Historically-based
films generally have a solid character, as the scriptwriters
and actors try to be authentic. Just before World War I, a
13-year-old schoolboy was expelled from a British military
school after being accused of theft and forgery, but when
he insisted on his innocence, his banker father sacrificed
all to gain an acquittal, thereby upholding family honor.
In 1946, Terence Rattigan wrote the incident into a play,
The Winslow Boy, which was turned into a film
in 1948, starring Cedric Hardwicke. In 1998, a second film
version of The Winslow Boy was released in Britain,
this time directed by David Mamet, and it opened in Hollywood
on April 30, 1999. Although the boy Ronnie (played by Guy
Edwards) is the subject of the story, he is at best a supporting
actor. Instead, our attention is drawn to his father Arthur
(played by Nigel Hawthorne), Sir Robert Morton, the attorney
who defended him (played by Jeremy Northam), and the boy’s
older sister Catherine (played by Rebecca Pidgeon), who as
suffragette sees the boy’s plight as a paradigm for the treatment
of women. Rather than courtroom drama, however, we witness
the personal side of the case involving these characters and
the boy’s mother (played by Gemma Jones). Indeed, the film,
thank goodness, has more of the finesse of an English stage
play than of a contemporary American action film. What we
learn is how clever lawyers are in handling their clients
and opponents, how public opinion must have begun to play
a role in England, and how the relentless pursuit of principle
in a lawsuit can bring about financial and physical ruin to
a litigant. Memorable quotes tell all: "You shall not side
with the great against the powerless." "It is easy to do justice.
It is very hard to do right." But there is an even more memorable
quote, from Ezra Pound, that sums up the film: "Except for
suffering from a long and terminal illness, the worst thing
that can happen to you is to be a party to a lawsuit." MH
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