''Personal Affair'' is a 1953 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 ...

directed by Anthony Pelissier and starring Gene Tierney, Leo Genn and Glynis Johns.''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' review; 1953, page 160. It was made at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to ...

by Two Cities Films.

Plot summary

Teenager Barbara Vining ( Glynis Johns) has an unrequited crush on her Latin-language teacher, Stephen Barlow ( Leo Genn). When Barlow's wife Kay ( Gene Tierney) finds out, she confronts Barbara, who is humiliated and runs off to London. Stephen chases after her near a river to try to calm her down. Barbara does not return home to her parents Henry ( Walter Fitzgerald) and Vi ( Megs Jenkins) for three days. During that time Stephen is accused by the community, without any evidence, of causing her death, causing him to lose his job and almost his marriage. Barbara's gossipy spinster Aunt Evelyn ( Pamela Brown), who lives with the family, makes the situation considerably worse with her

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, by projecting her own, much earlier unrequited love experience, onto her niece.

Cast

* Gene Tierney as Kay Barlow * Leo Genn as Stephen Barlow * Glynis Johns as Barbara Vining * Walter Fitzgerald as Henry Vining * Pamela Brown as Aunt Evelyn * Megs Jenkins as Vi Vining *

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

as Headmaster Griffith * Thora Hird as Mrs. Usher * Norah Gorsen as Phoebe * Nanette Newman as Sally *

Martin Boddey Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor. He was a founder member of the Lord's Taverners charity. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority fig ...

as Police Inspector

Critical reaction

The film was reviewed by Bosley Crowther of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in the 23 October 1954 edition. Crowther called the film "a decent, eventually tedious film".

References

External links

* * 1953 films British black-and-white films 1953 crime drama films British crime drama films Films about educators Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films set in England Films directed by Anthony Pelissier Films scored by William Alwyn 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-film-stub