The Butler's Dilemma (1943) Richard Hearne, Francis L. Sullivan, Judy Kelly, Hermione Gingold, Henry Kendall, André Randall, Ian Fleming Movie Review

The Butler's Dilemma (1943)   3/53/53/53/53/5


The Butler's Dilemma (1943)

The Conman

Rodney Playfair (Richard Hearne) has found himself coerced into masquerading as a butler called Chapman for a friend as he has a gambling debt which his friend hass agreed to pay off if he does this one favour for him. What Rodney doesn't know is that firstly he has been duped in to playing a part in a scame but also that Chapman has been hired by his girlfriend's father, Leo (Francis L. Sullivan), who doesn't care much for Rodney hanging around with his daughter, Ann (Judy Kelly). To make matters even more complicated there is Ann's Aunt Sophie (Hermione Gingold) who recognizes a picture of Chapman and fancies him.

"The Butler's Dilemma" is one of those bygone comedies which when you watch now you might struggle with finding it that funny, you also might wonder why the star of it, Richard Hearne, was such a popular comedian for a while often appearing as a character known as Mr. Pastry. But I am sure it was funny once and as such what we get is the comedy of Rodney having to squirm his way through a situation as he finds himself pretending to be an aging butler working for his girlfriend's combustible father. And of course with him being the innocent in all this not only is he unaware of the scam that others have going on but he is also unaware that Ann actually knows that it is Rodney in disguise. It isn't complicated and relies heavily on Richard Hearne selling things with some over reacting whilst looking old and Francis L. Sullivan playing a blustering/bellowing sort of character.

What this all boils down to is that "The Butler's Dilemma" is just some bygone fun which to be honest is not as much fun as it probably was back in 1943. But in a way it still serves a purpose as we see Rodney fall comedically foul of hanging out with the wrong people and going along with their plans.


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