Separate Tables

Deborah Kerr and David Niven give stunning performances in this interesting character study of residents of a British seaside hotel forced to examine their feelings and emotions through the revelation of a scandal involving a blustery phony Major Pollock (David Niven. His relationship with the repressed daughter (Deborah Kerr) of a domineering mother (Gladys Cooper) is just one of the interesting aspects of this filming of Terrence Rattigan's stage play.

Rita Hayworth and Burt Lancaster are excellent as ex-lovers forced to examine their pasts. Wendy Hill excels as the keeper of the hotel, herself involved in an affair with Lancaster. Rod Taylor and Audrey Dalton do well as the young lovers caught in the claustrophobic setting dominated by snooping elderly women.

A very worthwhile, sensitive study of people trying to spend quiet days at a resort--very disparate people leading separate lives who must cope with their differences.

Deborah Kerr gives a deeply felt, genuinely moving performance opposite Niven's blustery major and Cooper's exquisitely well-mannered but narrow-minded mother. Niven deserved his Oscar for his moments of quiet desperation and crumbling of character--but Kerr is equally fine and should have had Academy recognition for this role instead of just a nomination.

Wendy Hiller is especially impressive and surely deserved her Best Supporting Actress Oscar as the innkeeper who deals intelligently and sympathetically with the various crises facing her guests. She is a pleasure to watch as she struggles to keep her guests comfortable under trying circumstances.

David Niven, who was never given the credit he deserved for his enormous talent, gives the performance of his career in "Separate Tables." Instead of playing the perpetual nice guy, he is a definite shady character. He deceives everyone into believing that he's a reputable person, especially shy Deborah Kerr. But soon, it is revealed that he's not the person he appears to be, with possible disastrous outcomes...

Featuring a fantastic all-star cast, including Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, and Rod Taylor, "Separate Tables" seems to be a forgotten masterpiece. It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress, and won two...including one for the magnificent David Niven. I highly recommend this movie!

This is without doubt one of the best films I have ever seen. The fact that it all takes place in one small Bournemouth (England) hotel, no violence, no special effects, no thousands of extras, or vast expenditure says it all. Excellent performances from a star studded cast, especially David Niven. It is gripping from start to finish, but by modern standards in a gentle way. A movie possibly mainly for women, but as a man I can only say that I found it very moving. A film I will always watch whenever it comes around as it always will. A classic.

This film came highly recommended to me by my parents, so I was anxious to watch it. Again, I realized that my impression of Burt Lancaster is completely different from what he actually is as an actor. His portrayal of an alcoholic man who gets a visit from his ex-wife (Hayworth) at the hotel he resides is again different from the boisterous, oafish guy that I always believed him to be when I was younger. Also at the hotel are a varied group of characters – including an oppressive woman who lords over her timid spinster daughter (Kerr) and a retired Army officer with some secrets, (Niven) who are all taken care of by the distant, yet sincere proprietress, Pat Cooper (the amazing Wendy Hiller). The film encompasses all of their separate plot lines, and interweaves them gradually until the climatic ending. There was no action in this film, just wonderful, straight melodrama and some great writing and acting. A year later, Lancaster and Hecht, the producers behind this film, went on to produce `Sweet Smell of Success', which is infinitely more searing and dark, but it was interesting to see the precursor to that film. I recommend this film for anyone who appreciates solid classic melodramas.

--Shelly

In Bournemouth, England, the Beauregard Hotel is located three minutes from the sea and managed by Pat Cooper (Wendy Hiller). It is off-season and only the resident guests are lodged in the hotel.

The timid Sibyl (Deborah Kerr) is a spinster and hysterical woman totally controlled by her arrogant and snobbish mother Mrs. Maud Railton-Bell (Gladys Cooper) that does not want that she works. Sybil is secretly in love with the reformed Major David Angus Pollock (David Niven) and she enjoys listening to his stories about his life. Lady Gladys Matheson (Gladys Cooper) is the only friend of Mrs. Railton-Bell. The medical student Charles (Rod Taylor) wants to marry his fiancée Jean (Audrey Dalton) but she refuses. Miss Meacham (May Hallatt) and Mr. Fowler (Felix Aylmer) like to play billiards and she always wins the game. The American John Malcolm (Burt Lancaster) is an alcoholic writer that is secretly engaged of Pat.

When the elegant and gorgeous Ann Shankland (Rita Hayworth) checks in the hotel, John is affected by her presence and Pat learns that Ann is his ex-wife that he had tried to kill five years ago. Meanwhile Major Pollock unsuccessfully tries to steal the newspaper West Hampshire Weekly News from the reception. However, Mrs. Railton-Bell arrives and finds an infamous article about him and she tries to expel him from the hotel. These events will affect the lives of the residents.

"Separated Tables" is a film based on a play with a story of loneliness, secrets and revelations in a hotel in Bournemouth. The theatrical plot is developed in slow pace inside the hotel and the lives of the lonely guests are entwined with the arrival of a beautiful woman and the discovery of a secret about the behavior of one guest, changing the relationship of them.

This film won the Oscars of Best Actor in a Leading Role (David Niven) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Wendy Hiller), and was nominated to five other Oscars (Best Actress in a Leading Role (Deborah Kerr); Best Cinematography in Black-and-White; Best Music Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture; Best Picture; and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium). In addition, "Separated Tables" has another five wins and seven nominations. The number of prizes (7) and nominations (12) is the best indication of how great this film is. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Vidas Separadas" ("Separated Lives")