That Uncertain Feeling (film)

That Uncertain Feeling
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Ernst Lubitsch
Produced by	Ernst Lubitsch Sol Lesser (uncredited)
Written by	Walter Reisch Donald Ogden Stewart
Based on	Divorçons by Victorien Sardou Emile de Najac
Starring	Merle Oberon Melvyn Douglas Burgess Meredith
Music by	Werner R. Heymann
Cinematography	George Barnes
Edited by	William Shea
Production company	Ernst Lubitsch Productions Sol Lesser Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	April 20, 1941 (1941-04-20) (United States)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

That Uncertain Feeling is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas and Burgess Meredith. The film is about the bored wife of an insurance salesman who meets an eccentric pianist and seeks a divorce. The screenplay by Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden Stewart was based on the 1880 French play Divorçons by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac.

Plot

Merle Oberon and Melvyn Douglas in That Uncertain Feeling

Play media

That Uncertain Feeling

At the suggestion of one of her friends, Jill Baker (Merle Oberon) visits psychoanalyst Dr. Vengard (Alan Mowbray) for her intermittent hiccups, which appear when she gets nervous or irritated. He soon has her questioning her previously happy marriage to her business executive husband Larry (Melvyn Douglas).

In Vengard's waiting room one day, Jill meets a very odd and individualistic pianist, Alexander Sebastian (Burgess Meredith). He considers himself the best in the world when playing for a single listener, but has trouble performing in front of a large audience. She eventually invites him to an important dinner for Larry's prospective insurance buyers. When Larry realizes that Jill is infatuated with Sebastian, he gives her a friendly divorce, in which Larry is represented by a lawyer named Jones (Harry Davenport) whose secretary is Sally Aikens (Eve Arden).

Jill gets engaged to Sebastian, but after she learns that Larry is seeing an attractive woman, she realizes that she still loves her ex-husband. When she tries to reconcile with him, he pretends that Sally Aikens, Jones' secretary, is in the other room. His deception is revealed when Sally enters the apartment while he is in the next room breaking a dinner date, supposedly with the distraught Sally (her supposed cries of anguish voiced by Larry). Jill and Larry get back together, and the hiccups vanish forever.

Cast

• Merle Oberon as Jill Baker
• Melvyn Douglas as Larry Baker
• Burgess Meredith as Alexander Sebastian
• Alan Mowbray as Dr. Vengard
• Olive Blakeney as Margie Stallings, Jill's friend
• Harry Davenport as Jones, Larry's lawyer
• Sig Ruman as Mr. Kafka, Larry's prospective client
• Eve Arden as Sally Aikens
• Richard Carle as The Butler

Reception

The film was a failure at the box office.

Award and honors

Werner R. Heymann was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture.

See also

• Let's Get a Divorce (1918)
• Kiss Me Again (1925)

External links

• That Uncertain Feeling at the Internet Movie Database
• That Uncertain Feeling at AllMovie
• That Uncertain Feeling is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• That Uncertain Feeling at the TCM Movie Database