One of my favorite movies, "The Winslow Boy" is a perfect showcase for the talents of that great doomed actor, Robert Donat. The actor's lovely melancholy and the character's passion shine through the glacial composure of the upper class barrister, and Donat is beautifully matched by Margaret Leighton. Recognizing in each other their own integrity and passion for the point of social justice involved in the case, Donat and Leighton ever so delicately find their way to an unspoken understanding. It is the British banked-fires school at its best, spoiled in the 1999 version by Rebecca Pidgeon's snotty performance.
Here, though, as good as Leighton and Cedric Hardwicke are, the star is clearly Robert Donat, bringing his own exhausted pallor and haunting voice to a number of impassioned speeches and deliciously witty one-liners.
Here, though, as good as Leighton and Cedric Hardwicke are, the star is clearly Robert Donat, bringing his own exhausted pallor and haunting voice to a number of impassioned speeches and deliciously witty one-liners.