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The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. [1] The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. [2]
Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for allegedly stealing a five-shilling postal order. To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their peers and society. Similarly, the boy's life would have been wrecked by an indelible stain on his character which would have followed him throughout adulthood.
The play was inspired by an actual event, which set a legal precedent: the case of Stonyhurst College alumnus George Archer-Shee, a cadet at Osborne in 1908, who was accused of stealing a postal order from a fellow cadet. His elder brother, Major Martin Archer-Shee, was convinced of his innocence and persuaded his father (also called Martin) to engage lawyers. The most respected barrister of the day, Sir Edward Carson, was also persuaded of his innocence and insisted on the case coming to court. On the fourth day of the trial, the Solicitor General, Sir Rufus Isaacs, accepted that Archer-Shee was innocent, and ultimately the family was paid compensation.
Ronnie Winslow, a fourteen-year-old cadet at the Royal Naval College, is accused of the theft of a five-shilling postal order. An internal enquiry, conducted without notice to his family and without the benefit of representation, finds him guilty, and his father, Arthur Winslow, is "requested to withdraw" his son from the college (the formula of the day for expulsion). Arthur Winslow believes Ronnie's claim of innocence and, with the help of his suffragette daughter Catherine and his friend and family solicitor Desmond Curry, launches a concerted effort to clear Ronnie's name. This is no small matter, as, under English law, Admiralty decisions were official acts of the government, which could not be sued without its consent—traditionally expressed by the attorney general responding to a petition of right with the formula "Let Right be done".
The Winslows succeed in engaging the most highly sought-after barrister in England at the time, Sir Robert Morton, known also as a shrewd opposition Member of Parliament. Catherine had expected Sir Robert to decline the case, or at best to treat it as a political football; instead, he is coolly matter-of-fact about having been persuaded of Ronnie's innocence by his responses to questioning (in fact, a form of cross-examination, to see how young Ronnie would hold up in court) in the presence of his family, and is shown mustering his political forces in the House of Commons on the Winslows' behalf with little concern for the cost to his faction. Catherine remains unconvinced of Sir Robert's sincerity, perhaps not least because of his record of opposition to the cause of women's suffrage, but also due to his dispassionate manner in the midst of the Winslow family's financial sacrifices.
The government is strongly disinclined to allow the case to proceed, claiming that it is a distraction from pressing Admiralty business; but in the face of public sympathy garnered through Winslow and Catherine's efforts, and of Sir Robert's impassioned speech on the verge of defeat in the Commons, the government yields, and the case is allowed to come to court. At trial, Sir Robert (working together with Desmond Curry and his firm) is able to discredit much of the supposed evidence. The Admiralty, embarrassed and no longer confident of Ronnie's guilt, abruptly withdraws all charges against him, proclaiming him entirely innocent.
Although the family has won the case at law and lifted the cloud over Ronnie, it has taken its toll on the rest. His father's physical health has deteriorated under the strain, as to some degree has the happiness of the Winslows' home. The costs of the suit and the publicity campaign have eaten up his older brother Dickie's Oxford tuition, and hence his chance at a career in the civil service, as well as Catherine's marriage settlement. Her fiancé John Watherstone has broken off the engagement in the face of opposition from his father (an Army Colonel), forcing her to consider a sincere and well-intentioned offer of marriage from Desmond, whom she does not love. Sir Robert, on his part, has declined appointment as Lord Chief Justice rather than drop the case. The play ends with a suggestion that romance may yet blossom between Sir Robert and Catherine, who acknowledges that she has misjudged him all along. The last couplet of the dialogue ("How little you know women, Sir Robert" and "How little you know men, Miss Winslow") seems to bolster this implication.
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In the play, Rattigan quotes from actual parliamentary debates and court transcripts but makes major changes to the characters and the timing of events.
In the play, it was the accused boy's father who first believed in his innocence; in fact, it was an older brother, Martin, who persuaded their father, and used his influence as an MP to involve Carson in the case.
Martin Archer-Shee junior was a very different character from the failed university student, Dickie Winslow, of the play. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1910, and in his mid-thirties at the time of the case. Arthur Winslow was also made less prosperous than his factual counterpart.
Although Archer-Shee did have a sister, she did not have much in common with Catherine Winslow in the play, a suffragette and, as we learn in the final lines of the play, a potential future politician. To some extent then, Rattigan has reversed the character and roles of the brother and sister. Also, her erstwhile fiancé, John Watherstone, and Desmond Curry, a solicitor who eventually proposes to Catherine, appear to be fictional.
Whilst the play gives only indirect reference to the court case and the parliamentary debates, the 1948 film introduces scenes from these events that are not in the play.
Rattigan also moved the events closer to the start of World War I, though the conflict is remote from the characters. In fact, both George and Martin Archer-Shee fought in the First World War; Martin commanded an infantry battalion, and George was killed, at the age of 19, at the First Battle of Ypres. His name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of Woodchester, Gloucestershire, where his parents lived; on the memorial plaque outside the Catholic St Mary on the Quay church in Bristol city centre, where he had been an altar boy; on the war memorial at the University of Roehampton, established by the Society of the Sacred Heart (George's half-sister Winefrede Archer Shee having been a religious follower of the Society); and on Tablet 35 of the Menin Gate in Ypres, as he has no known grave.
The play's London premiere in 1946 featured Emlyn Williams, Mona Washbourne, Angela Baddeley, Kathleen Harrison, Frank Cellier, Jack Watling and Clive Morton. [3] It was under the direction of Glen Byam Shaw. [4]
The play's Broadway premiere in 1947 featured Frank Allenby as Sir Robert, Alan Webb as Arthur Winslow, and Valerie White as Catherine Winslow. [5]
The play was later made into a 1948 film directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Robert Donat as Sir Robert Morton KC, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Arthur Winslow, and Margaret Leighton as Catherine Winslow. [6] Both Mona Washbourne and Kathleen Harrison, who had been in the original theatre production, appeared. [7]
A production starring Kenneth More as Sir Robert Morton, Lawrence Naismith as Arthur Winslow and Annette Crosbie as Catherine Winslow played from 1970-1971 at various theatres including the New Theatre, London. [8]
A 1984 revival directed by Jeremy Sinden starring Marius Goring as Arthur Winslow and Allan Cuthbertson as Sir Robert Morton played at the Forum Theatre, Wythenshawe, the Orchard Theatre, Dartford, the Grand Opera House, Belfast, the Beck Theatre, Hayes and the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon. [9]
A 1994 production starring Simon Williams as Sir Robert, Peter Barkworth as Arthur Winslow, Eve Matheson as Catherine and Charles Edwards as Dickie Winslow played at the Globe Theatre, London. [10]
A 1999 film version, directed by David Mamet, starred Nigel Hawthorne as Arthur Winslow, Jeremy Northam as Morton, and Rebecca Pidgeon as Catherine. [11]
A 2013 production starring Peter Sullivan as Sir Robert, Henry Goodman as Arthur Winslow, Naomi Frederick as Catherine and Nick Hendrix as Dickie Winslow played at the Old Vic, London. [12]
A 2024 amateur production will be staged at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art later this year. [13]
The play has also been adapted for television by the BBC several times, including a 1949 production starring Roger Livesey as Sir Robert Morton and Jack Watling as Dickie Winslow (he had played Dickie in the 1948 film version), [14] a 1958 production with Peter Cushing as Morton and Gwen Watford as Catherine Winslow, [15] a 1978 production starring Alan Badel as Morton, Eric Porter as Arthur Winslow and Michele Dotrice as Catherine Winslow [16] and a 1989 production starring Gordon Jackson as Arthur Winslow, Ian Richardson as Morton, and Emma Thompson as Catherine. [17]
The Winslow Boy was presented on the BBC Home Service Saturday Night Theatre 15 November 1947. The performance starred David Spenser, Frank Cellier, and Molly Rankin. [18]
The Winslow Boy was presented on Theatre Guild on the Air 23 November 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Basil Rathbone, Alan Webb, and Margaret Phillips. [19]
A production was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 6 May 1953 with Dennis Arundell as Morton, Cecil Trouncer as Arthur Winslow and Angela Baddeley as Catherine Winslow. [20]
Another BBC Home Service production was broadcast on 30 January 1965 starring Marius Goring as Sir Robert Morton, Lockwood West as Arthur Winslow and Mary Wimbush as Catherine Winslow. [21]
A 1981 production on BBC Radio 4 featured Aubrey Woods as Morton, Michael Aldridge as Arthur Winslow, Sarah Badel as Catherine and Michael Maloney as Dickie Winslow. [22]
John Michael Bird was an English actor, director, writer and satirist. He performed in the television satire boom of the 1960s, appearing in That Was the Week That Was. His television work included many appearances with John Fortune. Bird had an acting career in film, television, theatre and radio for over 55 years. He appeared in films including Take A Girl Like You (1970) and Jabberwocky (1977) as well as in television shows such as Joint Account, Marmalade Atkins, El C.I.D. and Chambers. He and Fortune also starred with Rory Bremner in the sketch show Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1999–2010), on Channel 4, which was nominated for BAFTA TV Awards.
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background. He wrote The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and Separate Tables (1954), among many others.
Sir Martin Archer Shee was an Irish portrait painter. He also served as the president of the Royal Academy.
The Deep Blue Sea is a British stage play by Terence Rattigan from 1952. Rattigan based his story and characters in part on his secret relationship with Kenny Morgan, and the aftermath of the end of their relationship. The play was first performed in London on 6 March 1952, directed by Frith Banbury, and won praise for actress Peggy Ashcroft, who co-starred with Kenneth More. In the US, the Plymouth Theater staged the play in October 1952, with Margaret Sullavan. The play with Sullavan subsequently transferred to Broadway, with its Broadway premiere on 5 November 1953, and running for 132 performances.
Jack Stanley Watling was an English actor.
Bernard Joseph Archard was an English actor who made many film and television appearances.
George Archer-Shee was a Royal Navy cadet whose case of whether he stole a five shilling postal order was decided in the High Court of Justice in 1910. Archer-Shee was successfully defended by barrister and politician Sir Edward Carson. The trial, which became a British cause célèbre, was the inspiration for the 1946 Terence Rattigan play The Winslow Boy, which has been the basis of two films. Following his acquittal, the boy's family were paid compensation in July 1911. Archer-Shee was commissioned in the British Army in 1913, and killed aged 19, at the First Battle of Ypres on 31 October 1914.
French Without Tears is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936.
Peter Cellier is an English actor who has appeared on film, stage and television. He is known for his role as Sir Frank Gordon in Yes Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister in the 1980s.
The Winslow Boy is a 1999 US made film period drama directed by David Mamet and starring Nigel Hawthorne, Rebecca Pidgeon, Jeremy Northam and Gemma Jones. Set in London before World War I, it depicts a British family defending at all costs the honour of its naval cadet young son against a false charge of theft. The screenplay was adapted by Mamet based on Terence Rattigan's 1946 dramatic play The Winslow Boy.
The Winslow Boy is a 1948 British drama film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's 1946 play The Winslow Boy. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The adapted screenplay was written by de Grunwald and Rattigan based on Rattigan's play. The music score was by William Alwyn and the cinematography by Freddie Young.
George Frederick Percy Benson was a British actor of both theatre and screen, whose career stretched from the 1930s to the early 1970s. He was on stage from the late 1920s, and made his film debut in 1932 in Holiday Lovers written by Leslie Arliss. His most notable work as a comic actor included supporting roles with George Formby and Ronnie Barker.
Frank Cellier was an English actor. Early in his career, from 1903 to 1920, he toured in Britain, Germany, the West Indies, America and South Africa. In the 1920s, he became known in the West End for Shakespearean character roles, among others, and also directed some plays in which he acted. He continued to act on stage until 1946. During the 1930s and 1940s, he also appeared in more than three dozen films.
Robin Midgley was a director in theatre, television and radio and responsible for some of the earliest episodes of Z-Cars and for the television version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Wars of the Roses.
Sir Martin Archer-Shee CMG DSO was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician.
Neil North was a British actor, best known for his role in the 1948 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. North appeared in four other films released between 1948 and 1951, but did not make acting a full-time career. After a hiatus of over 40 years however, he did return to the screen with three further credits towards the end of his life, including a role in the 1999 remake of The Winslow Boy.
Sean Michael O'Connor is an English producer, writer, and director working in theatre, film, television and radio. He was the editor of the long-running BBC radio drama, The Archers from 2013 to 2016 and the executive producer of EastEnders from 2016 to 2017.
John Hickson Warner was a British film, television and stage actor whose career spanned more than five decades. His most famous role was that of Timothy Dawes in Salad Days, which premiered in the UK at the Theatre Royal in 1954, and transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London in the same year.
Variation on a Theme is a 1958 play by the British writer Terence Rattigan. It is a reworking of Alexandre Dumas, fils's nineteenth century novel and subsequent play La Dame aux Camélias.
"The Winslow Boy" was an American television play broadcast by CBS on November 13, 1958, as part of the television series, DuPont Show of the Month. It was based on the play by Terence Rattigan. Alex Segal was the director and David Susskind the producer. Fredric March starred as Arthur Winslow and was nominated for a Sylvania Award for his performance.
