Patty O’Neill (Maggie McNamara) is an aspiring actress, who meets successful architect Don Gresham (William Holden) at the top of the Empire State Building, and ends up back at his apartment, where he hopes to seduce her, but she is determined not to let that happen! Complications arise in the shape of Don’s ex-fiancee Cynthia (Dawn Addams), who lives in the apartment above Don, with her father, the bordering-on-alcoholic playboy David Slater (David Niven). When David Slater sets eyes on Patty, he decides he fancies her for himself, and the stage is set for some sparkling comedy.
At the time of its release, this film was considered to be risqué, due to its use of the words, “virgin,” “seduce,” and “mistress.” It was in fact the first post-Hayes Code film to use these words, and was banned from certain cinemas, due its use of these words. Obviously, by today’s standards, it is very tame, but if it has lost some of its shock value, it certainly has not lost any of its comedy.
McNamara is lovely as Patty – a sweet, and somewhat naive girl, who nonetheless has a habit of blurting out whatever pops into her head, be it appropriate or not! (I was shocked to discover that McNamara committed suicide at the age of just 49 – she simply fizzed with life and wit in this role.) Holden is great as the increasingly frustrated Don, and Niven was surely made for the role of Slater. All three leads bounce off each other terrifically; they are the main parts of a very small cast, and in the hands of different actors, this might not have been nearly so successful, but it works brilliantly. The only weak link in the cast was Addams as Cynthia, but as Cynthia is only a minor character, this did not affect my overall enjoyment of the film.
The film is an adaptation of a play, and I can certainly see how this would work on stage, as the vast majority of the action takes place in Gresham’s and Slater’s respective apartments, with just a couple of scenes outdoors, on top of the Empire State Building. There is much running around and misunderstanding, and a lot of the humour comes from the rivalry between Don and David. Holden was at his glorious best in the 1950s (frankly, I don’t know how Patty could have resisted Don), and Niven’s comedic touch is spot on – he has terrific one-liners!
Overall, the film is an absolute joy and delight, and definitely one I would recommend.
Year of release: 1953
Director: Otto Preminger
Producer: Otto Preminger
Writer: F. Hugh Herbert (play and screenplay)
Main cast: William Holden, David Niven, Maggie McNamara, Dawn Addams
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