THAT LADY IN ERMINE (1948)

The problem with this, like FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, is that it tries way too hard to be light and whimsical. Set in a fictional European kingdom, the plot involves an invading colonel (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) who meets his match in a lovely countess (Betty Grable). The story that plays out between the two matches a renowed historical event 300 years earlier when Grable's ancestor (also played by Grable) seduced and killed a similar invader (also Fairbanks). In the present-day plotline, the spirits of the royal ancestors come alive (stepping out of their portraits hung in a grand hall) and rally to help inspire the current countess. The tragedy of the past becomes romantic comedy in the present. Cesar Romero is Grable's new husband, something of a cowardly gold digger; Walter Abel is Fairbanks' assistant; Reginald Gardiner is a ghostly ancestor; Harry Davenport (who must have been about 112) and Whit Bissell also appear. It's a colorful movie with some nice touches, like an animated sun that shoots up in the sky at dawn, and there's a very funny moment when background orchestral film music turns out to have been played live by a small combo in the room. Ernst Lubitsch began work on this, but died early on and Otto Preminger (as far from whimsical as you can get) took over. Fairbanks is a bit long in the tooth for the role, and doesn't give 100 percent. Grable is better, but still mostly just serviceable. The whole thing needed to be played lightly and more broadly. [FMC]