Winifred Watson's forgotten 1938 novel about a prim governess who rediscovers her joie de vivre over the course of a single day when she goes to work for a daffy American actress received a warm welcome when it was republished in 2001. Naturally, it's now a movie, one that looks and sounds great, and is at its best when it isn't trying too hard to have fun.
London, 1939. Miss Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a vicar's daughter through and through, as she's wont to remind anyone who doubts her stern judgment. She brings all the rectitude that entails to her work as a domestic -- jobs she doesn't keep for very long precisely on account of it. She's become known around London as the "governess of last resort," and after her third employer throws her out -- Miss Pettigrew claimed the woman drank too much -- her employment agent, Miss Holt (Stephanie Cole), flatly refuses to send her out on any more jobs. With nowhere to go and no money with which to eat -- poor Miss Pettigrew is reduced to standing on a Victoria Station soup line -- she swipes from Miss Holt's desk a calling card engraved with the name and address of one Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a dizzy American chantootsie hoping to conquer the West End. Delysia wanted to hire Carole Lombard's former social secretary, and when she opens the door to her lavish Oak Street flat and sees Miss Pettigrew looking like something the cat probably wouldn't bother dragging inside, Delysia assumes she's come to help her manage her life or, more specifically, her men. Miss Lafosse is currently appearing nightly at the Red Peacock lounge, a classy basement speakeasy owned and operated by boorish Nick (Mark Strong), who also pays the rent on her high-deco digs. But that's not who Miss Pettigrew finds stark naked in Delysia's bed within minutes of her arrival: That would be Phil Goldman (Tom Payne), the 19-year-old son of a West End producer who's now attempting to strike out on his own with the ridiculous-sounding musical "Pile on the Pepper." Phil has promised the lead to Delysia, unless he gives it to her detested rival, Charlotte Warren (Christina Cole). But the man who probably loves Delysia best -- who loves her for who she is and not who she hopes to become -- is Michael (Lee Pace), Delysia's piano player. Michael, however, hasn't a penny and no real future, certainly not as Delysia's husband. Delysia is so impressed when Miss Pettigrew manages to hustle Phil out of the flat seconds before Nick arrives that she hires her on the spot, convinced Miss Pettigrew has "special powers." And though Miss Pettigrew hardly approves of Delysia's way of life, she's literally starving. She has no choice but to accept and embarks on a whirlwind day that will end with Miss Pettigrew in love and England on the brink of war.
The set design is sumptuous, the period detail convincing and the performances perfectly pitched: McDormand does a spot-on British accent and a sparkling Adams delightfully embodies every peroxide blonde who ever came to Hollywood and sheathed herself in a satin dressing gown. Shirley Henderson is particularly delicious as Edythe, a viperous couturier who knows Miss Pettigrew isn't who she claims to be and strong-arms her into working her "special magic" on her own doubting fiancee (Ciaran Hinds). If only the movie weren't so desperate to be as madcap as its screwball forebears -- the early, farcical scene in Delysia's flat is a groaner. But once it settles down, Miss Pettigrew and Company happily hit their own stride. leave a comment --Ken Fox