The Browning Version

I saw this film in NFT2 at the BFI in London. It is an adaptation by director Anthony Asquith of Terence Rattigan's play of the same name. The film was made in 1951 and stars Michael Redgrave as an unloved and unsympathetic schoolmaster who is retiring on grounds of I'll health. Overall there is a deep sense of disappointment within him, both relating to his professional life and his marriage to a fairly unforgiving wife played by Jean Kent. Some of the phraseology seems quite dated - plenty of spiffing and topper, but it is still a well crafted and meaningful film for modern times.