Court Martial

A brilliant courtroom drama that doesn't rely on flashbacks to present its case but sticks solely to the testimonies of the various parties involved. Carrington is a major being court-martialed for stealing money which he claims was his by right. It's superbly written, (by John Hunter), directed, (by Anthony Asquith) and played, (by a superlative cast of British character actors). David Niven, at his very best, is Carrington and Margaret Leighton is terrific as his highly strung and jealous wife. The Irish actress, Noelle Middleton, is also excellent as the captain with more than a soft spot for Niven. This is a gripping and intelligent film that really deserves to be seen.

Asquith's courtroom drama is surprisingly gripping. Trapped within the rigid confines of a military structure, a social structure and his own personal integrity, Niven plays a man whose career and reputation (if not his stiff upper lip) are at stake in a court martial.

This film was made sixty years ago and things have changed a lot since then; unless one bears in mind how things were then, this film's plot make less sense. However if you take this into account, it is a pretty good film.

it has been commented by others that there are commonly certain protocols observed whenever a VC holder enters a room; there is no formal requirement that this is done but traditionally VC holders may be saluted by others regardless of rank. This may or may not be the case within a court-martial situation but that this was omitted in the film is understandable since it would have been distracting to the thrust of the plot, with the whole court up and down like jack-in-the-boxes all the time.

Taken on its merits this is a pretty good film, IMHO deserving of a better score than it currently has on here.

This is quite a decent military court-room drama in which David Niven finds himself accused of pinching a large sum from his battalion funds. At the ensuing court martial, he must answer the charges relying on his honesty and integrity - he has a V. C. after all - and on receiving, somewhat naively, a reciprocal degree of honesty and integrity from others. It's quite a neat little story about revenge and snobbery; tempered with the odd bit of human decency and Niven is ideal for the part. Margaret Leighton is also quite good as his rather aloof wife and Allan Cuthbertson as his supercilious commanding officer "Col. Henniker" who clearly both have axes to grind. The ending isn't great, but otherwise it is a simple story well told.

Nearly a decade after 'A Matter of Life and Death' David Niven once more finds himself on trial - this time conducting his own defence - in this very respectable addition to the rollcall of theatrical adaptations directed by Anthony Asquith, although Niven himself neglects to mention in his memoirs.

In 'The Winslow Boy' the accused was charged with purloining a postal order, this time the bone of contention is £125 missing from a safe. Aside from the quality of the acting Asquith makes good use of acoustics by making the soundtrack totally devoid of music and the comic effect when Geoffrey Keen tells the court orderly to stop stamping in observance of an enormous sign reading 'Silence Court-Martial in Progress'.

Major David Niven V.C. is up on charges. Two are minor, but the third one can break him, and possibly sent him to prison: that he surreptitiously took 125 pounds from the company safe. His defense is that he was owed the money, which no one denies, and that he told his Commanding Officer that he was going to do it. He told his wife, Margaret Leighton so over the phone; he also told fellow officer Noelle Middleton he had told his C.O. However, the C.O., Allan Cuthbertson, denies it. This being David Niven at the peak of his career, the movie is clearly slanted in Niven's favor, although the evidence presented to the Court is not. That's a necessary part of the dramatic tension.

Anthony Asquith directs this to bring out the ritual nature of Army life. The performances vary between those ritualized interactions, and things said in private in a very engaging fashion.

Asquith had begun his directing career in the silent era with a bang, with two late silent stunners, SHOOTING STARS and UNDERGROUND. Then something happened to his career in the mid-1930s. When he returned to directing in 1938, he specialized in films derived from stage works by Shaw, Rattigan and Oscar Wilde. The performances he got for these first-rate properties were wonderful, but they certainly seemed more staged plays than movies.

Although this movie is an original screenplay, it very much seems an opened-out play. Certainly, it is a a fine adaptation, but it would have taken little work to convert its borders to a proscenium arch. Despite this, it is a fine story with excellent performances all around.