''The High Command'' is a 1937 British drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Lionel Atwill, Lucie Mannheim and

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

. It was shot at Ealing Studios and on location on the Gold Coast. 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 ...

Holmes Paul Holmes may refer to: Name * Holmes (surname) * Holmes (given name) * Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland * Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer Places In the U ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1936 novel ''The General Goes Too Far'' by Lewis Robinson.

Plot

This is the tale of an English officer who murders a man in Ireland for chivalrous reasons. Years later, he has risen to the rank of Major-General, and is stationed in West Africa. There, his old crime is discovered, and he allows himself to be murdered rather than involve his daughter in his own disgrace.Greene, Graham.
The Graham Greene Film Reader: Reviews, Essays, Interviews & Film Stories
', p. 208 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994).

Cast

* Lionel Atwill as Maj. Gen. Sir John Sangye, VC * Lucie Mannheim as Diana Cloam *

Steven Geray Steven Geray (born István Gyergyai, 10 November 190426 December 1973) was a Hungarian-born American film actor who appeared in over 100 films and dozens of television programs. Geray appeared in numerous famed A-pictures, including Alfred H ...

as Martin Cloam *

as Capt. Heverell * Leslie Perrins as Maj. Carson * Allan Jeayes as H.E., the Governor *Michael Lambart as Lorne * Kathleen Gibson as Belinda * Tom Gill as Daunt * Wally Patch as Crawford *Archibald Batty as Capt. Coates (the prosecutor) * Henry Hewitt as Defence counsel * Drusilla Wills as Miss Isabella Hobson Tuff *Cyril Howe as Julius Caesar (servant) * Evan Thomas as Chief Justice *Aubrey Pollock as Judge Advocate *Deering Wells as Escort * Philip Strange as Maj. Challoner * Frank Atkinson as Corporal * Skelton Knaggs as Fazerack

Reception

'' The Sunday Times'' wrote of this film: "Its avoidance of reality and its slowness make it a first-class soporific in this sultry weather." Despite the film's faults, the novelist and author Graham Greene opined that the directing work by Thorold Dickinson made the film much better than it otherwise would have been. Greene also pointed out that Fanfare was a newly emerging British film company that was constrained by its budget, and that it still managed to use "lyric imagination" to produce memorable scenes well designed to portray the degree of "human crisis" especially at the climax when the General's secret is revealed. Greene described the "glib" review from The Sunday Times as "rather shocking" in light of the production's efforts with their financial limitations. (reprinted in: )

References

External links

*
''The High Command'' (1937)
at BFI Film Forever British drama films 1937 drama films 1937 films British black-and-white films Ealing Studios films Films based on British novels Films directed by Thorold Dickinson Films set in the British Empire Films set in Africa Films set in Ireland Films set in 1921 Films shot in Ghana Films shot in Nigeria 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-film-stub