Libel (film)

Last updated

Libel
Libel - 1959- poster.png
1959 Theatrical Poster
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Written by Anatole de Grunwald
Karl Tunberg
Based on Libel!
1934 play
by Edward Wooll
Produced byAnatole de Grunwald
Starring Dirk Bogarde
Olivia de Havilland
Paul Massie
Robert Morley
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Cinematography Robert Krasker
Edited by Frank Clarke
Music by Benjamin Frankel
Production
company
De Grunwald Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • 23 October 1959 (1959-10-23)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$615,000 [1]
Box office$1,170,000 [1]

Libel is a 1959 British drama film [2] [3] directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Olivia de Havilland, Dirk Bogarde, Paul Massie, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Robert Morley. [4] The screenplay was by Anatole de Grunwald and Karl Tunberg from a 1935 play of the same name by Edward Wooll. [5]

Contents

Plot

While travelling in London, Canadian World War II veteran pilot Jeffrey Buckenham sees baronet Sir Mark Sebastian Loddon on television leading a tour of his ancestral home in England. Buckenham recalls that he was held in a POW camp in Germany with Loddon, whom the Germans captured during the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940. Buckenham is convinced that Loddon is Frank Wellney, a British actor. Wellney and Loddon shared a POW hut in 1945 and bore a striking resemblance to each other.

Buckenham confronts Loddon and, with encouragement from Loddon's scheming cousin Gerald Loddon, writes to a tabloid newspaper, claiming that Wellney is posing as Loddon. In response, Loddon sues Buckenham and the newspaper for libel, although his memory is affected by his wartime trauma.

During the libel trial, Buckenham and Loddon tell their versions of wartime imprisonment and their escape. Buckenham had liked Loddon and despised Wellney. In spring 1945, the three prisoners escaped their POW camp and headed toward the Dutch border, seeking advancing Allied forces. Loddon wore his British army uniform and Wellney disguised himself in civilian clothes. One night, having gone without food for days, Buckenham left Loddon and Wellney alone to steal food from a farm. As Buckenham returned, he heard shots. In the mist, he witnessed one man in a British uniform lying on the ground, apparently dead, and another fleeing in civilian clothes. Buckenham believed that he had witnessed Wellney fleeing the scene of Loddon's murder.

During the trial, Lodden is found to be missing part of his right index finger, as had Wellney, and Loddon claims it to be the result of gunfire. Loddon also does not appear to have a childhood scar on his leg. Wellney's hair was prematurely grey, as is Loddon's. Buckenham recounts how Wellney often asked Loddon about his personal life during their imprisonment, and Loddon even joked that Wellney could be mistaken for him. As evidence mounts, even Loddon's loyal wife Margaret begins to doubt her husband's identity.

Defence barrister Hubert Foxley produces a courtroom surprise, revealing that the uniformed man that Buckenham had seen did not die. Although the man is alive, his face is horribly disfigured, his right arm has been amputated and he has become deranged. He has been living in a German asylum since the war, known simply as "Number Fifteen," his bed number. When Foxley brings the man into the courtroom, the man and Loddon recognise each other and Loddon's memory starts to return.

In desperation, Loddon's barrister calls Margaret to the stand, but she testifies that she now believes her husband to be Wellney, the impostor, implying that "Number Fifteen" is the real Loddon. Later, Margaret confronts her husband, who desperately walks the night trying to remember more. Seeing his reflection in a canal unlocks his memories. Wellney did try to kill him while his back was turned, but Loddon saw Wellney's reflection in the water and won their ensuing fight. He remembers beating Wellney harshly with a farm tool before switching their clothes and fleeing.

In court, Loddon remembers a medallion hidden in his jacket lining that Margaret had given him in 1939 before he left for France. By proving that the medallion had been in Wellney's possession all the time, Loddon wins the libel case and Margaret realizes that her husband is whom she had thought that he was. Buckenham and Loddon also reconcile, although Buckenham and the newspaper must pay damages.

Cast

Production

The film's location shots include Longleat House, Wiltshire (fictionalised as Ingworth House) and London. [6]

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $245,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $925,000 in other markets, resulting in a profit of $10,000. [1]

Critical

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Uncomfortably improbable courtroom drama." [7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This is one of Dirk Bogarde's better movies from the 1950s, when critics of the time were hoisting him into the Alec Guinness class. Bringing a libel action to clear his name against the man who doubts if he really was the prisoner of war he claims to have been, Bogarde's role is the teasing centre of a clever narrative. The context is artificial, but it's Bogarde you'll be watching, not those on the sidelines. Compelling, if stagey." [8]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Old-fashioned courtoom spelllbinder, quite adequately done though occaisonally creaky." [9]

Accolades

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound (A. W. Watkins). [10]

The film was nominated by the American Film Institute for inclusion in its 10 Top 10 list in the category of courtroom drama. [11]

Adaptations

The Broadway play, which had starred Colin Clive, was adapted for radio in 1941 and 1943 using the original references to World War. Ronald Colman played the leading role in a one-hour 13 January 1941 CBS Lux Radio Theatre broadcast with Otto Kruger and Frances Robinson. [12] On 15 March 1943, Colman and Kruger reprised their roles for a second Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. [13] The role of an amnesiac World War I veteran had similarities to Colman's part in the 1942 hit Random Harvest . [14]

A 1938 BBC television production [15] featured actor Wyndham Goldie.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mills</span> English actor (1908–2005)

Sir John Mills was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ryan's Daughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Bogarde</span> English actor (1921–1999)

Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess".

<i>Victim</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film by Basil Dearden

Victim is a 1961 British neo-noir suspense film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. The first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with it sympathetically, it premiered in the UK on 31 August 1961 and in the US the following February.

<i>Sommersby</i> 1993 film

Sommersby is a 1993 period romantic drama directed by Jon Amiel from a screenplay written by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan, adapted from the historical account of the 16th century French peasant Martin Guerre. Based on the 1982 French film The Return of Martin Guerre, the film stars Richard Gere and Jodie Foster, with Bill Pullman, James Earl Jones, Clarice Taylor, Frankie Faison, and R. Lee Ermey in supporting roles. Set in the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War, the film depicts a farmer returning home from the war, with his wife beginning to suspect that the man is an impostor while also falling in love with him.

<i>The One That Got Away</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by Roy Ward Baker

The One That Got Away is a war film. It was produced in United Kingdom. The film was biographical. It was starring Hardy Krüger and featuring Michael Goodliffe, Jack Gwillim and Alec McCowen. The film was directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay written by Howard Clewes. It was based on the 1956 book of the same name. The book was written by Kendal Burt and James Leasor.

<i>Doctor in the House</i> (film) 1954 British film by Ralph Thomas

Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, Kenneth More, Donald Sinden, Donald Houston and James Robertson Justice. It was produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Gordon, and follows a group of students through medical school.

Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.

Wilfred John Raymond Lee was a British film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer, who directed a number of postwar films on location in Asia and Australia for The Rank Organisation.

<i>Doctor in Distress</i> (film) 1963 British film by Ralph Thomas

Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It is the fifth of the seven films in the Doctor series. After a one-film absence, it was the final return to the role of Simon Sparrow by Dirk Bogarde, and also the return of Donald Houston. The film uses some of the characters in Richard Gordon's Doctor novels, but is not based on any of them.

<i>Doctor at Large</i> (film) 1957 British film by Ralph Thomas

Doctor at Large is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice and Shirley Eaton. It is the third of the seven films in the Doctor series, and is based on the 1955 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon.

<i>The Doctors Dilemma</i> (film) 1959 British film by Anthony Asquith

The Doctor's Dilemma is a 1958 British comedy-drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Leslie Caron, Dirk Bogarde, Alastair Sim, and Robert Morley. It is based on the 1906 play The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw. A satire on the pretensions of the medical profession and their concentration on treating patients who can pay well, it contrasts their world of imperfect science, always bumping up against unknowns, with the boundless spheres of love and beauty.

<i>The Woman in Question</i> 1950 British film

The Woman in Question is a 1950 British murder mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum. After a woman is murdered, the complex and very different ways in which she is seen by several people are examined. It was loosely adapted into the 1954 Indian film Andha Naal.

<i>Dancing with Crime</i> 1947 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.

<i>They Who Dare</i> 1954 British film by Lewis Milestone

They Who Dare is a 1954 British Second World War war film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott and Akim Tamiroff. It was released by British Lion Films and in the United States by Allied Artists. The story is based on Operation Anglo that took place during World War II in the Dodecanese islands where special forces attempted to disrupt the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica from threatening Allied forces in Egypt. The title of the film is a reference to the motto of the Special Air Service: "Who Dares Wins".

<i>Home at Seven</i> (film) 1952 British film

Home at Seven is a 1952 British mystery drama film directed by and starring Ralph Richardson, featuring Margaret Leighton, Jack Hawkins, Campbell Singer and Michael Shepley. It is based on the 1950 play Home at Seven by R. C. Sherriff. The film is Richardson's only work as director. Guy Hamilton was assistant director.

<i>The Singer Not the Song</i> 1961 British film by Roy Ward Baker

The Singer Not the Song is a 1961 British Western film based on the 1953 novel of the same title by Audrey Erskine Lindop that was directed by Roy Ward Baker and filmed in Spain. It stars Dirk Bogarde, John Mills, and Mylène Demongeot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Miller (actor)</span> Czech actor (1899–1969)

Martin Miller, was a Czech-Austrian character actor. He played many small roles in British films and television series from the early 1940s until his death. He was best known for playing eccentric doctors, scientists and professors, although he played a wide range of small, obscure roles—including photographers, waiters, a pet store dealer, rabbis, a Dutch sailor and a Swiss tailor. On stage he was noted in particular for his parodies of Adolf Hitler and roles as Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace and Mr. Paravicini in The Mousetrap.

<i>Esther Waters</i> (film) 1948 British film by Ian Dalrymple and Peter Proud

Esther Waters is a 1948 British drama film directed by Ian Dalrymple and Peter Proud and starring Kathleen Ryan, Dirk Bogarde, and Cyril Cusack. It is an adaptation of the 1894 novel Esther Waters by George Moore.

Libel! is a play written by Edward Wooll. It debuted on 2 April 1934 at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End, where it was directed by Leon M. Lion. Producer Gilbert Miller brought it to Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in December 1935, with Otto Preminger directing.

Edward Wooll, OBE, QC was a British barrister, playwright, and novelist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ Variety film review; 21 October 1959, page 6.
  3. ↑ Harrison's Reports film review; 24 October 1959, page 170.
  4. ↑ "Libel". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  5. ↑ Libel!, written by Edward Wooll and directed by Anthony Asquith, played on Broadway for 159 performances in 1935-1936. ​Libel​ at the Internet Broadway Database
  6. ↑ Reel Streets
  7. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 338. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  8. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 539. ISBN   9780992936440.
  9. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 594. ISBN   0586088946.
  10. ↑ "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ↑ "Ronald Colman, Otto Kruger Co-Star in Radio Theater". Toledo Blade (Ohio). 13 January 1941. p. 4 (Peach Section). Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "Monday Programs". Toledo Blade (Ohio). 15 March 1943. p. 4 (Peach Section). Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Libel" on Lux Radio Theater; 13 January 1941; at Internet Archive: Overview and Recording
  15. ↑ "Libel" (TV) 1938 Internet Movie Database
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.