5.9
Major Charles Carrington (David Niven) is arrested for taking £125 from the base safe. He also faces two other charges that could finish his distinguished service career. He decides to act in his own defence at his court martial hearing, his argument being that he is owed a lot of money from the army for his various postings that have cost him out of his own pocket. To further complicate the proceedings, Carrington alleges he told his superior, the very disliked Colonel Henniker, that he was taking the money from the safe. A man's career, his marriage, and quite a few reputations all hang in the balance.
David Niven
Major Charles Carrington
Margaret Leighton
Valerie Carrington
Noelle Middleton
Captain Alison Graham
Allan Cuthbertson
Lt. Col. Henniker
Victor Maddern
Bombardier Owen
Raymond Francis
Mitchell
Geoffrey Keen
President
Newton Blick
Judge Advocate
Mark Dignam
Prosecutor
Robert Bishop
His Assistant
Maurice Denham
Lt. Col. Reeve
Laurence Naismith
Major Panton
Clive Morton
Lt. Col. Huxford
Michael Bates
Major Broke-Smith
Stuart Saunders
Sgt. Crane
Director
Anthony Asquith
Screenplay
John Hunter
Writer
Campbell Christie
Writer
Dorothy Christie
November 21, 2022
7
This is quite a decent military court-room drama in which David Niven finds himself accused of pinching a large sum from his battalion funds. At the ensuing court martial, he must answer the charges relying on his honesty and integrity - he has a V.C. after all - and on receiving, somewhat naively, a reciprocal degree of honesty and integrity from others. It's quite a neat little story about revenge and snobbery; tempered with the odd bit of human decency and Niven is ideal for the part. Margaret Leighton is also quite good as his rather aloof wife and Allan Cuthbertson as his supercilious commanding officer "Col. Henniker" who clearly both have axes to grind. The ending isn't great, but otherwise it is a simple story well told.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00