Brilliantly directed by Anthony Asquith (who in private life was actually the son of the British prime minister who is severely criticized in the movie), this engaging film has the advantage of an engrossing screenplay by Terence Rattigan, which was firmly based on Rattigan's own 1946 stage play.
Aside from a let-down climax that not only occurs off-camera, but is disappointingly narrated by Kathleen Harrison, this is a superbly realized version of the stage play, expertly opened out to include some really engrossing extra material in not only its court scenes (involving that charismatic heavy, Francis L. Sullivan, in his most dominating stance, and Ernest Thesiger in one of his most engagingly ineffective), but also includes some lively episodes in both the House of Commons and a wide collection of London's music halls.
Aside from a let-down climax that not only occurs off-camera, but is disappointingly narrated by Kathleen Harrison, this is a superbly realized version of the stage play, expertly opened out to include some really engrossing extra material in not only its court scenes (involving that charismatic heavy, Francis L. Sullivan, in his most dominating stance, and Ernest Thesiger in one of his most engagingly ineffective), but also includes some lively episodes in both the House of Commons and a wide collection of London's music halls.