Quickly reuniting Lansbury with her Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) cohorts Albert Lewin and George Sanders, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami is based on Guy de Maupassant’s second novel. Sanders plays the ironically-nicknamed scoundrel of the title who becomes bewitched by his own charming powers over women, including Lansbury’s youthful widow Clotilde. Aided by a witty, intelligent script, both Lansbury and Sanders evince subtle fluctuations of emotion throughout every shift in their ambiguously unofficial relationship. Although often convincingly sincere, the affections of the manipulative Bel Ami grow increasingly suspect while Clotilde maintains a wry demeanor neither coquettish nor overmodest; she presents a believable independence, devotion and playfulness with the gentle complexity Lansbury would bring to numerous future roles. – BG