The Reluctant Debutante

It’s social season in London, and amid the swirl of coming-out balls the aristocratic Broadbents (real-life marrieds Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall) are intent on giving their American-educated 17-year-old daughter Jane (Sandra Dee) the right entry into society and a proper upper-class beau.

One complication: flighty Mabel Claremont (Angela Lansbury) is eager to match that same beau with her daughter. And another: Jane, of course, has her own ideas about these matters—and an eye for a guy (John Saxon) who’s a drummer in the dance band.

Comedy is in season for The Reluctant Debutante, a rib-tickler of societal foibles and follies given spirited direction by Vincente Minnelli and featuring a full dance card of deft badinage.