Dirk Bogarde and Olivia de Havilland Seek the Truth in "Libel"

Dirk Bogarde as Sir Mark Loddon?

During a two-day stopover in London, a Canadian World War II veteran named Jeffrey Buckenham sees a snippet of a television show about English country estates on a pub’s television. Buckenham recognizes the estate’s owner and is next seen participating in a tour of the manor house. He remains behind when the tour departs and confronts the owner, Sir Mark Loddon.

Buckenham is convinced that the man claiming to be Loddon is a nefarious imposter named Frank Wellney. Loddon acts perplexed and becomes angry when Buckenham snarls: “I want to see you crawl, Frank.”

Buckenham pursues his contention and convinces a local newspaper to publish an open letter in which he exposes Loddon as a fraud who assumed a dead man’s identity during an escape from a prisoner of war camp.

Loddon claims to have virtually no memory of his pre-war life due to his traumatic war injuries. He wants to ignore the allegations. However, his wife Margaret feels strongly that he should file a libel lawsuit against Buckenham and the newspaper. Loddon reluctantly agrees—even though it’s quite possible that it will become a trial to prove his identity.

Olivia de Havilland and Dirk Bogarde as the Loddons.

Based on a 1934 stage play by Edward Wooll, Libel (1959) is an exceedingly well-crafted film with plenty of drama inside and outside the courtroom. Its most intriguing element is that there are three possible outcomes to the story: (1) Frank Wellney could be impersonating Loddon; (2) Loddon could be the real Loddon; or (3) Loddon could be Wellney, but doesn’t know it because of war-induced amnesia. During the trial, though, the evidence against Loddon becomes so persuasive that even his wife begins to have her doubts. (It’s interesting to note that the plot wouldn’t work today as DNA tests could determine Loddon’s identity.)

Dirk Bogarde is superb in the lead role, leaving the audience to determine if his character’s perpetual haunted look is because he can’t remember what happened during the POW escape or because he fears being exposed as a fraud. His most impressive work is in the flashbacks in which he portrays both Loddon and Wellney in the same scene.

Olivia as Margaret Loddon.

The rest of the cast provides outstanding support. As Margaret Loddon, Olivia de Havilland has one of the best roles of her later career and her climactic scene with Bogarde is charged with emotion. Paul Massie is quietly convincing as Buckenham. The only other film I’ve seen him in was Hammer’s The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, in which he played Jekyll as a milquetoast and Hyde as a dashing villain. Finally, British veterans Robert Morley and Wilfrid Hyde-White are ideally cast as the battling barristers who are best friends outside the courtroom.

Robert Morley as a barrister.

Director Anthony Asquith obviously knew his way around cinematic courtrooms, having earlier helmed legal dramas The Winslow Boy (1948) and Court Martial (1954). He also directed several other highly-regarded British classics, to include Pygmalion (1938), The Browning Version (1951), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1952).

Libel was nominated for one Academy Award…for Best Sound. Inexplicably, it’s not a well-known movie despite the acting pedigree and intriguing plot. Fortunately, it’s currently available on Warner Archive’s streaming service. Really, though, TCM should have a Dirk Bogarde day and include Libel as part of the schedule.

Here's a clip from Libel. You can view it full-screen on the Classic Film & TV Cafe's YouTube Channel. (You can also stream the entire movie at warnerarchive.com).

Dirk Bogarde Cultivates the Seeds of Friendship in "The Spanish Gardener"

Dirk Bogarde...as Jose?

British filmmakers practically cornered the market on quiet, personal dramas in the 1950s. A prime example is The Spanish Gardener (1956), an unassuming film that subtly hooks its audience with a tale about a shattered man, his lonely son, and a part-time gardener that changes their lives.

Harrington Brande (Michael Horden) is a minor, lifelong diplomat who learns in the opening scenes that he has been bypassed for a prestigious British consulate post. Even worse, his new job is replacing the man who got his desired post. Brande is an unhappy man who remains convinced his wife left him "without cause and on her own volition." His best friend (perhaps his only friend) knows otherwise. He recognizes that Brande is an insecure, needy man who wants love, but has trouble giving it. This is most apparent in his relationship with his young son Nicholas.

Michael Hordern as Brande.

Brande loves his son, but it's a selfish love. Nicholas is expected to spend time with his father--but it's difficult when Father travels frequently and is often absorbed in his work. Brande wants quality time with his son--but only on his own terms. The lonely lad needs a friend and finds one in Jose (Dirk Bogarde), a local laborer who has been hired to tend to the garden. Brande quickly grows to resent Jose and inadvertently begins to drive a wedge between his son and himself.

Although The Spanish Gardener unfolds like a stage play adaptation, it was based on a 1950 novel by A.J. Cronin. Best known for writing The Citadel, Cronin also penned The Keys to the Kingdom and The Green Years. The latter, which also features a young protagonist, shares a common theme with The Spanish Gardener. In The Green Years, an orphan overcomes an unsteady relationship with his grandparents (or de facto parents) by bonding with someone else (his great-grandfather).

There are also similarities to Enid Bagnold's later 1955 stage play, The Chalk Garden (which was adapted into a marvelous 1964 film starring Deborah Kerr). Both works use a weed-filled garden as an analogy for children that need caring in order to grow and embrace life.

One of the most recognizable faces in British cinema, Michael Hordern worked steadily as a supporting actor from the 1940s through the 1980s. He rarely got leading roles, but he more than holds his own in The Spanish Gardener opposite rising star Dirk Bogarde. Initially, Bogarde seems an odd choice to play a Spanish gardener (and he doesn't even try for a fake accent). However, his natural warmth shines through in his scene with young Jon Whiteley.

Jon Whiteley.

Whiteley gives an incredibly natural child performance. He only made five films, but one was an earlier pairing with Bogarde in the 1952 chase melodrama The Stranger in Between. He co-starred with Stewart Granger in the entertaining 1955 adventure Moonfleet. And he won an honorary Oscar for "outstanding juvenile performance" in The Kidnappers (1955).

Whiteley's parents ended his acting career at age 11. As an adult, he earned a Ph.D. from Pembroke College, Oxford, and became curator of the Christ Church Picture Gallery. When asked about his Oscar statuette in a 2013 Oxford Times interview, he said: "It is at home somewhere, but I don’t think it is a particularly attractive object. It has no great charm."

Hordern, Bogarde, and Whiteley are three excellent reasons to watch The Spanish Gardener. As a whole, the film lacks the mystery and passion that drives The Chalk Garden. Still, it manages to grip the audience's emotions and delivers a satisfying, well-told story.

Doctor in the House: Reviews of All Seven Films

Richard Gordon's semi-autobiographical Doctor novels provided the basis for this seven film series that started with 1954's Doctor in the House. The films were immensely popular in Great Britain and spawned several TV series, the best-known being the 1969-70 Doctor in the House (with some episodes written by Monty Python members John Cleese and Graham Chapman). All seven films were produced by Betty E. Box and directed by Ralph Thomas. Dirk Bogarde starred in four of them, while James Robertson Justice appeared in every film. Below are capsule reviews of each movie:

Simon (Dirk Bogarde) goes on a date.

Doctor in the House (1954) - This introductory film focuses on the exploits of four medical students at St. Swithin's Hospital in London. Amid the pursuit of nurses and various pranks, they spend a little time actually studying medicine. The most promising of the four is Simon Sparrow (Bogarde), who becomes romantically involved with a young nurse (Muriel Pavlow). The bane of each student at St. Swithin's is Sir Lancelot Spratt (Justice) the loud, quick-tempered--but very respected--chief of surgery. With Kenneth More also getting significant screen time, Doctor in the House is an ensemble piece composed of short episodes. While there are some amusing scenes, others fall flat and the end result is a mixed bag. Still, it's obvious that Bogarde is a star in the making.

Bardot and Bogarde.

Doctor at Sea (1955) - To avoid the amorous advances of his landlord's daughter, Simon Sparrow (Bogarde) signs onto a cargo ship as its medical officer. He fits right in with the other officers, who are all highly interested in the opposite sex--except for the gruff Captain Hogg (James Robertson Justice). Hogg is a nautical version of Sir Lancelot and that's not a bad thing, especially since it provides Justice with a larger role. The amusing voyage gets better when the ship takes aboard two passengers played by Brenda de Banzie (Hobson's Choice) and Brigitte Bardot. The former is a perfect foil for Justice while the latter--who has never looked lovelier--pairs up nice with Bogarde. It's one of the best films in the series.

Shirley Eaton and Bogarde.

Doctor at Large (1957) - The third film ignores Doctor at Sea, serving as a direct sequel to Doctor in the House. In addition to Bogarde and Justice, Muriel Pavlow and Donald Sinden reprise their roles from the first film (Shirley Eaton also returns from the first film, but in a different role). When Simon is passed over for a surgeon position at St. Swithin's, he expands his experience by taking jobs with a country doctor, a physician who specializes in wealthy clientele, and a penny-pinching doctor with an unchaste wife. This entry starts slowly, but builds to a pleasant conclusion that implies a happily-ever-after for Simon. My only complaint is that Sir Lancelot is limited to a few brief appearances.

Leslie Phillips and Michael Craig.

Doctor in Love (1960) - The first entry without Dirk Bogarde introduces Leslie Phillips as Dr. Tony Burke and Michael Craig as Dr. Richard Hare (as in Burke and Hare, the murderers who provided corpses to an Edinburgh physician). Tony flirts with practically every female in sight while Richard moons over a nurse who apparently jilted him for another guy. His mood picks up considerably, though, when he meets an attractive female physician. Meanwhile, Sir Lancelot barks at everyone in sight--except his wife. In the film's funniest scene, he walks into a strip club thinking it's a medical conference. Doctor in Love is a modestly amusing outing, but Bogarde is missed and there's still not enough of Lancelot Spratt.

James Robertson Justice as Sir
Lancelot Spratt.

Doctor in Distress (1963) - The best of the Doctor movies finds both Simon and Sir Lancelot coping with love troubles. Simon gets involved with a model (Samantha Eggar) who wants to become a film star. Meanwhile, Sir Lancelot, after claiming himself immune to the opposite sex, falls for a physical therapist while recovering from a slipped disk. Much of the humor is derived from Sir Lancelot's attempts to: lose weight; ensure that his beloved isn't seeing another man; and propose marriage. James Robertson Justice has his most screen time to date and that's a very good thing. One minor distraction is that this entry ignores events from the previous films. For example, Spratt was married in Doctor in Love and Simon had proposed marriage to Joy in Doctor at Large. Also, sadly, this was the last of Dirk Bogarde's appearances in the series.

Justice makes this entry watchable.

Doctor in Clover (aka Carnaby, M.D.) (1966) - Leslie Phillips returns to the series as a different character--in name only, since his chief activity is still ogling the female hospital staff. Sir Lancelot picks up Gaston Grimsdyke (Phillips) after the latter departs from his job as a prison physician. It's never clear why Sir Lancelot wants the unimpressive Grimsdyke working at St. Swithin's. The plot (which is even more episodic than usual) focuses principally on Grimsdyke's efforts to look and act younger to woo a pretty physical therapist. Phillips is a talented comedian and Justice's Dr. Spratt is always a joy. However, Dirk Bogarde is sorely missed in this weak outing. There's no one to ground the comedic antics, so Doctor in Clover evolves quickly to a broad, mildly amusing farce.

Leslie Phillips and friend.

Doctor in Trouble (1970) - The final film in the series has Leslie Phillips (as Tony Burke this time) sneaking aboard an ocean liner to propose to his would-be girlfriend. Naturally, the ship leaves port with Tony aboard and much of the film's hijinks revolve around him trying to avoid being caught as a stowaway. James Robertson Justice has a brief cameo in one of the opening scenes. Tony's adversary is played by Robert Morley as the ship's captain--who happens to be Sir Lancelot's brother. The comedy is a little cruder this time out (though tame by today's standards). Despite some laughs, it's the weakest of the Doctor entries. Still, it's fun to spot some familiar faces in the supporting cast, such as: Monty Python member Graham Chapman as a gay fashion photographer; Yutte Stensgaard (Hammer's Lust for a Vampire) as one of the models; and Pink Panther series semi-regular Graham Stark as a steward (reminding me very much of Peter Sellers).

Seven Things to Know About James Robertson Justice

1. James Robertson Justice's most famous role was as Dr. Lancelot Spratt, the blustery chief surgeon at St. Swithin's Hospital in the British Doctor movies. He first appeared as Spratt in 1954's Doctor in the House, with Dirk Bogarde playing handsome medical student Simon Sparrow. Justice played Spratt in five sequels that starred either Bogarde or Leslie Phillips.As the film series progressed, Spratt evolved from a supporting character to co-lead in entries like Doctor in Distress (1963).

2. Although Lancelot Spratt did not appear in the second Doctor film, Doctor at Sea, Justice still returned opposite Dirk Bogarde. In this outing, Justice played Captain Wentworth Hogg, who ran a cargo ship...very much like Dr. Spratt ran St. Swithin's. Young physician Simon Sparrow didn't seem to mind--he was too busy romancing Brigitte Bardot!

3. When he was 17, Justice played for the Beckenham Rugby Club during the 1924-25 season. One of his teammates was Johnnie Craddock, who became famous working alongside his wife Fanny, a celebrity cook. Justice later worked briefly as a journalist at Reuters--as did James Bond author Ian Fleming. Many years later, Justice appeared in the 1968 adaptation of Fleming's children novel Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.

4. James Robertson Justice co-starred with Gregory Peck in four movies: Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951); David and Bathsheba (1951); Moby Dick (1956); and The Guns of Navarone (1961). In Moby Dick, he played Captain Boomer, who lost an arm to the white whale pursued by Peck's Captain Ahab.

5. He co-starred with Richard Todd in three movies produced by Walt Disney in the early 1950s. He played Little John to Todd's Robin in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). He and Todd then re-teamed for The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue. Both pictures were made in 1953 and also featured the delightful Glynis Johns.

6. Although Justice claimed he was born in Wigtown or Skye Island, Scotland, most sources list South London as his birth place. Regardless, he embraced his Scottish heritage and was Rector of the University of Edinburgh for two three-year terms in 1957 and 1963. The Rector heads the university's highest governing body and is elected by the students and staff. Other famous people to hold the Rector office at the University of Edinburgh are Winston Churchill and Alastair Sim.

7. Justice was married twice. His son, James, died in 1949 at the age of four in a drowning accident. He met actress Irena von Meyendorff, a real-life Baroness, while making The Ambassadress in 1961. They became lovers, later appeared together in Mayerling (1968), and were wed three days before Justice died in 1975 from complications from a stroke.

This post is part of the What a Character! Blogathon hosted by Once Upon a Screen, Paula's Cinema Club, and Outspoken & Freckled. Click here for the full schedule of posts that celebrate cinema's great character actors.

Victim: John Coldstream's New Book about the Landmark 1961 Film

The latest book in the British Film Institute's BFI Film and TV Classics series is Victim, a 115-page paperback reference volume devoted to the controversial 1961 film starring Dirk Bogarde. Author John Coldstream discusses the film's production history, describes the film in depth, and addresses critical reaction when it was first released. Coldstream concludes with a short essay about Victim's significance in cinema history.

For those unfamiliar with Victim (plot spoilers ahead), it tells the story of Melville Farr (Bogarde), a successful, married London barrister who was "seeing" Jack Barrett, a young homosexual man. In the film's most potent scene, Farr tells his wife that he never engaged in a physical relationship with Barrett, but he eventually admits: "I stopped seeing him because I wanted him. Do you understand?" A photograph of Farr consoling a crying Barrett falls into the hands of blackmailers, who threaten to ruin Farr's life (a homosexual relationship between two men was still a criminal act in England in 1961). When Barrett commits suicide to protect Farr, the barrister sets out to expose the blackmail ring.

In his book, Coldstream provides a compelling history of the many obstacles that had to be overcome to bring Boy Barrett, as Victim was known in pre-production, to the screen. Coldstream notes that the financial and critical success of Sapphire (1959), a mystery with strong racial themes, paved the way for Victim. In fact, Victim reunited the writer (Janet Green), director (Basil Dearden), and producer (Michael Relph) from Sapphire. Yet, despite their pedigree, they faced an uphill battle in getting Victim through the censors. Coldstream writes that John Trevelyan, head of the British Board of Censors and considered a moderate, "warned Relph to be aware of present-day public opinion in balancing attitudes toward homosexuality and not to give ideas to potential blackmailers by having the detective say it 'offered unrivaled opportunities to any extortionist.'"

Alas, Coldstream's lengthy description of the film is not as interesting for anyone who has seen it. He includes key lines of dialogue, a plethora of outstanding stills, and portions of the annotated script.

The author's discussion of Victim's critical reception and historical significance is much more engrossing. Coldstream plays fair by presenting a diverse number of critical opinions about Victim. One of the more interesting ones came from James Breen of The Observer: "With a few plot changes (none of them vital), the film could have been made at any time during the last fifteen years --for it is not primarily about homosexuality at all, but about blackmail, and it is shaped not as a social study, either compassionate or critical, but as a mild thriller." For this film buff, I would certainly never label Victim a "mild thriller", but Breen may have have a point in regard to the importance of the blackmail angle.

As with any reference book dedicated to a single movie, Victim has limited appeal. Still, John Coldstream has written a well-researched history of the film, especially in regard to censorship in Britain in the early 1960s. Victim is recommended for the film's admirers and for libraries with large film reference collections.


Palgrave Macmillan provided a review copy of this book.