Conduct Unbecoming

"Conduct Unbecoming" is a sort of thriller settled in a British regiment in colonial India. The widow of a heroic officer is assaulted by an unrevealed comrade in arms and an investigation takes place.

In my opinion, though not a classic and not even perhaps a great movie, this film is a most interesting product for those of us who enjoy "who did it?" movies. It takes place in a most original environment and its substance increases with subjects like military honor, loyalty, camaraderie and cowardice.

The cast is perfect and another highlight in the film with very convincing performances from Trevor Howard (as usual), Cristopher Plummer, Richard Attenborough, Michael York, Susanah York and always reliable James Donald in a minor role.

I'm sure that with a more imaginative and strong director than Michael Anderson (Stanley Kubrick, John Frankenheimer just to name a couple), this could have been a great film, nearly a classic).

But nonetheless, "Conduct Unbecoming" stands as a fine piece of entertainment in its genre and surely is worth a watch.

This film is flat lifeless and dull.It t staged in one main set and it gives the feeling of having been filmed in the theatre.It is not so much a whodunit as a whocareswhodunnit.When the actual assailant is revealed the only feeling is of relief that this film is coming to a conclusion.Terence Rattigan was apparently paid £250000 for an unused screenplay.That was probably more than the test of the films budget.

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?

If you're familiar with Fametracker and its 'Hey! It's that guy!' feature, you'll understand what I mean by an 'it's-him'. It's when you watch a film and all the way through you're pointing at second banana actors going 'Oh look, it's him'. One of the pleasures of this film is trying to work out exactly why so-and-so's face is familiar and then realising it's Prior Robert from TVs Cadfael, or something similar.

I read the play Conduct Unbecoming at school, and while this film does not go quite as deeply into the themes it throws up, ie moral bankruptcy in the British Raj/army and macho values in general, it remains a well-made, well acted period drama redolent of the distinctive spirit of the period.

Then again, I could be biased because I find Milington so dishy (he played Herod Agrippa in I, Claudius, in case you're stumped!)

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.