7.7
A handsome young master at a boys school incurs the jealousy of an embittered colleague. From the novel by Hugh Walpole.
Marius Goring
Vincent Perrin
David Farrar
David Traill
Greta Gynt
Isobel Lester
Raymond Huntley
Moy-Thompson
Edward Chapman
Birkland
Mary Jerrold
Mrs. Perrin
Ralph Truman
Comber
Finlay Currie
Sir Joshua Varley
Maurice Jones
Clinton
Lloyd Pearson
Dormer
May MacDonald
Mrs. Dormer
Viola Lyel
Mrs. Comber
Archie Harradine
White
Donald Barclay
Rogers
Pat Nye
Matron
Howard Douglas
Jenkins
John Campbell
Garden
Brendan Clegg
Dodge
Cavan Malone
Benson
Roddy Hughes
Doctor
David Lines
Johnson
Brian McDermott
Henderson
Roy Sargent
2nd Prefect
Johnnie Schofield
Barman
John Warren
Chauffeur
Sheila Huntington
Vera
Director
Lawrence Huntington
Novel
Hugh Walpole
Writer
T. J. Morrison
Writer
L.A.G. Strong
May 30, 2024
7
It wasn't often that Marius Goring got to take centre stage with a part, but he does it here - and he does it quite well, too. He is the pernickety school master "Perrin" who finds his nose a little out of joint when he is saddled with new man "Traill" (David Farrar). This latter man is perfectly civil, but is also a man who speaks his mind and who isn't prepared to wait half an hour for a bath in the morning, or bother who reads "The Times" first either. "Perrin" finds this behaviour all a bit disrespectful and soon the pair at at loggerheads. Meantime, the headmaster "Moy-Thompson" (Raymond Huntley) is a bit of a stickler for authority, and an act of kindness from "Perrin" sets them on a collision course - one that engenders some sympathy from "Traill" (and from us, too). What's fairly clear now is that the older man is on a slippery slope. His life revolves around his teaching and though we do learn a little of a tragic backstory, it's the present day and the uncertainties it brings him that seem to be influencing his increasingly erratic behaviour. When "Traill" announces his engagement to "Isobel" (Greta Gynt) that seems to be the final straw - but is there nothing that can be done to reconcile the two men? It's got plenty of the "Mr. Chips" story to it, and there's a decent bit of chemistry between the two, equally frustrated, men in the title as the story unravels a little less predictably than you might expect. Huntley is also quite effective as the odious headmaster, too and the story is well enough paced to keep an element of suspense as to the denouement going til near the end. It's a decent adaptation of the Hugh Walpole novel and worth a watch.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00