Carrington V.C.

When 125 pounds goes missing on a british military base, major carrington (niven) is brought in for questioning. Quite the suspense, since most of the people present in the room are sure he's guilty, guilty, guilty. Also some humor, as the sergeant at arms always makes a racket, as he stomps around and rattles the water glasses. Several people know what really happened, but can he convince them to tell the truth? Hopefully, they will respect an officer wearing the victoria's cross. A good story, very realistic. This film was made a couple years before niven's oscar winning separate tables. Directed by anthony asquith, son of the prime minister. Quite an interesting connection in asquith's bio here on imdb, involving oscar wilde. This film is also called carrington v.c.

Asquith's courtroom drama is surprisingly gripping. Trapped within the rigid confines of a military structure, a social structure and his own personal integrity, Niven plays a man whose career and reputation (if not his stiff upper lip) are at stake in a court martial.

This film was made sixty years ago and things have changed a lot since then; unless one bears in mind how things were then, this film's plot make less sense. However if you take this into account, it is a pretty good film.

it has been commented by others that there are commonly certain protocols observed whenever a VC holder enters a room; there is no formal requirement that this is done but traditionally VC holders may be saluted by others regardless of rank. This may or may not be the case within a court-martial situation but that this was omitted in the film is understandable since it would have been distracting to the thrust of the plot, with the whole court up and down like jack-in-the-boxes all the time.

Taken on its merits this is a pretty good film, IMHO deserving of a better score than it currently has on here.

The major theme of this film is the role of the war hero in a peacetime army. Carrington is an undoubted hero but the rule-breaking qualities that made him a hero are not welcome in a peacetime army where bureaucratic procedures are the norm, represented in this film by Henniker, Carrington's commanding officer and an unbending stickler for the rules. So, Carrington is romantic but wrong and Henniker is dull but right. The film, filled with great ensemble acting performances, invites you to choose which you prefer. At the time the film was made, Germany had emerged from the ruins of war with Europe's most dynamic economy whereas Britain, the victor, was mired in post-war decline. Carrington was the dashing war hero but Henniker is in charge now. Henniker, who avoided action in the war, with his Germanic name and blond hair. There's a nice metaphor here. Britain won the war, but who won the peace?

Imagine a cross between The Caine Mutiny and 12 Angry Men, and you'll get Court Martial. This military courtroom drama is tense, thrilling, and will keep you at the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

David Niven is a highly respected and decorated major, and he's been court martialed for three offenses: stealing money, entertaining a woman in his quarters, and leaving the base without permission. The entire film takes place in the courthouse, and it is intense! The men on the jury all know David Niven personally, and they try to put their bias aside for the sake of the law. Noelle Middleton, a captain, tries to defend him-but is she also biased, since she was the woman in his quarters? And finally, Niven's wife: Margaret Leighton. Niven insists she's too ill to testify, but when she shows up in court, will she condemn or defend him?

The acting in this film is fantastic, not only by Niven and his two leading ladies, but also by the supporting men on the jury. It's very hard to act in a real-time film, because you constantly have to have an emotional buildup in your character's performance-there's no "three weeks later" downtime in the plot, or a cutaway to another character's side-story. Anthony Asquith must have given his actors great direction, because they were all very convincing. John Hunter's script, based on Campbell and Dorothy Christi's play, is intelligent, thoughtful, and fast-paced; you're going to need to pay close attention on this one, but it's worth it! Unfortunately for this movie, it came out the same year as the more successful The Caine Mutiny, so the Academy forgot about the British drama at the Oscars. Although Humphrey Bogart was very good, David Niven absolutely deserved a nomination for his incredible performance.

Nearly a decade after 'A Matter of Life and Death' David Niven once more finds himself on trial - this time conducting his own defence - in this very respectable addition to the rollcall of theatrical adaptations directed by Anthony Asquith, although Niven himself neglects to mention in his memoirs.

In 'The Winslow Boy' the accused was charged with purloining a postal order, this time the bone of contention is £125 missing from a safe. Aside from the quality of the acting Asquith makes good use of acoustics by making the soundtrack totally devoid of music and the comic effect when Geoffrey Keen tells the court orderly to stop stamping in observance of an enormous sign reading 'Silence Court-Martial in Progress'.