28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fine viewing for fans of british drama and Robert Donat., December 20, 1998
By A Customer
This movie is one of the finer examples of 1940's british drama. Robert Donat (Goodbye Mr. Chips/ The Count of Monte Cristo) gives a great double- edged performance as an aloof barrister and as a conscientious member of Parliament. In the House of Commons Donat argues for bringing the case of the accused naval cadet forward, quoting the Magna Carta, "Let right be done." The British Naval Ministry however does not want to set the dangerous precedent of allowing a subject to sue The Crown. Although Robert Donat is the nominal star of the movie he doesn't make his first appearance until 30 minutes into the feature! Margaret Leighton appears as the accused's sister and as a suffragette offers considerable sexual tension between her character and Donat's. Anthony Asquith (Pygmalion/ The Importance of Being Earnest) directs and does a superb job of keeping the story moving.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A QUINTESSENTIAL AND CLASSIC BRITISH DRAMA..., August 23, 2001
This is a marvelously acted English drama, typical of the genre for its time, but superior in its casting. Based upon the play by Terrence Rattigan, the film takes place in England during the early part of the twentieth century, before the advent of World War I. A thirteen year old Naval cadet is expelled for stealing a postal order. He claims he did not do it, despite seeming evidence to the contrary. His upstanding family stands behind him and supports him. After going to the Naval academy from which he was expelled, where their entreaties fall upon deaf ears, they decide to take the unprecedented step of suing the Crown.
The family retains the services of the well respected barrister, Sir Robert Morton, cooly played with dash by the ever wonderful Robert Donat, who agrees to represent the boy. The case becomes a cause celebre all over England, and Sir Morton's client becomes known as that Winslow boy, a notoriety that shakes the boy's very proper family to its core. While the case wends its way through the British legal system, tension between the boy's intelligent, bluestocking sistersister, beautifully played by the talented Margaret Leighton, and his barrister bubbles to the surface, and the sparks begin to fly.
The old time English courtroom scenes that follow will satisfy all legal beagles and lovers of courtroom drama. The resolution of the suit is somewhat predictable, but enhanced by the delicious wit of the dialogue and the wonderful performances by the entire cast. The movie ends on a note of romantic hope, as it does not lament what might have been between the barrister and the boy's sister, but, instead, augers what is surely to come.
All in all, this is a terrific movie with a stellar cast.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Donat and Leighton shine, October 1, 2004
The Winslow Boy tells the story of a family's effort to prove that an English schoolboy has been unjustly expelled from school, on a false charge of taking a postal money order. In recent years, a well-done David Mamet film based on the Terence Rattigan play renewed interest in this work. The Robert Donat 1950 version uses most of the same material to tell the story with an entirely different shading. Donat is masterful as the barrister retained to defend the boy's honor--he is as accomplished in this role as in so many other roles he brought to life. Margaret Leighton, as the boy's elder sister, shimmers in this film, with a cinematic aura lost to actors in this more computer-generated age.
The Winslow Boy story holds the viewer's interest consistently, and the directorial touch here is light and deft. In contrast to the Mamet film, this earlier film is less self-conscious in its effort to tell the "psychological story" of the trauma that fighting for justice imposes upon a family, and more direct about telling a jaunty good tale. But make no mistake--this film tells a simple but effective story about the cost of doing the right thing that resonates fifty years later.
This movie is a grand bit of cinematic magic and a crackling good story. I highly recommend this video.
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