Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-10-10
BY JOHN L. STURDENANT,
Motion Picture Editor.

III
ably have a servant problem
U The supply Of domestics has
been considerably cut down by
offers OF better jobs at defense
plants. For all We know, the
days of being able 10 hire a good
cook are forever at an end.
The complexities of the situa-
ton are lightly treated in a new
comedy My Kingdom For A
Cook" a Columbia Pictures pro-
duction, starring Charles Coburn
and an excellent cast.
Charles, il seems, is the IA
nous English author and &C
centric, Rudyard Morley, who de-
cides 10 visit America on a good
viii tour so that the British and
Americans may learn TO under
stand each other.
Just before boarding the Clip
per. he learns that he may not
take hts English cook along Re
frctfullY. he tries 10 mcmorlze
her recipe for duck Bearnaise. "
New York proves 10 be a
hazardous experience for the
knicKerbockered scribe, and he
decides TO go 10 the country be-
fore beginning his lecture tour.
He is met at his destination by
some ladies Of Colcord. who at
tempt a welcoming speech and
the offer of an invitation 20 din
ncr at the home of a well-known
lady writer Of murder mysteries.
Mr.. Morley Indignantly refuses
the preferred cordially and takes
himself and his lovely daughter
marguerite Chapman 10 his
rented house.
AS soon as he tries 20 hire a
cook. he comes face 20 face with
Americas servant problem There
lust aren't any. He decides. then.
20 20 20 tho dinner 10 which he
has been invited and pirates
his hostess cook. famed for her
duck Bearnaise.
The fun begins, the tuC-of-war
augmented by romance between
Mr.. Morley's daughter and the
lieutenant son Of the lady
novelist
There Is bogus clopcmcnt
staged by the couple TO bring
Morley 10 his senses, for the
novelist had written an editorial
denouncing the Englishman for
his piracy" and demanding that
Mr. Churchill bring him home.
Morley decides 20 tightly adj
dressing an audience in the town
on the occasion of its l50th an
niversarv.
Before that event however.
Morley meets another type Of
American when he involuntarily
goes along with some crop
pickers 10 bring in a harvest He
engineers a fight between two
OF the pickers and lands in Jail,
from which his daughter refuses
20 bail him out.
Meanwhile, his cook has left
him 20 return 10 her original en-
ploycr. No more duck Bear
naise" for Rudyard Morley
The film seems 20 be hastily
cut in parts Many Of the more
amusing incidents lack fire and
are jcrky and abrupt one gets
the feeling that the motion
picture could have been much
better.
Coburn presents a living Carl
cature Of some well-known Eng
lish authors. notably George
Bernard Shaw, adopting his IA
nous plus-fours and Mephisto-
phclean beard.
The romance is a rather half
hearted affair without convincing
warmth OF emotion. In all. My
Kingdom For A Cook" seems 70
lack zest. a fault which may be
noticed in the cow-milking scene
which might have been hilarious
but wasn't even droll. A
The dubious question of
whether the film, even as a
comedy and burlesquc Of Anglo
American manners, will help
mutual understanding between
the two countries, I will not an
swcr Mr. Morley's closing speech
and apology will, perhaps, do the
trick And all this because he
wanted someone elsc's cook Let
1. l..