Conduct Unbecoming

It could be treated as a negligeable trifle of a soldier violating the finest lady of the place, but etiquette demands the matter to be court martialled with both a prosecutor and defense, and as the proceedings go on, everyone desiring to get the problem brushed off as quickly as possible, strange facts turn up to make it a very complicated matter indeed. The lady in question is found to have been lying, a widow of a renowned hero of the regiment, and the question must arise, why she was lying. Who was she protecting? The answer is only the regiment, for the sake of the honour of her deceased husband, killed in battle. It's an intricate court case parading all the best British actors at the time, Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, Christopher Plummer, Michael York, Susannah York, Stacy Keach, it's an excellent play brilliantly performed under the expert direction of Michael Anderson, and if you find it dull and boring you will find it surprising by the unexpected turns it takes. Almost all the actors make some of their best performances ever, especially Michael York and Stacy Keach, and you will inevitably be hanging in the end with the unanswerable question: what happens then?

Two new second lieutenants join the regiment in the Indian army: Michael York and James Faulkner. York is idealistic and hopes to make a brilliant career. Faulkner is there because his father was in the regimentt and it's expected of him. He hopes to serve the minimum amount of time and get on with his life back in England. The prospects are not good. Under the command of its colonel, Trevor Howard, it's hide-bound, ritual stuffed, with constant talk about the honor of the regiment, and new lieutenants are to be seen and not heard. Millington doesn't care. He talks out loud and makes advances to Susannah York. She's the widow of a regimental hero who was killed in the field, and his uniform and VC are on display. So when she accuses Millington of attacking her in the garden, there's talk of a court martial. But that would reflect on the honor of the regiment, so a subaltern's court is convened, unofficial and just as binding. York is to defend Millington; his work is expected to be pro forma, but he mounts an actual defense. Stacy Keach, who's in charge of the court keeps trying to shut him down. But the stories begin to leak....

It's all spit and polish in the performances, with some major talent on view, including Richard Attenborough, Christopher Plummer, and James Donald stiff-upper-lipping their way through their roles. It's based on an award winning play by the appropriately named Barry England. While it's opened up nicely for the big screen, some of the staging comes through, particularly in Miss York's performance.

Certainly excellent acting by an excellent cast. Its only boring if you don't understand the time, place and principles. This is hard to do in the 21st century. Honor, loyalty and comradeship are rare commodities today, not really highly valued or understood. That makes this film all the more worth watching and pondering. To be a common man in a position of such infallibility is beyond imagination today, but such were the colonial British in the Victorian era. I find this story absolutely fascinating and Stacy Keatch's performance as the only American in the film one of his best. Acting, writing, directing and beautiful color, I loved it. I'm grateful its finally on DVD.

What do you call a tedious courtroom drama with a shallow bottom but filled with fine acting? "Conduct Unbecoming". A stilted and wordy play stuffed full of fine actors, who do their stuff really well. If you like things "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing", this movie's for you.

Despite the pretty stellar cast list, I struggled a bit with this rather dreary story. It centres around James Faulkner's "Lt. Millington" who is being court-martialled in British India for a serious assault on the widow of a fallen colleague - "Mrs. Scarlett" (Susannah York). He is to be defended by the inexperienced "Drake" (Michael York) before a committee chaired by the openly hostile "Capt. Harper" (Stacey Keach). On the face of it, he is doomed - but some tenacious investigative work from his counsel gradually gets to the bottom of what happened. The ending is more of a sort of guess which of the other famous actors - Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough or perhaps Christopher Plummer might have done it given we are pretty safe to assume that poor old "Millington" is being stitched up. Sadly, this moves at a glacial pace with none of the characters offering much by way of depth or interest. Colourful? Yes, that's true - and the costumes and settings all look great, but like so many of these latter-day tales of Empire, it is all faintly ridiculous and swings clumsily at the supposed honour of the "regiment" at all costs in quite a shallow fashion. I found the direction was much more suitable for a theatrical delivery, too. Disappointing.