The Guinea Pig

Based on a Warren Chetham Strode play and directed by the supremely talented Roy Boulting, The Guinea Pig is a cinematic delight of the kind that makes me proud to be British.

Set in the 1940s, the picture is showing us the wind of change that occurred in Britain in the 40s as regards the breaking down of class system snobbery after the advent of World War II.

Here our main protagonist is Jack Read (a simply wonderful Richard Attenborough) is a young fresh faced kid from a basic working class family. His father sends him away to posh Saintbury School, a school famed for it's Henry The Eighth heritage, Rugby, Cricket and it's affluent laden scholars. In short our Jack is not so much a fish out of water, but more like a tadpole in a sea of sharks.

He his bullied by class mates for his humble origins, and even the house masters are looking down their noses at him. However, a bit of love and support from home and also from astute teacher Nigel Lorraine (Robert Flemyng brilliant) and Jack, coupled with his guts, could yet make his mark on Saintbury School and beyond.

An important film in many ways, The Guinea Pig seems to be something of an under seen piece. At the time of writing this there are very few user comments written for it on IMDb and only 100 people have voted on it. With that in mind please ignore the current 6.3 rating, for this film is a positive delight. From the harsh early days of Jack's schooling to a delightful Thomas Wolsey inspired wind of change, The Guinea Pig not only gave me a tear in my eye, it also gave me pride within my chest.

Wonderful indeed. 9/10

Yes, we're in that Britain of the distant past, but one on the cusp of a social revolution as public schools, once the enclave of plummy-voiced toffs, open their doors (if just a crack) to working class boys.

This film is so old-fashioned it looks, at times like one of those parodies Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse used to excel in. Even when men are arguing they do so in a terribly civilised manner, with their conversation peppered with such phrases as 'now look here' and 'steady on old chap.' It's difficult to imagine Britain could really have been a place like the one described in this film, but I suppose it must have been so.

The plot tells of young Jack Read (Richard Attenborough deftly playing a 13-year-old at the age of 23), a gifted working class boy who receives a place at Saintbury public school as part of a vague experiment. Naturally, Read stands out like a sore thumb and is bullied by his school chums, and it is only thanks to the support of forward-thinking new teacher Robert Flemyng that Read gathers the fortitude to carry on.

Of course, Saintbury is a metaphor of post-war Britain and the resistance of the old order to inexorable change, and the consequence of all Read's ordeals are fairly predictable. Lloyd Hartley (a rather good Cecil Trouncer), the traditionally-minded school master who has an inherent dislike of the working class, has a change of mind that is quite touching and almost Mr Chips-like in its sentimentality - even if it is a little unlikely.

The Guinea Pig looks like a relic from a bygone age today, and it's difficult to see who would be interested in such a film other than film buffs and historians. For all its' predictability, it's a pleasant enough little film that touches upon many sub-plots without actually exploring them in any depth.

This film depicts the change of britain through the use of a public school as a metaphor. The films shows the changing views of class distinction, the idea of a devloping society and the view of change through the flemming report.

The guinea pig tells show class in britain in the 1940s changes as the result of the changing attitudes due to the second world war, now working class people are having the chance to develop in the clasist world as read does at the end of the film.

The film shows the different attitudes from the traditionalist housemaster hartley to the new tutor Lorraine who wants to develop the new society and to bring equality to those who needed it.

I recommend this film not just for entertainment value but also for the significance it represents in the history of britain in the 1940s, the after-effects of the second world war and the development of a new society.

ENJOY!

This was the first movie that dared to use "arse" in the script. Young Attenborough was not that youthful even though his character was that of a schoolboy. The movie used academic extras from Kings College University for the rugby scenes which included the young Norman Fidler in an early role.

I particularly liked the battle of the pipes scene where Robert Flemying, with his pipe, took on his adversary, with his pipe, smoked and sucked and huffed and puffed (with some dialogue in between) must have been extremely pleased when the director shouted "cut".