Albert Lewin's reputation rests almost entirely on two films, "The
Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" but his
masterpiece must surely be the little known and little seen "The Private
Affairs of Bel Ami" from the novel by Guy De Maupassant. It is, of
course, a very witty portrait of a cad, beautifully played by George
Sanders, but it is also a film of considerable psychological depth and
one of the most adult and intelligent American pictures of the forties
with not a trace of the camp usually associated with the director.
Rather we get an incisive picture of a period and that rarefied milieu of high Parisian society, beautifully written by Lewin and superbly played by everyone. In particular Angela Lansbury is outstanding as the one woman Sanders might actually have feelings for. It's a great performance that should have made Lansbury a major Hollywood player rather than simply the great character actress she became. Even the usually wooden Warren William excels here. If any film cries out for a restoration it is this one
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