| The Reluctant Debutante | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:196841~The-Reluctant-Debutante-Posters.jpg) theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Vincente Minnelli |
| Screenplay by | William Douglas-Home |
| Based on | The Reluctant Debutante 1955 by William Douglas-Home |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Starring | Rex Harrison Kay Kendall Sandra Dee Angela Lansbury John Saxon |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Edited by | Adrienne Fazan |
| Music by | Eddie Warner |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,250,000[1] |
| Box office | $2,980,000[1] |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_Reluctant_Debutante_(1958)_1.jpg)
The Reluctant Debutante is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Pandro S. Berman from a screenplay by William Douglas-Home based on Douglas-Home's play of the same name. The music score is by Eddie Warner and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.
The film stars Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall — who had married in 1957 after they worked together on The Constant Husband (1955) — with featured performances by John Saxon, Sandra Dee, and Angela Lansbury. The setting is London's debutante season amidst the last presentation at Court in 1958. However, because of Harrison's tax problems, the film had to be made in Paris. Harrison had learned from Kendall's doctor that she had been diagnosed with myeloid leukemia, a fact that was kept from Kendall, who believed she was suffering from an iron deficiency. The actor cared for Kendall until her death at the age of 32.[2] She only completed one more film, Once More With Feeling, before her death the following year.
In 2003 the film was remade as What a Girl Wants, starring Colin Firth and Amanda Bynes.
- ^ a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ "Kay Kendall: Britain's lost bombshell". Independent.co.uk. 10 February 2006. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 26 January 2018.