''Libel'' is a 1959 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

starring

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organ ...

Paul Massie Paul Massie (born Arthur Dickinson Massé; July 7, 1932June 8, 2011) was a Canadian actor and academic. He later became a theater professor at the University of South Florida in the 1970s. He remained on faculty until his retirement as professor ...

Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ea ...

and

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

. The film's screenplay was written by

Anatole de Grunwald Anatole "Tolly" de Grunwald (25 December 1910 – 13 January 1967) was a Russian British film producer and screenwriter. Biography De Grunwald was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the son of a diplomat (Constantin de Grunwald) in the se ...

and

Karl Tunberg Karl Tunberg (March 11, 1907 − April 3, 1992) was an American screenwriter and occasional film producer. His screenplays for ''Tall, Dark and Handsome'' (1941) and '' Ben-Hur'' (1959) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original ...

from a 1935

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

by Edward Wooll. The film's location shots included

Longleat Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...

House, Wiltshire (fictionalised as "Ingworth House") and London.

Plot

While travelling in London, Jeffrey Buckenham (Paul Massie), a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran pilot from Canada, sees baronet Sir Mark Sebastian Loddon (Dirk Bogarde) on television, leading a tour of his ancestral home in England. Buckenham recalls that he was held in a

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

camp in Germany with then Major Loddon, who the Germans captured during the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

of 1940. Buckenham is convinced that Loddon is Frank Wellney, a British actor (also played by Bogarde). Wellney and Loddon shared their POW hut in 1945 and bore uncanny resemblances to each other. Buckenham confronts Loddon and, with encouragement from Loddon's scheming cousin (Captain Gerald Loddon, played by Anthony Dawson), writes to a tabloid newspaper, claiming Wellney has usurped the young baronet's seat; that Mark Loddon is a "Bogus Baronet". Loddon sues Buckenham and the newspaper for libel, even though his mind is battered by experiences during his 1945 escape, after which he spent six months in hospital, from when he has little memory. During the libel trial, Buckenham and Loddon tell their versions of wartime imprisonment and their escape. Buckenham liked Loddon and despised Wellney. Buckenham saw striking similarities between Loddon and Wellney, culminating in Wellney telling Loddon he felt "more like one of the oddonfamily". In spring 1945, the three prisoners escaped their POW camp and headed towards the Dutch border, seeking advancing Allied forces. Loddon wore his British Army uniform and Wellney disguised himself in civilian clothes. One dark and misty night, having gone without food for days, Buckenham left Loddon and Wellney alone to steal food from a farm. As Buckenham returned he heard shots. In the mist he witnessed one man in British Army

Battle Dress A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress ...

lying on the ground, apparently dead, and the other, in civilian clothes, running away. Although Buckenham was unable to get closer because German soldiers appeared the implication is Wellney fleeing the scene of Loddon's murder. During the trial it emerges that Loddon is missing part of his right index finger, just like Wellney. Although Loddon claims this happened when he was shot that night, Loddon allegedly also misses a childhood scar from his leg. Wellney's hair was prematurely grey, as is Loddon's now. Buckenham recounts how Wellney often asked Loddon about his personal life during their imprisonment; Loddon even joked that Wellney could pass for him. As evidence mounts, even Loddon's loyal wife (Olivia de Havilland) begins to doubt her husband's identity. Hubert Foxley (Hyde-White), the defence

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, produces a courtroom surprise. It turns out the third man in the British Army uniform seen by Buckenham did not die. Instead his face was horribly disfigured, his right arm was amputated due to injuries that night and his mind had become unhinged. He has been living in a German asylum since the war, known simply as "Number Fifteen", his bed number. Foxley produces the man in court, including the Battle Dress worn when he arrived at the German hospital, which is of a British major, the same rank as Loddon. When the disfigured man and Loddon recognise each other, in a dramatic courtroom confrontation, Loddon's memory starts to return. In desperation, Loddon's barrister, Sir Wilfred (Robert Morley), puts Lady Margaret Loddon on the stand, but she testifies that she now believes her husband is Wellney, the impostor, implying that "Number Fifteen" is the real Sir Mark Loddon. Later, Lady Margaret confronts her husband, who in desperation walks the night trying to remember more. Finally, seeing his reflection in a canal unlocks his memories. Wellney did try to kill him while his back was turned, but he (Loddon) saw Wellney's reflection in the water and won their struggle. His memory returns of beating Wellney extensively with a farm tool before switching their clothes and fleeing. In court, Loddon remembers a keepsake hidden in his Battle Dress lining: a medallion his then fiancée gave him in 1939 before leaving for France. By finding it in Wellney's possession all the time, Loddon wins the libel case and his wife back. Buckenham and Loddon also reconcile although Buckenham and the newspaper must pay damages.

Cast

as Sir Mark Loddon/Frank Wellney/Number Fifteen *

as Lady Margaret Loddon *

as Jeffrey Buckenham *

as Sir Wilfred *

Wilfrid Hyde White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ea ...

as Hubert Foxley * Anthony Dawson as Gerald Lodden *

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

as The Judge *

Martin Miller Martin Miller may refer to: *Martin Miller (actor) (1899–1969), Czech actor *Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1940), English cricketer *Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1972), English cricketer *Martin Miller (footballer) (born 1997), Estonian footbal ...

as Dr. Schrott *

Richard Dimbleby Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator. As host of the long-running current affairs ...

as Himself *

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

as Maisie * Robert Shaw and

Geoffrey Bayldon Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series ''C ...

appear in small credited roles as photographers. *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...

as Newspaper vendor (uncredited) *

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

as an extra in courtroom visitors' gallery (uncredited)

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $245,000 in the US and Canada and $925,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $10,000.

Awards and honours

The film was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Sound The Academy Award for Best Sound is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing, recording, sound design, and sound editing. The award used to go to the studio sound departments until a rule change in 1969 said it ...

( A. W. Watkins). The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in these lists: * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: ** Nominated Courtroom Drama Film

Other adaptations of the play

The Broadway play, which had starred

Colin Clive Colin Clive (born Colin Glenn Clive-Greig; 20 January 1900 – 25 June 1937) was a British stage and screen actor. His most memorable role was Henry Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, in the 1931 film ''Frankenstein'' and its 1935 sequel ...

, was adapted for radio in 1941 and 1943 using the original references to 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 ...

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

played the leading role in a one-hour 13 January 1941

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' broadcast, with

Otto Kruger Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's ''Saboteur''. He also appeared in CBS's ''Perry Mason'' a ...

and Frances Robinson. On 15 March 1943 Colman and Kruger reprised their roles for a second ''Lux Radio Theatre'' broadcast. The role of an amnesiac World War I veteran had similarities to Colman's part in the 1942 hit ''

Random Harvest ''Random Harvest'' is a novel written by James Hilton, first published in 1941. Like previous Hilton works, including '' Lost Horizon'' and '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', the novel was immensely popular, placing second on ''Publishers Weekly'' li ...

''. A 1938 BBC television production,"Libel" (TV) 1938 Internet Movie Database
/ref> featured actor

Wyndham Goldie Frank Wyndham Goldie (5 July 1897 – 26 September 1957) was an English actor. World War I During World War I, Goldie was a lieutenant in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His elder brother Maurice also held a commission in the same Corps during ...

, husband of eventual BBC television producer Grace Wyndham Goldie.

References

External links

* * * * {{Anthony Asquith 1959 films 1959 drama films British black-and-white films British drama films British courtroom films Films about amnesia British films based on plays Films directed by Anthony Asquith Films scored by Benjamin Frankel Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Anatole de Grunwald World War II prisoner of war films Films produced by Anatole de Grunwald Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films