward to movies which involve Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder as they were behind some of the best British comedies during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Unfortunately whilst ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ has a decent cast and a good idea, the end result comes up short as it struggles on where to go once the set-up is in place. What this all boils down to is that ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ is a great deal of fun and has a good idea but it is one of those British comedies which doesn't have the legs to last the entire movie or the sharpness of comedy to make it come to life. Despite this slightly negative view of the film, I still enjoyed it.
‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ is certainly a film to savour for marvellous performances and the style of an almost fine film maker as it slowly peels back the layers of the onion skin of a story with the audience struggling right along with the lead and the always charming Rex Harrison to find out who and what he is, after he comes out of his amnesia in a seaside Welsh hotel with no memory of either. But most of all, it was shot in totally awesome Color by Technicolor.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – London Films, British Lion Film Corporation Limited and Network presents us the film ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ with a superb 1080p image and shown in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio ticks all the right boxes and the detail is consistently sharp, the contrast nicely balanced, the black levels crisp without punishing shadow detail, and the Technicolor reproduction is very pleasing and even vibrant when appropriate, with no errant colour tints due to age and fading. Any damage and dust has been scrupulously cleaned up and a fine film grain is visible. ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ has been transferred in High Definition from 35mm film elements in its original theatrical aspect 1.66:1 by StudioCanal Remastering. Further image restoration was carried out by Network. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – London Films, British Lion Film Corporation Limited and Network bring us the film ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ with a 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience and it is in very good shape, also damage-free restoration with consistently clear dialogue and a better than average dynamic range than I would expect of a film of this vintage and of course the wonderful Malcolm Arnold's composed film score sounds exceptionally good, so all in all, a really good audio performance.
* * * * *
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Image Gallery [1955] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:58] With this featurette, we get to view 41 images related to the film ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ which includes UK and Overseas posters, publicity images in colour and black-and-white, images from the film and some behind-the-scene images.
Finally, ‘THE CONSTANT HUSBAND’ [1995] is a sparkling Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat hilarious tongue in cheek comedy has a well-bred Englishman waking up in a hotel bedroom in Wales suffering from amnesia and sets out to find his identity with the help of Professor Llewellyn and tracks down his successful fashion photographer wife but soon learns that the hush-hush job at the Ministry of Munitions she saw him leave for every morning does not exist. When he discovers that he, in fact, the perfect husband – six times over – he is appalled by his past and brought to court for bigamy. Such is his charm that all his normally intelligent wives pay for his defence and declare they would gladly take him back. Cecil Parker and George Cole are excellent in their wittily-written roles as psychiatrist and tempestuous Italian, respectively. It’s bright, saucy and, at times, a total riot. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
