Molly and Me Film Review

Released: 1945

Producer: Robert Bassler

Director: Lewis Seiler

Running time: 1 hr 17 mins

Genre: Musical, Comedy

Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox

About the film

This film is set in London in 1937. Molly, played by Gracie Fields, is a struggling actress and decides to apply for a job as a housekeeper since she is tired of looking for acting roles. She applies for a job in a house which is run by John Graham, who is an upper class gentleman. She has no experience of housekeeping, so she gets her friend Kitty Goode to help supply a fake reference. (Kitty is an exotic dancer.) Things get complicated quite early on in the film when Molly goes for the interview. Peabody, the Butler, interviews Molly for the job. But when Kitty turns up, he recognises her because he is a former actor. He gave up acting because he had a drink problem, which he has by now recovered from. He is in two minds whether to give her the job. But Molly has plans. She decides to persuade him to join her in the pub, where he gets drunk. He inevitably says she can have the job, since he don't remember saying yes or no!

John Graham, the head of the house, is a grouchy old man and runs a strict house. While he is away in Suffolk working on his political career, Molly finds out that the domestic staff has been stealing from the house. With them all subsequently fired, it is down to Molly to keep the house in order. Molly also has to content with the grumpy old John Graham, and steps in to help with the relationship between him and his son.

As I usually find with most British comedies of this era, this is a highly entertaining, slapstick comedy. Gracie Fields was a legend in the acting world and she lights up the screen in this film. I love the storyline of the down beat actress getting a housekeeping job. Not only does she get a job which she totally lacks any kind of experience in, but she manages to take over and make complete changes. She makes changes in the housekeeping department, and also with personal matters concerning John Graham and his son, Jimmy. This is a wonderful masterpiece of a film and such an amusing and entertaining film to watch.

Shot in black and white, I find the picture quality rather good, considering this was made in the mid 40's. The picture is clear and well shot. I like the storyline of Molly Barry going in and trying to restore both the housekeepers and the relationship between John and Jimmy.

This film is categorized under musical as well as comedy. Although not much in the regards of songs throughout the film, it is still fun to watch the actors sing some light hearted songs. I think Gracie Field and Monty Woolley connected well onscreen and acted well together. It's nice to see Roddy McDowall in the film too. He so young in this film. This is a timeless classic and still great to watch after all these years. Maybe I am a bit bias though as I do like Gracie Fields.