Review of Holiday for Henrietta

Class, Style, Brilliance Is Alive And Well - or at least it was in 1952 when top writer Henri Jeanson collaborated with top director Julian Duvivier on this Faberge egg of a movie which incredibly provided the basis for the dire Paris When It Sizzles a decade later. On paper the premise is simple; two scriptwriters who have run up against censor trouble improvise a new scenario on the hoof and we cut between the actual brainstorming/dictating to clips of what will be the finished product which switches genres on a dime. Jeamson's script is lethally funny and laced liberally with Billy Wilder-type mordant wit and all hands acquit themselves with more than distinction. This reaffirms Duvivier's place in the pantheon of not just great French directors but Great directors period. Unmissable.