That Uncertain Feeling (1941)'s comments

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Siskoid

Not among Ernst Lubitsch's best, That Uncertain Feeling's topic is too serious to laugh at, and features characters that are most often unhappy or essentially joyless. So while some of its wit is amusing, and the principals certainly give their all, it doesn't really work as a comedy. Merle Oberon leaving boring Melvyn Douglas for zany misanthropic Burgess Meredith happens in an odd cut that feels like we're looking at a fantasy sequence, but aren't, and from there it's hard to get onboard with the romcom. Douglas' character essentially plays a long con on his wife so he can keep her, and old-fashioned gender politics sort of rear their ugly heads. Women as things you can trade by gentlemen's agreements, and to be ignored or manipulated when you do "have" them, well... We can look at older movies and decide to overlook such sins as products of their time when they are otherwise clever and funny. This one leaves you with the eponymous feeling.

5 years 3 months ago