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Cast: |
| Nigel Hawthorne |
| Rebecca Pidgeon |
| Jeremy Northam |
Gemma Jones
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Director: |
| David Mamet |
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David Mamet's adaptation of The Winslow Boy is a courtroom drama based on Terence
Rattigan's play (previously filmed in England by Anthony Asquith in 1950).
It trades on Mamet's infinite fascination with misleading first impressions,
hidden motives, verbal gamesmanship, and manipulation.
Synopsis:
Set in 1910, The Winslow Boy is based on a real-life story of
a young cadet who is accused of stealing a five shilling postal note. Convinced
of the boy's innocence, The Winslow family, including father, Arthur (Nigel
Hawthorne), mother (Gemma Jones) and sister (Rebecca Pidgeon) persuade
the country's leading lawyer, Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam) to take
on the defense. As the case proceeds, it challenges many long accepted
legal notions and sets off a national frenzy - exacting a heavy price on
the family.
Sir Nigel's character:
"Arthur Winslow displays a surprising degree of understanding
and compassion for a man of his time. He sanctions his daughter's interest
in the suffragette movement, and his older son is a bit silly, but he tolerates
him, gets him a safe job in the bank. But when his younger son tells him,
'No, I didn't steal that postal order,' he is ready to gamble everything
that the family possesses on this simple statement."
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