Plot

A traumatized former WWI soldier becomes a teacher at an elite English boarding school, finding purpose in mentoring students while navigating class divides between his working-class roots and the prestigious institution.

David Powlett-Jones has just returned to England from the trenches of WWI. He was injured and shell-shocked and, after a spell in hospital he gets a job teaching in a boys boarding school in S.W. England. He is not at all sure he can do the job, but the avuncular headmaster has faith in him. David, although well educated, is just a humble lad from the Welsh valleys at heart and has to fit himself and his ideas into the heart of the English establishment.—Steve Crook <steve@brainstorm.co.uk>

David Powlett-Jones, the son of a Welsh miner, is invalided out of World War I after suffering from shell-shock. The doctor who is supervising his convalescence advises him to take up teaching. Somewhat sceptical, he applies to teach history at Bamfylde, a boys' boarding school in north Devon. Before long, he finds himself immersed in the spartan life and quaint traditions of the school, and becomes a much-respected teacher and house-master. His close involvement with the school helps him cope with the tragic loss of his young wife and his twin daughters in a car crash. As World War II looms, he eventually becomes headmaster, after a heated and long-running dispute with his ruthless predecessor.—Martin Underwood <imdb@martinunderwood.f9.co.uk>