film

Here's a delightful little film from 1946 that feels rather frothy at first glance, but reveals hidden depths when given enough thought and attention. Adapted from Margery Sharp’s novel, it centres on Cluny Brown (Jennifer Jones), a spirited young woman whose twin habits of asking questions and fixing plumbing sets her apart in the rigid atmosphere of polite society in postwar England. 

Cluny is paired with Adam Belinski (Charles Boyer), a Czech intellectual and refugee who has fled Nazi persecution in his home country. With their story carried by wit, subtle implication and visual storytelling, the pair expose the absurdity of English class hierarchies and the suffocating decorum of the country estate they inhabit.