After a mediocre job on a great courtroom drama (THE WINSLOW BOY/’48, which studiously avoids the courtroom in Terence Rattigan’s original play), Anthony Asquith is just as mediocre directing this mediocre courtroom drama, now studiously stuck in the courtroom. This time, a military courtroom, still featuring purloined funds and still featuring a second-billed Margaret Leighton, discomforting as ever. David Niven stars as the officer in trouble, ‘borrowing’ cash from the unit’s safe to protest late pay and nabbing an extra £25 to bet on himself in a horse race. The case boiling down to whether or not he ‘announced’ his intentions openly. Wife Leighton knows the truth, if only she weren’t too mentally fragile to be relied on. The proceedings twist & turn in interesting ways, with Niven quite a compromised character not only with cash & off-base privileges, but also with gal pal officer Noelle Middleton. More than enough rope to tease out a bit of sympathy toward Leighton, if only to make the third act more suspenseful. A notion Rattigan would undoubtedly have picked up on, but missing from John Hunter’s screenplay.*
ATTENTION MUST (NOT) BE PAID: The film opens with a built-in SPOILER, giving away the tag ending to anyone paying attention.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *A specialist in bringing Terrence Rattigan to screen, Asquith somehow missed out on next year’s DEEP BLUE SEA. But Anatole Litvak's flop adaptation worth a look to see how a miscast Vivien Leigh could have been just right here in the Margaret Leighton role. And, vice versa, Leighton just right for Leigh’s. OR: More real Rattigan, and David Niven’s Oscar® in SEPARATE TABLES/’58. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/03/separate-tables-1958.html
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