JB Archive: On Screen
On Approval is a witty and charming drawing room comedy set in 1927. Four stylish, unmarried people spend a month together, "on approval," to decide if marriage would be the bliss they imagine. It is based on a play by Frederick Lonsdale. -- Masterpiece Theatre
The following is from a fan's page about the
teleplay On Approval is set in 1927 and concerns Maria Wislack, a spoiled, rich widow considering marriage to a kindly gentleman named Richard Halton, who has been secretly in love with her for 18 years. Cynical about love and extremely domineering, she decides to take him away to her estate in Scotland for a month "on approval." If he measures up to her expectations (platonically) she will marry him. If not she'll give him railway fare back to London. The idea of a lady suggesting such an experiment was considered risque enough in 1927 to be intriguing. The title is a side reference to the custom at
the time of being able to take an appliance home for one month "on
approval" to test it. At the end of that time, you could purchase
it or return it if it didn't live up to expectations. This is a quiet gem of a comedy that steals into your heart and never leaves. This is a play where Lonsdale's brilliant dialog, delivered by four great actors whose timing and delivery is perfect, flows over the watcher in a rich wash of sly comments. |
Play of the Month
Also in the picture is the spoiled and
recently impoverished George, Duke of Bristol, whose self conceit
is equaled only by Maria's. He is loved by the young and wealthy
Helen Hale, whom he likes and sees as a possible way out of his
financial problems.