Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying soci... Read allGuinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWinifred Watson's book was published the fall of 1938 and it became a smash hit. Plans were in the works for a Hollywood film version starring Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew, but the start of WWII brought those plans to a halt. The publisher re-released the book in 2000 which led to it being "found" again by Hollywood after 60+ years.
- GoofsJohnny Mercer's Dream, a lovely song and fitting the mood of the scene, wasn't written until 1944.
- Quotes
Delysia: [during an air-raid drill] Guinevere, I'm scared!
Guinevere Pettigrew: It's just a drill, I'm sure it's just a drill.
Delysia: But it won't always be, will it? We're going to war, aren't we?
Guinevere Pettigrew: Yes we are. And that is why you must not waste a second of this precious life. Listen to me. Once I too had ambitions. Not your grand ones, simple ambitions. Marriage, children and a house of our own. He died, in the mud in France. A good, solid man. You would call him dull, no doubt, but he smiled whenever he saw me and we could've built a life on that. Your heart knows the truth, Delysia. Trust it.
- Crazy creditsBefore the end credits, there is a black screen and a voice calling "some music please", after which music starts playing and the credits start rolling.
- SoundtracksBrother Can You Spare a Dime
Written by E.Y. Harburg (as Y.E. "Yip" Harburg) and Jay Gorney
Arranged and Conducted by Paul Englishby
Frances McDormand stars as Miss Pettigrew and when the story opens, she has just been fired from the position as a servant of a wealthy lady. With no assets, she goes to a soup kitchen for a free meal and when she is about to eat it, she is bumped, and it falls on the ground. Acquiring her last job through an agency, she goes there, only to be told that with her record, she is now considered unemployable. Desperate, Miss Pettigrew learns that another employee of the agency is scheduled to go to a job for an actress and intercepts the communication so that the actress believes that Miss Pettigrew was sent by the agency.
Amy Adams plays the glamorous and high-society singer actress Delysia Lafosse, and when Miss Pettigrew arrives, the apartment is in a state of chaos, Lafosse needs to get the man in her bed dressed and out of the apartment before another man in her life arrives. Lafosse is portrayed as a superficial airhead, stringing several men along while she determines which one of best suited to advance her career. However, as the film progresses, we learn that she is much more than that. Clearly a child of the Depression, Lafosse is for the first time somebody, rather than just another woman struggling to survive.
This movie is meant to be a comedy romance, yet the humor is often lost due to the overplayed dingbat features of Lafosse and the self-serving wickedness of other women. The romance part works much better, particularly at the end, where everything turns out to be about love. Your emotional strings are pulled when you think that Miss Pettigrew is suddenly tossed back where she was in the beginning, alone in a terminal with no hope. Suddenly, things change. Although this is clearly a chick-flick, guys can relate to it as well.
My favorite parts of the movie are the references to the potential for war between Britain and Germany. There are not many but make up for it in their ominous nature. For example, there is a scene where a formation of heavy British bombers fly overhead. Anyone with knowledge of what happened during the Second World War will recognize it for the powerful harbinger of their future reality.
- cashbacher
- Feb 6, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Міс Петтігрю живе одним днем
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $12,313,694
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,490,942
- Mar 9, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $16,724,933
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1