Bookish, virginal British lass cuts loose on vacation in Singapore, where she has a romance with her hotel escort, a local young man who may be a gigolo. From a Noel Coward story, with some surprising and funny twists and turns, but the film doesn't know quite when or how to wrap things up. In the lead, Hayley Mills is self-effacing and a little bit feisty; her makeover from a flamboyant male hairdresser is amusing, as is her later switch to teasing tourist. After Mills left the Disney company, British filmmakers mostly seemed interested in getting rid of her darned virginity; this vehicle is no different, though the colorful location is nicely captured and Trevor Howard has a terrific role as Hayley's uncle (he has a speech near the end that evokes many dimensions). Not a complete success, and the Polly character is eventually so mercurial in her emotions that we don't know where we stand with her. Otherwise, an entertaining travelogue and Mills is always worth watching. **1/2 from ****
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An adult Hayley Mills plays a young woman named Polly who accompanies her awful, snooty aunt Brenda de Banzie on a trip to India where circumstances have her on her own and finally enjoying life once away she gets away from the old bat. De Banzie has a black sheep son, Trevor Howard, who wants nothing to do with his mother, and once you see her dealing with nice nails, you'll understand why. This character is perfectly dreadful, and circumstances surrounding her character don't come too soon. De Banzie sinks her teeth into this role, A variation of the character that the wonderful florence-based played in "Rebecca".
Mills and de Banzie are accompanied around India by sweet native Shashi Kapoor who gets to show Mills parts of the country she would not have seen otherwise and the real nightlife, not one created just for high society tourists from America or Europe. The rambunkiousness of young Indian adults in the mid-to-late 60s if something you rarely see on screen, at least in the film done in English, and there's even a flamboyant Indian male hairdresser thrown in, making a big deal of the fact that he's picked up a muscular Scandinavian sailor. Not something you see normally in a British film from this era!
Like Annette Funicello going on to do the "Beach Party" movies, Hayley Mills had quite a different result career once she got out from Disney. She's initially shy and unsure of herself, but as she becomes more free, her true spark is revealed and Mills does a great job in showing this young lady blossoming. The film slows down a little bit in the last quarter and becomes a bit cumbersome with Howard and the Asian woman he's keeping company with, a sudden outburst rather cold and slitgery, like a roll that Gale Sondergaard would have played 30 years before. The film is bittersweet but enlightening, with mostly interesting characters and a story to care about. -
FORREST1363 August 2001This film AKA "A Matter Of Innocence" was rushed in and out of theatres in the 60's! Haley Mills was trying to break away from her Disney image! The film is well down. Trevor Howard a veteran actor also gives a great performance! The soundtrack is also very enjoyable.
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endlesssummer5310 July 2017Hayley Mills is my all-time favorite actress but her performance in this movie was mediocre at best. Sure, she looked STUNNING but her acting seemed forced and not sincere.
The characters in this movie were VERY uninteresting and it was hard to understand what Trevor Howard, Shashi Kapoor, Kalen Liu and some of the others were saying with their strong accents and speaking really fast.
This movie's plot and scenery seemed to be all over the map and really had little direction and emotion which left me really BORED!!! The soundtrack was fair but nothing special but I did like Matt Monro's singing of the title song.
Hayley's last GREAT movie was "The Trouble With Angels" made the year before (1966) but all of her movies after that were never hits in the USA. The public never accepted her new image and thus, she will be forever remembered most of all for her Disney movies and for "The Trouble With Angels". -
rainbowarrior-160-10881726 November 2020Polly Barlow a plain, intelligent, bookish young lady, is introduced to her rich, eccentric, flamboyant aunt & get's invited to travel to Singapore. There she meets several fresh interesting men, and for the 1st time has a romantic love interest with a gigolo/ escort, which she finds exciting, and fascinating! She's inwardly & externally transformed into a beautiful young woman through love, courage & freedom. It's a movie with many twists & turns, & comedy/ romance ensues. I fell in love with this new role for Hayley mainly because I loved her prior roles, she indeed was a stunning young girl, a search was made to elevate her into mature roles, as she was the sweetheart from many Disney films. Polly's uncle, Trevor Howard, who lives in Singapore with his Singapore native sex kitten (& often times vulgar mistress) co-stars in this quirky romantic comedy/ drama. Hayley shines throughout this exciting movie & it's one of my favorites from the Hayley Mills collection. It's nearing a 10 for me, I love it & think you will too. It was written wonderfully by Noel Coward, and this in itself elevates this wonderful movie for new film viewers!
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BHallums15 June 1999This Movie was based on a short story by the late Noel Coward about Miss Polly Barlow. Polly was young when she gone with her stern aunt to Singapore. Once they arrived, Polly was a shy, different little girl from London North in her own right to proved her own innocence and become a woman.