The Durant Affair

It is generally assumed that 'the sixties' began on January 1, 1960, but that is incorrect. 'The sixties' as such began in the late summer and early autumn of 1963. Before that, the 1950s continued unabated and British B films such as this continued to be cranked out, which were pure 'fifties' in style and content, many of them directed by Godfrey Grayson, of whose 28 rather undistinguished films this was the last. This film has a mildly interesting story about a girl in her thirties who never knew who her mother was, and who is contacted by the solicitor of her mother, who had confessed on her deathbed that she had this illegitimate daughter whom she had abandoned as an infant. Jane Griffiths, who died at the age of only 46 in 1975, plays this daughter. Like all but one performer in this film (Nigel Green), Griffiths was not at all famous in her profession. Green plays a QC (Queen's Counsel, the highest level of British barrister) who ruthlessly cross-examines witnesses in the trial concerning the inheritance. Green in this role is the usual cold and steely-eyed character which he played to great effect in film after film. Apart from him, the entire cast have left little legacy to posterity and could be described as essentially 'unknowns', as were most of of the actors appearing in these low-budget B films, produced by Dantziger Productions, which ceased making films in this very year, after one last effort, having produced 84 unmemorable films in twelve years, not one of which is remembered today. I do not wish to be too unkind about this film. It is rather contrived and corny, and the performances are not scintillating, but the film still manages to be interesting enough not to turn it off.

As a Probate practitioner for many years I never was involved in anything so dramatic.Fine performances all round add to a very intruiging courtroom drama,certainly amongst the best of the Danziger productions.

The executor of a half-million-pound estate comes to Jane Griffiths. She is, he believes, the rightful heir to the estate. However, as the executor, he is bound to oppose her claim. He recommends Conrad Phillips, a very successful barrister and leaves. Phillips and the lady clash. She wants the money, but fears that embarrassing facts about her father will come out in court, and she wishes to avoid that at all costs. And so they go to trial.

It's an average second feature, filled with the cliches of the genre, with last-minute witnesses with incontrovertible documentation. Indeed, the primary interest of the movie is the sheer size of the estate, which in modern money is $15,000,000. Otherwise it's stuffy courtroom procedure, with the lawyers all more interested in the truth than the results. With Francis De Wolf and Tony Quinn.

I beg to differ with the previous reviewer of this little film. In the first place several of the cast were quiet well known here in the U.K. Especially Conrad Phillips, here the films leading man and he gives a good performance as the barrister. He was TV's William Tell which was a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic and had a good career for over 40 years on Stage, TV and film. Here he is ably matched by his old William Tell partner- Nigel Green. It is a very interesting, well told little B movie, no fistfights just good dialogue and an interesting premise ( the plot is explained in full elsewhere and I see no reason to repeat it ). The only cliché is the lovey ending which we don't need but all in all an offbeat movie to while away 70 minutes and look for several faces that did much in the acting profession. Here in the U.K the film now has a DVD release.