Shot in sumptuous Technicolor, this respectful adaptation of Oscar Wilde's sparkling comedy of errors thankfully rarely breaks free of its theatrical origins. The steady direction of Anthony Asquith keeps Wilde's polished barbs and bons mots firmly to the fore and the film is an invaluable record of an expert cast at work. Michael Redgrave and Michael Denison are clipped and composed as the gentlemen of leisure, whose innocent deceptions imperil their romantic aspirations towards the coquettish Joan Greenwood and Dorothy Tutin. Upstaging them all is Dame Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell, whose quavering delivery of "A handbag" is one of British cinema's great moments.

Two young gentlemen living in 1890s England use the same pseudonym ('Ernest') on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities.