Based on a true story (with the name changed to protect the innocent) The Winslow Boy is a celluloid testament to the importance of justice no matter what the cost and a nod to long lost attitudes and conventions.
Set (and made) in a much more deferential and class ridden era, it tells the story of a young 12yr old Naval Cadet wrongly expelled from college having been falsely accused of stealing and cashing a five shilling postal order.
His father brilliantly and wryly played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, is convinced of his sons innocence and sets out to clear their family's good name and have his son reinstated.
At first he clashes head on with an establishment quickly closing ranks all refusing to acknowledge that any miscarriage of justice has occurred, and that the boy was given a fair hearing.
However when the family engage the services of Sir Robert Moreton, one of England's top barristers, (Robert Donat) it becomes less of simple case of theft, but a vital struggle to uphold the very basic laws of the land enshrined by Magna Carta, a struggle that becomes front page news across the country especially as it is rocking the boat of the very highest echelons of the British establishment.
Along the way we see the emotional sacrifices and the financial hardships the family have to make to ensure that justice be done and that 'right is heard'
The Winslow family is depicted as being middle class, living in a suburban terraced house with a housemaid. It would be interesting to see how it would have played out and how much justice The Winslow Boy would have actually gotten if he was a lower working class boy, especially as the moral of the story is that the Kings justice should be available to everybody down to even the lowest subject.
A working class family of the day could never have taken it as far as the Winslow's did as they wouldn't have had the funds, they definitely wouldn't have been able to afford Sir Roberts fees, the reality being therefore that sadly the case would have most likely gone unheard before the days of legal aid.
Robert Donat has always been one of my favourite actors and this is perhaps his best performance before the camera since his Oscar winning turn in Goodbye Mr Chips nine years earlier.
A great movie to watch with a great message.....(in principle)
Set (and made) in a much more deferential and class ridden era, it tells the story of a young 12yr old Naval Cadet wrongly expelled from college having been falsely accused of stealing and cashing a five shilling postal order.
His father brilliantly and wryly played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, is convinced of his sons innocence and sets out to clear their family's good name and have his son reinstated.
At first he clashes head on with an establishment quickly closing ranks all refusing to acknowledge that any miscarriage of justice has occurred, and that the boy was given a fair hearing.
However when the family engage the services of Sir Robert Moreton, one of England's top barristers, (Robert Donat) it becomes less of simple case of theft, but a vital struggle to uphold the very basic laws of the land enshrined by Magna Carta, a struggle that becomes front page news across the country especially as it is rocking the boat of the very highest echelons of the British establishment.
Along the way we see the emotional sacrifices and the financial hardships the family have to make to ensure that justice be done and that 'right is heard'
The Winslow family is depicted as being middle class, living in a suburban terraced house with a housemaid. It would be interesting to see how it would have played out and how much justice The Winslow Boy would have actually gotten if he was a lower working class boy, especially as the moral of the story is that the Kings justice should be available to everybody down to even the lowest subject.
A working class family of the day could never have taken it as far as the Winslow's did as they wouldn't have had the funds, they definitely wouldn't have been able to afford Sir Roberts fees, the reality being therefore that sadly the case would have most likely gone unheard before the days of legal aid.
Robert Donat has always been one of my favourite actors and this is perhaps his best performance before the camera since his Oscar winning turn in Goodbye Mr Chips nine years earlier.
A great movie to watch with a great message.....(in principle)