I've given this 10 out of 10, because it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, I can't think of any way you could improve it. The original play is a classic, and this is a fairly good interpretation of the second, slightly shorter, version of Wilde's masterpiece. The cast is to die for, every role seems to have been written for the cast members, not the other way round! I've seen many stage versions, and although many have been excellent, I always find myself comparing them to this gem, and this always comes out on top. Probably only Hobson's Choice, with Charles Laughton, comes close to this level of perfection. Redgrave is brilliant, and shows an acting style not seen in any of his other films, contrasting wildly with the dull grey Crocker-Harris or studiously obsessive Barnes Wallace. Denison is a revelation as Algernon, a stage expert at his best, Tutin, in her film debut, is as close to an English Rose as ever portrayed on film, Greenwood, with her distinctive voice the perfect foil. Malleson and Rutherford are a match for any famous screen couple, and even Richard Wattis, Aubrey Mather and Walter Hudd as the 3 butlers are just right for their cameos. And then there's Edith Evans, in her most famous role, rightly so, delivering one of the most famous quotes ever on screen. Am I biased towards this film ? Yes, stuck on a desert island this would be my number one pick.

The incarnation of perfection. It had been many, many years since I'd last seen this zenith, this quintessence of dramatic art and composition. Besides the handbag, I especially recalled the exquisite dialogue during the al fresco tea-party of the divine little sisters, and even more especially the immortal line: "I asked for bread-and-butter, and you have given me cake." Nothing since has ever come close to equalling that expression of reproach, tinged with pain and sorrow. Sixty years had passed, and I still remembered those uniquely thrilling tones of Greenwood, as they re-echoed in the ear of memory.I was just about to express an opinion on this site, when I discovered that Youtube had posted the entire masterpiece, as recently as 27 May, this year as ever is! And I have now re-watched it, courtesy that tube, quite gratis, with immeasurable enjoyment.It is laugh out loud funny, to use a vulgar modern term. I was frequently in stitches. Directed with an impeccably light touch by Asquith, it is a triumphant celebration of verbal fireworks. They coruscate and scintillate. The settings are matchless. This is a work in the tradition of sparkling English theatre, from Shakespeare, through Sheridan to the late C19th, after which, though briefly revived by Coward, it shrivels, droops and dies. It is quite incredible to me that anyone could be so deplorably dull as to award it fewer stars than any of the near-ubiquitous trash contained in the IMDb top 250 list. Compare it with Lump, Stump and Two Stinking Balderdashes, to see Britain's precipitous national decline

I have seen the 2002 remake of "Earnest" (very good), I have seen it performed on the stage (also very good), but this 1952 film version is now my favorite. I saw it for the first time only last night. Wonderful performances all around, with Edith Evans' presence being especially commanding. It doesn't hurt one bit that both Joan Greenwood and Dorothy Tutin look almost impossibly beautiful. There is not one word of wasted dialog. I don't know if the film was remastered or otherwise reprocessed, but the colors and picture were sharp (via cable TV). It looks like a DVD that cleaned up the the original was made in 2002 - I may have to have that! If you get a chance to see a stage production of this, do so.

This is, hands down, the definitive film version of Wilde's finest play rendering all others superfluous. Puffin Asquith made something of a specialty of adapting stage plays and his resume' includes Pygmalion, Quiet Wedding, Cottage To Let, French Without Tears, plus the definitive film version (the Albert Finney remake was a joke) of the finest One-Act play ever written, Terry Rattigan's The Browning Version, in which Asquith and Redgrave teamed up yet again. Michael Redgrave was the outstanding Stage actor of his generation despite strong competition from Ralph Richardson, Johhny Gielgud and the overrated Larry Olivier but for better or worse he was associated with 'weighty' roles, especially Shakespeare yet he possessed the lightest of touches when playing comedy as he demonstrates here where he leads a cast that would be difficult if not impossible to eclipse. From all accounts Edith Evans' Lady Bracknell was one or two notches below her stage version in the 'classic' John Gielgud version of the play some years earlier and if that is so then the stage performance may well have been out of this world. The other Michael in the cast (Dennison, as Algy) is not someone immediately linked with Wilde yet he brings it off exceptionally well which may be hardly surprising given it was his impetus that got the project off the ground. Miles Malleson and the 'amateur' (when Redgrave dared to praise her standout performance as Madame Arcati at an out-of-town preview of Blithe Spirit to the author, Noel Coward, he was taken aback when Coward seethed 'amateur' and changed the subject) Margaret Rutherford complement each other perfectly whilst Joan Greenford and newcomer (in her film debut) Dorothy Tutin round off a cast in which everyone has grasped the concept of speaking the Wildean epigrams with which it is studded as if they were the most banal clichés. Definitely one to savor.