Themes: Clearing One's Name, Fighting the System, Social Injustice
Main Cast: Nigel Hawthorne, Gemma Jones, Jeremy Northam, Rebecca Pidgeon, Guy Edwards
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Playwright and filmmaker David Mamet, best known for gritty, emotionally powerful dramas such as American Buffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna, approaches something different with this project, a screen adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy, which was previously filmed in 1948. Set in England in 1912 (and based on an actual court case), the story begins with the Winslow family at a tense and trying moment. Arthur Winslow (Nigel Hawthorne) is making final preparations for a dinner to seal the engagement between his daughter Catherine (Rebecca Pidgeon) and John Watherstone (Aden Gillett). Catherine herself has been a subject of no small tension in the family, given her outspoken support of the controversial cause of women's suffrage. However, the meeting between Arthur and John goes well, and the family and guests are toasting the upcoming marriage when Arthur discovers that his youngest son Ronnie (Guy Edwards) is unexpectedly home from the Naval College at Osbourne. It seems Ronnie was accused of stealing a five shilling postal note from one of his classmates and was expelled as a result. Ronnie proclaims his innocence and his father believes him -- enough so that he demands an apology from the College. When the college refuses to reinstate Ronnie, Arthur decides to take the matter to court. His councilor, Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), informs him that the Naval College is a representative of the Admiralty and the Crown, and as such British law presumes they are infallible and above question; their judgement can be legally questioned only with the permission of the Attorney General. Arthur insists on taking the matter before Parliament to decide if his suit can be brought forward, and the case begins to split the family's foundations. Catherine is upset with her father for hiring a lawyer who opposes a woman's right to vote, John's father threatens to stop the engagement if Arthur does not drop the matter, and Arthur's wife Grace (Gemma Jones) begins to wonder if the real issue is justice or a father's stubborn and foolish pride. The Winslow Boy was filmed in England with a primarily British cast (the most notable exception being Rebecca Pidgeon, who happens to be Mamet's wife); Neil North, who plays the First Lord of the Admiralty, played Ronnie in the first film version of the story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Matthew Pidgeon - Dickie Winslow; Colin Stinton - Desmond Curry; Aden Gillett - John Watherstone; Sarah Flind - Violet; Neil North - First Lord of the Admiralty; Sara Stewart - Miss Barnes; Perry Fenwick - Fred; Alan Polanski - Mr. Michaels
Credit
Andrew Munro - Art Director, Ros Hubbard - Casting, John Hubbard - Casting, Consolata Boyle - Costume Designer, Richard Hewitt - First Assistant Director, David Mamet - Director, Barbara Tulliver - Editor, Alaric Jans - Composer (Music Score), Gemma Jackson - Production Designer, Benoit Delhomme - Cinematographer, Sarah Green - Producer, Trisha Edwards - Set Designer, Clive Winter - Sound/Sound Designer, David Mamet - Screenwriter, Terence Rattigan - Play Author
The Winslow Boy is a 1999 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's dramatic play The Winslow Boy. It was made by Winslow Partners Ltd. and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. It was directed by David Mamet and produced by Sarah Green with Sally French, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard as associate producers. The screenplay was adapted by Mamet based on Rattigan's play. The music score was by Alaric Jans and the cinematography by Benoît Delhomme.
Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for stealing a postal order. To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their peers and society. The boy's life would have been wrecked by the stain on his character.
The play was inspired by an actual event, which set a legal precedent; the case of George Archer-Shee, a cadet at Osborne in 1908, who was accused of stealing a postal order from a fellow cadet. His elder brother Major Martin Archer-Shee, was convinced of his innocence, and persuaded his father (also called Martin) to engage lawyers. The most respected barrister of the day, Sir Edward Carson was also persuaded of his innocence, and insisted on the case coming to court. On the fourth day of the trial, the Solicitor General accepted that Archer-Shee was innocent, and ultimately the family was paid compensation. George Archer-Shee died in the First World War and his name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of Woodchester in Gloucestershire where his parents lived.
Plot
Ronnie Winslow (Guy Edwards), a cadet at the Royal Naval College, is accused of the theft of a postal order. An internal enquiry which grants him no chance of defence, finds him guilty and his father, Arthur Winslow (Nigel Hawthorne), is requested to remove his son from the college. Unwilling to accept the verdict, Winslow and his daughter Catherine institute their own enquiries and engage a friend and family solicitor, Desmond Curry (Colin Stinton) to assist them, including the briefing of the best barrister in England at the time, Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), should the case come to court.
The government is unwilling to allow the case to proceed, but after heated debates in the House of Commons, the government yields, and the case does come to court. Morton is able to discredit much of the supposed evidence and the government finally withdraws the charges against Ronnie. Although the family wins the case, each of them has lost something along the way: Dickie Winslow (Matthew Pidgeon) has been forced to leave Oxford due to the lack of money, Catherine (Rebecca Pidgeon) loses her marriage settlement and subsequently her fiancé, John Watherstone (Aden Gillett), and Arthur Winslow loses his health.
Actor Neil North who played the title role in the 1948 version also appears in this version (as the First Lord of the Admiralty). In the audio commentary for the DVD release, Mamet says he had already cast North in the film before he was told that North also appeared in the 1948 version.
In the DVD commentary, Jeremy Northam claims that film director Mike Newell originated the role of Ronnie Winslow in the original stage production. However, this is false. Northam has confused another actor who is also named Michael Newell, who is now a realtor [1]. Mike Newell (the director) was born in 1942, and since the play premiered in 1946, it is not possible for a four-year-old to have played that role.
Rebecca Pidgeon, who plays Catherine, is the wife of playwright and director David Mamet.
Matthew Pidgeon, who plays Dickie Winslow (Catherine's brother), is Rebecca Pidgeon's real-life brother.
