Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

A 1950s London cleaning lady falls in love with an haute couture dress by Christian Dior and decides to gamble everything for the sake of this folly.

  • Released: 2022-07-15
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Stars: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lucas Bravo, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Anna Chancellor, Rose Williams, Ellen Thomas, Jason Isaacs, Roxane Duran, Bertrand Poncet, Christian McKay, Freddie Fox, Philippe Bertin, Guilaine Londez, Dorottya Ilosvai, Delroy Atkinson, Vincent Martin, Harry Szovik, Péter Végh, Csémy Balázs, Igor Szász, Jeremy Wheeler, Ben Addis, Zsolt Páll, Declan Hannigan, Stephen Saracco, Sarah Rickman, Wayne Brett, Panka Murányi, Emese Sarkadi-Szabo, Guizani Douraied, Jade Lopez, Anett Földi, Germaine Queen Ottley, Sába Kapás, Saruul Delgerbayar, Isabella Brett, Cintia Örvendi, Barnabás Réti
  • Director: Anthony Fabian
 Comments
  • dierregi - 20 June 2024
    Maybe meant to be "endearing" but quite annoying
    Mrs. Harris is a cheerful charwoman from Battersea who, in the 1950s, falls in love with a Dior gown owned by one of her employers and decides to go to Paris to buy a similar one. Based on a 1960 novel, this story might have been a charming fairy tale in its time. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged well, and the movie feels heavily sponsored by Dior. Mrs. Harris comes off as more passive-aggressive and ignorant than naive.

    Lesley Manville, who plays the titular Mrs. Ada Harris, was brilliant in "Phantom Thread." It's a testament to her acting ability that she portrays a completely different kind of woman here. However, her Ada is immensely annoying. Among others, Ada cleans for a ditzy model and the pretentious, mean owner of the Dior gown and in her free time, she goes to the pub with best pal Vi and friend Archie, who seems to have feelings for her, though she isn't interested. After a series of implausible events, Ada gets enough money to fly to Paris to buy her gown, and this is where the most ludicrous part begins.

    The head of the House of Dior questions why a cleaner would need a couture gown, and it's hard to imagine Ada wearing it more than once, perhaps at a local dance. Even if she's entitled to spend her money as she wishes, it's undeniable that Ada's "dream" is trivial and consumeristic and the movie's repeated "follow your dreams" mantra feels more like "Spend your money on extravagant things you can't afford and don't need."

    The tacked-on failed romance with a noble Frenchman and Ada single-handedly saving the House of Dior by pushing her way around add more silliness to an already flimsy plot. Worse is to come when Ada returns home. The ditzy model needs an evening gown, and generous Ada lends her the brand-new, never-worn precious garment. This moment stretches the plot to peak stupidity, amplifying my dislike for Ada Harris.

    It doesn't help that, to comply with contemporary inclusiveness, Ada's best friend Vi is black, and several Dior mannequins are also black. While irrelevant to the main plot, these additions feel like gratuitous tokens to contemporary sensitivity and a cheap device to attract sympathy.

    Rather than a feel-good movie, this turned into the glorification of a silly, materialistic, ignorant woman whose "dream" was to buy something she didn't need. Her pushy ways are somehow portrayed as helpful and endearing, but they fall flat. Unclear what the audience liked in this fake, cheap, consumeristic tale.
  • tomsview - 16 January 2024
    Pretty in couture
    When someone says they don't make 'em like that anymore after watching an old, feel-good Hollywood movie, well, they do sometimes, "Mrs Harris goes to Paris" is one of them.

    This little movie has a touch of the magic of the old Hollywood studios combined with the engaging eccentricity of the mid-50s Earling comedies.

    The usual synopsis doesn't do it justice: "Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1957 London who falls madly in love with a Christian Dior haute couture dress and decides that she must have one of her own".

    But Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) is a more complex character than that. We realise that she is a generous, caring person. A run of good luck brings her the money she needs to head off to Paris initially in pursuit of the gorgeous gown, but eventually it also reveals inner qualities, which attract a fascinating, disparate group of people.

    An intriguing aspect of the movie is the way Dior haute couture garments were displayed in the 1950's and bought by clients, followed by the critical individual fitting. When slim, sixty-something Ada Harris is measured for her dress, she is told, "Madam has the proportions of a model". Eventually we see how well her gown fits her.

    Filmed in London and Paris, the film looks as fabulous as the Dior gowns. The story has been filmed a couple of times and if you've seen it, it's interesting to compare it to the 1992 version with Angela Lansbury, "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris". It must have been a break from playing Jessica Fletcher in 9 seasons of "Murder She Wrote". However that earlier film is like a sketch compared to producer/director Anthony Fabian's more fully rendered work.

    Rael Jones' vibrant waltz themes and lilting piano solos show the power that a superb original score can have over a compilation of existing songs.

    If you are a fan of the Marvel franchise or into Jason Statham's brand of house cleaning, then Mrs. Harris with her bucket and mop possibly isn't for you. But the film has appealing characters, and goes in such unexpected directions that you may find yourself absorbed before you know it.