over almost a refugee from the late 1930s. This could be mildly disconcerting, but quality performances by a strong cast of second-tier actors bring the whole thing together in a delightfully old-fashioned comedy.

The Miss Pettigrew of the title is played by Frances McDormand, who has performed in the supporting role in a number of excellent films and is probably best-known for her Oscar-winning performance as Police Chief Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996). She has made something of a specialty of rough diamond characters, a loving heart that shines out from a somewhat world-weary exterior.

In Miss Pettigrew she plays a stern governess, a vicar’s daughter who has some trouble dealing with the flighty upper-crust types she is called upon to serve in order to make ends meet. That is until she meets Delysia, an aspiring star sleeping her way to the top.

Delysia leads Miss Pettigrew into her high-society world, with its many dirty little secrets, blackmail and back-stabbing, embodied in the character of Edythe, played by the ever delightful Shirley Henderson. There are a number of Pretty Woman moments as Miss Pettigrew is introduced to the delights of a decadent world, a million miles from the soup kitchens into which she might fall back at any moment.

Miss Pettigrew has a foundation of common sense and a knowledge of the world’s harshness that is not shared by the bright young things around her, and more by accident than design finds herself in the role of fixer for various romantic contretemps. The film is so light and airy that it is constantly in danger of drifting off. It is anchored by Ciaran Hinds, who plays Joe, a lingerie designer and a counterpoint of studied elegance and emotional seriousness in a growing appreciation of Miss Pettigrew’s virtues.

Set on the eve of World War II, director Bharat Nalluri provides a base note of sorrow that rumbles just beneath the frothy surface. It may all end happily ever after when Delysia finally finds the courage — instilled by Miss Pettigrew — to walk into the night with the right man, but the Lancaster bombers are already flying overhead, and both Joe and Miss Pettigrew know that the future is anything but certain.