There is no doubt about it. The English are the world's greatest humorists. In "Spring in Park Lane," they have taken a plot as old as Hadrian's Wall which has had all of its intrisic humor drained out over the centuries, and made it into a very funny motion picture.

The humor here is not situational; it is wit, pure and polished. If you don't like this very English type of repartee, the picture will leave you completely unamused.

The plot brings a nobleman, who thinks he is broke, into service as a footman in the household of connoisseur Joshua Howard. Inevitably he falls in love with the old man's niece and amanuensis, and gets into numerous complications before the final dribbling denouement.

The lines and the acting are what raises the picture above the level of all this tripe. Except for two or three lapses into straight slapstick and a somewhat corny climax, the dialogue is consistently sharp, unexpected, and often brilliant. Michael Wilding, as lord and footman, gets just the right blend of cynicism and playfulness, though his eyes do twinkle a bit too much on occasion, Anna Neagle is pleasantly attractive and eager in the female lead, and she also demonstrates that infuriating twinkle. Joshua, portrayed by Tom Walls is a marvelous English-gentleman type, both in word and deed.

There is a proper way to see this film: forget the plot, its inconsistencies and implausibilities, and condemn the few points where farce takes over. Just sit back and savor the conversation of a lot of very amusing people.