Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is pure whimsy

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When I first heard the title Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris I was sure I had heard it before, and sure enough I was remembering a 1992 TV movie with the slightly altered title of Mrs. ‘Arris Goes To Paris, which starred Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Harris and Diana Rigg as Madame Colbert. Once that little memory had been confirmed I was more surprised to learn that the films are based on a novel by Paul Gallico, author of The Poseidon Adventure, two very different stories that you can imagine. Gallico has a very interesting and diverse resumé, but it’s still weird to think the guy who wrote about survivors of a capsized cruise ship also wrote a whimsical story about a woman who wants a fabulous dress (and three other ‘Mrs. Harris’ stories, as well as the book The Pride of the Yankees was based on, and boxing kangaroo tale Matilda).

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris (the novel’s original title was Flowers for Mrs. Harris before it was released in the US as Mrs. ‘Arris Goes To Paris) is completely centered around Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a cleaning lady in 1957 London. Ada goes about her life cleaning a series of homes from the upper crust (including a man who introduces a series of ‘nieces’ to her as she comes to work, and a fallen society woman who avoids paying her bills) to the working class (a young woman with aspirations to become an actress). Her after work time is spent with best friend Vi Butterfield (Ellen Thomas) and a man named Archie (Jason Isaacs), for whom she is obviously smitten — and vice versa — but she can’t think of moving on with her life even though he husband has been missing since World War II. She holds out hope that he will return, even though Vi tries to convince her that after more than ten years she needs to put that in the past and move on. The friends regularly play some kind of lottery, and as luck would have it, Ada wins and she has her sights set on going to Christian Dior in Paris to spend £500 on a dress like the one her client who never pays has. Archie invites the women to the dog races, and feeling it’s a sign Ada put £100 on a dog named ‘Haute Couture’, which Archie tries to warn her away from. She insists but loses her money and her dream of that Dior dress. But Archie put a tenner from her original bet on another dog and won, so she now has more money to accomplish her dream. And then the bad news finally arrives — her husband has been confirmed dead but he’s also been drawing a salary since his death. Ada assumes the military is there to collect from her what he was paid but in truth she is actually due a widow’s pension backdated to the time of his death. Through these series of circumstance, Mrs. Harris does go to Paris but is completely out of her element when she finds Dior is not just a shop one can walk into and buy a dress off the rack.

At Dior, she encounters who will become her nemesis, Madame Colbert (Isabelle Huppert) — who is aghast that this cleaning lady from London has the audacity (and the money) to buy an original Dior — young model Pamela Penrose (Rose Williams), up and coming Dior executive André Fauvel (Lucas Bravo), and client Marquis de Chassange (Lambert Wilson), all of whom are affected by the magical Mrs. Harris in one way or another, as if it was truly fate that sent her to Paris to mend these people’s lives and after a tragedy it is upon them to do something nice for her … this is story really is a fairy tale when you think about it.

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is a film that is full of whimsy but I think ‘magical realism’ best describes the plot and the style of the film because of all of the coincidences that land Ada in Paris and because of the style in which director Anthony Fabian has shot the film, with scenes often showing Ada floating in her own fantasy world, not to mention how she literally becomes a fairy godmother to Pamela (and André for that matter). Mrs. Harris may just be a cleaning lady (and seamstress) back in London, but in Paris she is truly a creature with ‘magical’ powers (of course she’s not really magic but…). In the TV movie, Ada was played by Angela Lansbury and in the film she is played by Lesley Manville, and I can’t think of another actress who could have brought such warmth to the character. Manville (who starred in another film about fashion, Phantom Thread and recently appeared on The Crown as Princess Margaret) is a delight. She brings an authenticity to the character, even in the more whimsical and unbelievable moments, and she really makes you care for her plight from accepting her husband’s death to dealing with her clients to the tragedy that befalls her in the final act. She makes Ada a woman you’d want to be your mum or granny, someone you just want to hug tight and never let go.

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Ellen Thomas is a hoot as her friend Vi, always trying to be the voice of reason but always supporting Ada in whatever she chooses to do … and is there to help pick up the pieces when necessary. Jason Isaacs doesn’t have a lot to do, but even in his few scenes with Manville you know these two are meant to be together. Rose Williams is a delight as Pamela even though we never get a real grip on who she is. She’s a model, she’s an escort, she’s a student, she’s actually British? It’s really hard to pinpoint who Pamela is but the one thing we do know is that she pines for André and needs a kick in the pants to take action. Lucas Bravo is also wonderful as André, the dutiful Dior employee with grand ideas and a crush on Pamela, but too timid to act on any of his desires. Lambert Wilson easily woos Ada as the Marquis and it seems that maybe she is her true Prince Charming, and he gives a performance that makes you root for them. The great Isabelle Huppert is the ‘wicked witch’ of the story, a woman who sits high on her perch above everyone at Dior (and in her mind she’s even above M. Dior himself as she tries to keep the business as exclusive as she can), looking down on the common Ada and doing all she can to keep her from buying a dress (even though Ada has the cash on hand that Dior sorely needs). She nearly defeats Ada, but late in the game we are given a chance to see that Madame Colbert isn’t as black-and-white as she seems, and Huppert’s performance allows us to have some sympathy for her after all. Fabian has assembled a really wonderful cast and they help give what is a somewhat light and fluffy story a little more weight and emotion.

Fabian also captures the look of the era wonderfully (although a movie premiere seems a bit lackluster with the minimal crowd size), including a strike of municipal workers in Paris that has left the streets strewn with garbage, right down to the inner workings of a fashion house (and Dior did participate in the production of the film, which gives it a bit more authenticity). The cinematography captures the sense of ‘magical realism’ very well, not giving the film a completely gritty look considering the setting, giving us the occasional golden glow you’d expect from a fairy tale movie. The costumes of the working class characters have an authenticity to them that makes them feel lived in, which contrasts with the more upscale wardrobe of Colbert, Pamela and André while they’re on the clock, and the stunning fashions at the Dior 10th anniversary showcase (and we want Ada to have that red dress as much as she does). The screenplay by Fabian, Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson and Olivia Hetreed expertly balances the reality with the whimsy which draws you into the story and makes you care about the characters.

It’s curious that a film like Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris would get a theatrical release right in the middle of the summer, facing off against blockbusters like Thor: Love and Thunder, but it is some ideal counter-programming for the adult movie-goers who feel slighted during the summer months. Minions: The Rise of Gru proved that there is an appetite for films the entire family can enjoy, so Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris should appeal to the crowd who may not be into the adrenaline action of Top Gun: Maverick. It’s an overwhelmingly pleasant film that really does transport you into a different era, connecting with the characters and the story, one that will leave you feeling happy and satisfied in the end.

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris has a run time of 1 hour 55 minutes, is rated PG for suggestive material, language and smoking.