Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

writers_reign As something of a Puffin Asquith completist I naturally made a point of watching this on Talking Pictures yesterday. As a rule I tend to avoid British films that focus on one or more aspects of the military but I was pleasantly surprised at how Puffin put the ensemble cast through its paces. Apart from David Niven and Margaret Leighton, an unlikely married couple, the support was largely Second Eleven, Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Keen, Noelle Middleton, Victor Maddern and they even wheeled out old Newtie Blick. The old adage that you can't go wrong with a courtroom drama holds up here albeit it's a courts martial rather than a civilian court with Niven in the dock and acting as his own defence lawyer. It all hangs together nicely and makes for solid entertainment.

justincward The always charming David Niven, ex-Guards (Carrington), and always convincing Allan Cuthbertson, ex RAAF (Hennicker), strike big sparks off each other in this static military courtroom drama, but that's the only proper entertainment 'Carrington, VC' has to offer. The rest of it is a terribly, terribly middle-class (and low-budget) army court procedural with Geoffrey Keen as presiding officer. Geoffrey Keen is typecast as the self-important little man behind a big desk in much British film and TV of the period, and in this he gives his usual lightweight, nasal turn, along with many familiar and clearly aging Brit stalwarts who give the same routine whether in a comedy - or in uniform - or not.The whole point is whether the dashing Carrington's nemesis lies on oath about him 'borrowing' £125 from the barracks safe, ticking many socio-cultural boxes for a 1950's UK audience and weakly echoing 'The Winslow Boy'. **SPOILER**You are rewarded for sticking with the film by having Carrington found guilty, but disappointingly, the dastardly Hennicker's ultimate come-uppance is not in the film. Cuthbertson would have owned that.These days, watching women in unattractive uniforms calling one another 'Vel' for 'Val' gets old very quickly. Though if that does turn you on, the crucial, and almost throwaway telephonists' scene that sets up Carrington's (unseen) appeal will really, um, appeal. It's only Niven's easy charm, and Cuthbertson's fulminating uptightness that gave me any reason to care. The rest is khaki-coloured cardboard, mouldering away in a damp, forgotten cupboard. Skip this and rent 'Tunes of Glory (1960)' instead.

johngilbert-3 I'm not going to discuss plots here or spoilers but my concern is to the military correctness of the film. Carrington VC indicates that he was winner of the VC and on that basis alone the respect that should have been shown a VC holder clearly was missing throughout the whole of the film. For example when a VC holder enters the room, all military personnel (regardless of rank) stand in acknowledgement of the holder of that VC action regardless of whether it was a single VC followed by other medals or on its own, at no time during the film did I feel he was shown the respect for a VC holder and in all honesty a plot that included theft of money against such a holder would have provoked an outcry in the highest echelons of military ranks not to mention his colleagues. All in all good performances, bit dry as noted in places, I have seen Maurice Denham in several pictures of late and I must admit I like the chap, a commensurate actor who is sorely missed. Disappointingly unrealistic film given Carrington's VC honour and this spoiled it for me entirely.

thekennelman This one is admittedly a bit stiff, but then again, it is British, and a military courtroom drama. It sits firmly in the middle of Niven's career but seems curiously, and sadly, unknown. I remember it from my childhood, but caught it again today forlornly filling up a gap in a minor TV channels schedule. It deserves better. **The following may contain spoilers**Niven's character 'Copper' Carrington is a brave, correct, and a seemingly successful officer in the British army but has a number of clouds on his horizon. His marriage is weakened by an illicit liaison with a female officer and his fame has made a jealous enemy of his Commanding Officer. To top it all he is in desperate financial straits as his army pay is grossly in arrears, he has simply moved too fast from post to post for it to catch up with him. But when he tries to rectify the situation the army bureaucracy forms part of the problem and not the solution, denying him his due remuneration.His remedy is to remove £100 pounds (some £5000 in today's money) from the army safe of his battalion `If they won't pay me, then I'll pay myself.' He quotes, and his arrogant stance, although laudable, is his undoing. He is court-martialled, and has but one defence. If he can establish that he took the money openly, and with the full knowledge of his C.O. then the charge that he stole the cash covertly will fall.Complications abound aplenty as he also has to answer further charges relating to his extra-marital liaison. His difficulty is that there are only two witnesses who can help him. One is his C.O. who is both his accuser and the prosecution's main witness for both sets of charges, and his wife, who is slowly becoming aware of his infidelity during the course of the court martial.Defending himself he rebuts the prosecution case as best as he can, but then in his defence he has to call his wife. What she will say and what the court makes of her testimony are the substance of this film and await the viewer. There are however enough twists and turns in this plot to keep all but the most cynical from seeing it through.If not for the plot then watch for the supporting cast lead by the incomparable Victor Maddern. With the exception of Niven, none of the cast were superstars but they formed the backbone of the British Film and Television industry in the post-war period and have their own place in history.Watch also for a moment of self sacrifice by Niven as his conscience wrestles with the dilemma of what to do with a crucial letter which may establish his innocence, but condemn another in the process. The members of the court too are caught in the quintessential paradox of all courtroom battles. They cannot judge the man, as we the audience are clearly invited to do, but only the evidence before them.Final word goes to the director, Anthony Asquith. Son of Lord Asquith the British Prime Minister during the First Wold War, he would direct many British Classic movies including 'We dive and Dawn', 'Yellow Rolls Royce' and even scripted Oscar Wilde's 'The importance of being Ernest' A pity this film is not as well known, don't miss it.