The Grass Is Greener
Director: Stanley Donen
Year Released: 1961
Rating: 2.0
Donen wisely pairs four of the best actors of the time (if not all time) - Robert Mitchum, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr and Jean Simmons - but the result is little more than a filmed play, and not a very good one at that. The dialogue either runs one of two directions: (a.) how different American men (Mitchum) are from British men (Grant) and (b.) endless dry "witticisms" about the nature of divorce and jealousy. I simply could not buy the "chance" meeting between Mitchum and Kerr or how they grow to "admire" each other, and the ending too convenient. Simmons is almost lost in the adulterous love triangle - and her character is clearly the sprightliest and most interesting of the four. The idea to pair performers who have worked together in other successful pictures is quite good - it's guaranteed chemistry - but they could have picked a better literary source for the reunion.
