Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Spikeopath Libel is directed by Anthony Asquith and adapted from Edward Wooll's play by Anatole de Grunwald and Karl Tunberg. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie, Robert Morley, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Anthony Dawson and Richard Wattis. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and cinematography by Robert Krasker.A shell-shocked ex-WWII prisoner of war with amnesia is accused of being an impostor by one of the guys he was imprisoned with. This sends him spinning into the middle of a Libel court case that could destroy everything in his life.A splendidly stylish mystery/drama that offers up two Dirk Bogarde's for the price of one. The big question throughout is if Bogarde, in the shoes of Sir Mark Sebastian Loddon, is actually a doppleganger that he was in the war with called Frank Welney. Loddon has the riches, the estate and a beautiful loving wife, Welney was a struggling actor and something of a mischievous imp. The big narrative thrust is that Loddon is not sure himself, he can only remember certain things, thus we are never sure either as the plot twists and turns and the court case simmers away with dramatic force.Bogarde is great in his dual role, with a voice change for each character and different hair styles to help the viewers differentiate. In the court we have a trio of classy character actors, with Hyde- White and Morley as the opposing lawyers (wonderful to witness this) and Watiss as the judge presiding over the trial. Havilland isn't asked to do much until late in the day, but then she shines bright and puts some emotional punch into proceedings. The great Krasker photographs it in crisp black and white, while Asquith directs with a smoothness that undercuts the coincidences and conveniences that exist in this sort of story.All the highlights of a court room drama are here, and it's a cracking mystery to boot. 8/10

gerdeen-1 Dirk Bogarde was a marvelous actor, and this is a fine film. But if you insist on believable stories, you won't like it. It's as true to life as an Agatha Christie story, and just as entertaining.The plot is this: An English lord and a penniless scoundrel who looks exactly like him are in the same POW camp during World War II. Years later, another veteran claims the scoundrel actually killed the aristocrat and has been impersonating him ever since. The whole thing winds up in court, putting the aristocrat's wife through some agonizing moments. Finally, when nobody can stand the suspense any longer, the truth is revealed.The idea of someone meeting his exact double is as silly as it is unbelievable, and by the 1950s there were ways to verify whether a living man was the war veteran he claimed to be. So you can't take this seriously. But if you suspend disbelief, you will really enjoy it. Though it's not marketed as a mystery, it's ideal for mystery fans.I had to talk my wife into watching this movie on TCM, because it looked to her like a gloomy psychological drama. Once she started watching, she couldn't turn away (especially when Dirk Bogarde was on the screen). She was still talking about it an hour after it ended. "What if something like that really happened?" she remarked. Well, it wouldn't, but ...

bkoganbing Updated to make the protagonists be World War II veterans instead of World War I, Libel made its Broadway debut in 1935 after a run in London and ran for 159 performances during the 1935-36 season. Playing the role Dirk Bogarde does here was the screen's original Dr. Frankenstein, Colin Clive.As for Bogarde due to movie screen magic he gets to play two roles, the respected titled English Lord with American wife Olivia DeHavilland and a Canadian fellow prisoner of war who was a traveling player and who looks like him. Worse than that, we see in flashback how he envied him.Into their happy lives intrudes another former POW Paul Massie who knew both men in the camp and makes the startling accusation that the one stole the identity of the other who died during the war. This indeed is a case of Libel and one for the courts to straighten out.Bringing the suit on Bogarde's behalf is Robert Morley and defending Massie is Wilfrid Hyde-White, they make a fine pair of antagonists. What is the truth, for that you have to watch Libel.Though Olivia is first billed, the film clearly belongs to Dirk Bogarde who delivers a fine poignant performance of a man tortured by doubt, there are things tucked away in his mind that he prefers not dealing with. Olivia gets her innings in when even she starts to doubt the identity of the man she's been married to.This film also gives we Yanks a chance to see Richard Dimbleby who was a combination of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, that kind of trusted voice of the British Empire for the BBC. In fact Dimbleby is hosting Bogarde and DeHavilland on a tour of their mansion when Massie spots them on a bar television and sets everything in motion.Libel holds up very well today it could probably be easily remade for something like the Iraq or Afghan war in about 15 years time.

blanche-2 I unabashedly admit that Dirk Bogarde is one of my favorite actors, so naturally, two of him is better. In "Libel," directed by Anthony Asquith, he has a dual role - that of a baron, Sir Mark Sebastian Loddon, and Frank Welney, an actor and a lookalike in his barracks during World War II. When Mark returns from the war, he can't remember a lot of his past life and is haunted by images of events during the war that he can't connect with. Another soldier sees the baron on television and believes that he is really Frank Welney, and the story is published in a tabloid. Mark's wife (Olivia de Havilland) insists that for the sake of their young son, he sue for libel. He does.This is an often-told story, but I enjoyed it anyway. Bogarde is excellent as the uptight, insecure Mark and the cocky, nosy Frank, and while there is a strong resemblance between the two men, Welney's coloring and hairstyle is different, as is his manner. De Havilland turns in another marvelous, emotional performance as a woman who starts out believing her husband is indeed the man she loved before the war... and then having her doubts.Well directed and holds one's interest.