On Approval

Though plays dealing with the amorous and other vagaries of the idle rich may no longer dominate the West End stage, the species is by no means extinct, and with this version of Frederick Lonsdale's hit of the '20s we have a good opportunity to examine the animal. Brook plays a penurious duke wooing an American pickle heiress (Withers), but - after a twin 'trial marriage' on a remote Scottish island - being rejected in favour of his dog-eared companion (Culver) and ending up with Beatrice Lillie, whose selfish cynicism dwarfs even his own. Though Brook's deliberately 'cinematic' approach was highly praised at the time (according to Lindsay Anderson it was 'the funniest British comedy ever made'), it is the performances, Lonsdale's deft craftsmanship, and the presence of the semi-mythical Lillie which now holds interest.