American Friends

Stars: Michael Palin (A Fish Called Wanda, The Missionary), Trini Alvarado (Stella Dallas, The Babe). Inspired by original Monty Python member Michael Palin's grandfather's travel journals, American Friends stars Palin as Francis Ashby, a late 19th-century Oxford professor who meets a pair of American ladies while vacationing in Switzerland. The two women--Miss Caroline Hart­ley (Connie Booth) and her niece Miss Elinor Hartley (Trini Alvarado)--each take a shine to the less-than-dashing Ashby, and eventually come to visit him on collegiate turf. Their arrival comes, alas, at an unpropitious time: Ashby is bucking for the Presidency position and he's up against a young ambitious competitor. Since "females" are a major no-no on campus, the sudden appearance of Ashby's American friends cause tongues to wag, thereby jeopardizing his campaign. The biggest problem here is that despite the fact American Friends is based on a true story, the love angle simply isn't plausible. There is no reason offered in the film why the young and pretty Elinor should look twice at the middle-aged and rather dry Ashby, let alone follow him to England and throw herself at his feet. And the other fork of this bipartite tale--the bid to become Oxford's head honcho--doesn't exactly put viewers on the edge of their seats. Unlike Howard's End, whose success will no doubt spawn more than a few genteel period pieces (see The Bachelor next), there's no compelling story here to engage modern audiences. Audience: Very undemanding fans of all things Anglophile.