Rent The Winslow Boy (1948)

Intelligent adaptation. - The Winslow Boy review by Steve

Supremely well cast version of Terence Rattigan's 1946 play, based on a famous incident; the presumed theft of a postal order by a boy in a naval academy, who was expelled. It's usually assumed the play is a celebration of British justice, though the themes are more complex, or muddled, than that, and the case is arguably a decadent folly.

This adaptation retained many of the stage actors. The most significant change is the introduction of Robert Donat as the barrister defending the child's right to a trial. And Donat dominates in this showy support role. Cecil Hardwicke is quietly impressive as the boy's father.  

 The play is terribly dated. The servant is an idiotic comic stereotype. The motivations of the comfortable middle class are taken as those of the country. There is absolutely zero class friction. Or gender. And indeed, if Rattigan intends to extol British human rights, often the events prove the opposite.

The period is just before WWI, but there is no impression of mankind on a precipice. But there is still much to enjoy, with unusually precise dialogue and fine staging by Anthony Asquith. Plus a signature Donat performance. Rattigan's England is superbly realised, and there is some pleasure to be taken in that. But it feels a very distant shore now.