''Defence of the Realm'' is a 1986 British political thriller film directed by David Drury, starring

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

Greta Scacchi Greta Scacchi, OMRI (; born 18 February 1960) is an Italian-Australian actress. She holds dual Italian and Australian citizenship. She is best known for her roles in the films '' White Mischief'' (1987), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' The Pla ...

, and

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...

, with

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He ...

in a supporting role. The film takes its title from the

Defence of the Realm Act 1914 The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after it entered the First World War and was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war, such as the p ...

, passed in the United Kingdom at the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war. It was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

and on location in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Duxford Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area. History The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Roger Murray-Leach Roger Murray-Leach (born 25 June 1943) is a British Production Designer possibly best known for his work on British television series' '' Doctor Who'' and Blake's 7 in the 1970s, although he then went on to work on major feature films. Initiall ...

. The film was distributed in the United Kingdom by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

, one of the last films to be released by the company. The plot mirrors the real-life British spy scandal known as the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government, had an extramar ...

Plot

On a foggy night a car containing two men is pursued by police. The radio is discussing the country being on high alert due to a terrorist attack in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Going down a dead end one (Steven) escapes over a high barbed wire fence but the other one is caught. Dennis Markham (

Ian Bannen Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in '' The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965), the first ...

), a prominent

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

is reported by a London paper to have been seen leaving a woman's home on the same evening as she is visited by a

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, Markham's loyalty to his country is questioned. The media men debate whether or not to print the story. Bayliss, Mullen and MacLeod all work together for the Daily Dispatch. Bayliss is sent for a private meeting with Markham and explains the link to the German agent (which Markham is unaware of). Meanwhile Mullen goes to interview Nina, Markham's pretty secretary, and then speaks to Markham's wife (initially pretending to be a policeman). The story breaks as the "Markham Affair" on television and throughout the newspapers. Markham is hounded by the media and forced to resign. The author of the newspaper exposé, Nick Mullen (

), continues his work alongside colleague Vernon Bayliss (

) who suspects that Markham was framed. When Bayliss dies from a supposed heart attack the same night as Bayliss' flat is ransacked by someone who was not after money or valuables, Mullen suspects something deeper at work. He breaks into Bayliss's desk and finds press-cuttings and a tape which insinuate a different motive behind the attack on Markham. Mullen visits the young man in prison (caught by police at the start of the film) telling him that his accomplice is dead. This leads him to go to the site where the film began a high security but seemingly unmanned military base run by the USAF near the village of Brandon. Mullen realises that the USAF presence in the UK involves a nuclear weapon capability and Markham seems linked to aims to rid the UK of such. This may have been the motive to start a mudslinging campaign. With the help of Markham's secretary, Nina Beckman (

), Mullen continues to investigate the affair despite a break-in at his flat, surveillance and other attempts to stop him. When he goes to publish the story his editor calls him in to say it is a great story but they cannot publish due to the

Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...

. Moreover, the newspaper owner Kingsbrook (a character akin to

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

) as personally intervened to make sure it isn't published. But how did he know it existed? Mullen discovers the "KGB agent" was actually a British agent so asks the editor where they got the source that said he was KGB. He gives up the name Anthony Clegg. But when he confronts Clegg in a gentleman's club he is grabbed by two henchmen and driven to an office for questioning by senior ministers. Without explanation he is then left alone in an industrial building. He returns to his ransacked flat. Nina arrives at the door but as she steps in a bomb goes off. However, she had posted the incriminating evidence to Germany and the story of the near-nuclear-disaster spreads across the globe through the European press.

Cast

as Nicholas "Nick" Mullen *

as Nina Beckman *

as Vernon Bayliss *

as Dennis Markham *

Fulton Mackay William Fulton Beith Mackay (12 August 1922 – 6 June 1987) was a Scottish actor and playwright, best known for his role as prison officer Mr. Mackay in the 1970s television sitcom ''Porridge''. Early life Mackay was born in Paisley, Renfr ...

as Victor Kingsbrook * Bill Paterson as Jack Macleod * David Calder as Harry Champion * Frederick Treves as Arnold Reece *

as Leo McAskey *

Annabel Leventon Annabel Leventon (born 20 April 1942 in Hertfordshire, England) is an English actress who has acted in various roles on stage and television. While reading English at the University of Oxford she made several appearances at the Oxford Playhouse ...

as Trudy Markham * Graham Fletcher-Cook as Micky Parker * Danny Webb as Danny Royce (photographer) *

Prentis Hancock Prentis Hancock (born 14 May 1942) is a British actor, best known for his television roles. He was a regular cast member of the first season of science fiction series '' Space: 1999'' as Paul Morrow, and also appeared in a number of '' Docto ...

as Frank Longman * Mark Tandy as Philip Henderson *

Oliver Ford Davies Oliver Robert Ford Davies (born 12 August 1939) is an English actor and writer, best known for his extensive theatre work, and to a broader audience for his role as Sio Bibble in ''Star Wars'' Episodes I to III. He is also known for his role ...

as Anthony Clegg * George Ellis Jones as D.C.S. Catterick *

Lyndon Brook Lyndon Brook (10 April 1926 – 9 January 2004) was a British actor, on film and television. Family and early life Lyndon Brook was born on 10 April 1926 in Los Angeles, California, to British parents. He came from an established acting fami ...

as Pugh *

Philip Whitchurch Philip Whitchurch (born 30 January 1951) is an English stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for playing Captain William Frederickson in three episodes of the Sharpe series between 1994-1997 and the role of Chief Inspector Philip ...

as Cuttings Librarian *

Laurance Rudic Laurance Rudic (born 10 September 1952) is a British theatre artist best known for his long association as a leading member of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre company - 1972-1996. For 34 years, (1969–2004) 'The Citz' as it came to be known, was ...

as Charlie *

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim-w ...

as Clegg's assistant in the Ministry

Reception

Halliwell's Film Guide Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Film ...

'' described it as an "efficient political melodrama, basically too old-fashioned to start a cult". Denholm Elliott's performance has been singled out for particular praise.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

wrote, "The acting is strong throughout, but Elliott is especially effective. What is it about this actor, who has been in so many different kinds of movies and seems to make each role special? Here he is needed to suggest integrity and scruples, and does it almost simply by the way he looks... ''Defence of the Realm'' ends on a bleak and cynical note – unless you count the somewhat contrived epilogue – and gets there with intelligence and a sharp, bitter edge." ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' gives the film four stars out of five, claiming, "The role of the sozzled veteran reporter who for once finds himself involved in a meaningful story is brought wonderfully to life by Denholm Elliott... Gabriel Byrne, as Elliott's ambitious young colleague, is less effective, but the film has plenty of tension and co-star Greta Scacchi proves a worthy accomplice."

Awards

* Denholm Elliott won a BAFTA for best supporting actor.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defence Realm 1980s political thriller films 1986 films British political thriller films Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot at Shepperton Studios Films scored by Richard Harvey Films directed by David Drury 1980s English-language films 1980s British films