Cluny Brown
Amateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.
Critics Sentiment
Cluny grabs a wrench and loudly fixes the Wilsons' plumbing during the birthday party, horrifying the guests
Belinski compares Wilson to a freighter in a quiet harbor to discourage Cluny, but she finds Wilson more appealing
The film jumps from its weakest stretch, Belinski's flat maneuvering around his feelings for Cluny in the mid-film doldrums, to its comic and emotional peak when Cluny seizes a wrench and demolishes the decorum of the Wilsons' birthday party.
Cluny Brown opens with considerable charm and wit, establishing its irresistible heroine and the Lubitsch comic world with confidence, before settling into a slightly uneven middle act where the manor-house plotting and romantic maneuvering lose some momentum. The film recovers emphatically with the plumbing party scene and carries that energy through to a finale that reviewers almost universally adore, leaving audiences with the warm, delighted feeling that defines the film's enduring reputation.
Full cast
Charles Boyer
Adam Belinski
Jennifer Jones
Cluny Brown
Peter Lawford
Andrew Carmel
Helen Walker
Betty Cream
Reginald Gardiner
Hilary Ames
Reginald Owen
Henry Carmel
C. Aubrey Smith
Charles "Duff" Graham
Margaret Bannerman
Alice Carmel
Sara Allgood
Mrs. Maile
Ernest Cossart
Syrette
Una O'Connor
Mrs. Wilson
Florence Bates
Dowager at Ames's Party
Richard Haydn
Jonathan Wilson
Billy Bevan
Uncle Arn Porritt
Whit Bissell
Archie
Christopher Severn
Ronald Snaffle
Billy Gray
Richard Watkins
Constance Purdy
Lady Outside Bookstore
Queenie Leonard
Weller
Crew
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