David Niven is recalled by movie lovers as one of those impeccable, romantic "English" gentlemen (like Ronald Colman, Errol Flynn, Ray Milland, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) Like Colman and Milland he did get the Oscar, and like them it was for an atypical role - not a comic turn as a 1930's version of Hugh Grant, but a person who makes a glaring social error. Niven's military man in "Seperate Tables" is a mild liar (he never had a heroic war record, and never reached the rank he uses at the residential hotel), and he is arrested for exposing himself to a woman in a theater (in Terrence Rattigan's play it's a homosexual offense). In 1957 it was not a usual action for a movie to discuss such behavior. The gentle, humiliated Niven carried it off very nicely, winning the audience's sympathy.
It was not Niven's sole attempt at reaching the dark side. He had done a marvelous job as the fascinating Aaron Burr in "Magnificent Doll" in 1946. There he was playing Burr according to the "official" version of American history, as an ambitious egomaniac we were just lucky to avoid as President. But if one's historic knowledge of Burr is such as to question that viewpoint the film's impact is spoiled.
Another film that shows Niven at his "worst" best side is this forgotten comedy. An elderly Irish landowner is killed in a fox hunt, and his nephew (Niven) is found to take over the estate. The problem is that whereas the dead laird was a fine example of noblesse oblige his nephew is a sophisticated urbanite who sees the estate as something to sell and pocket the thousands of pounds. His announcement at the annual hunt ball that it is the last is a wonderful moment of total shock for the locals. As Niven has a heart condition, the locals start thinking of causing a fatal shock to kill him. Unfortunately they can't get it into their heads to coordinate their efforts. The last thirty minutes is a marvel of comic pandemonium. One only wishes that the film was shown more frequently - it was seen by this viewer on television in 1966.
