Picturegoer – Nov 7th 1959

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BOGARDE TO THE RESCUE AGAIN

Libel * *

Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie

AFTER Anatomy Of A Murder, almost any courtroom film would be an anti-climax. And this isn’t even a particularly good one. But through the sheer intensity of Dirk Bogarde’s performance, you are made to believe a tale that is frankly unbelievable.

The question at issue is whether Bogarde is a war veteran baronet living in gracious luxury with a doting wife (Olivia de Havilland), or an impostor a snaky, small-time actor (also played by Bogarde) who resembled him closely.

Another inmate (Paul Massie) of the p.o.w. hut they shared has strong doubts and decides to expose him as publicly as possible. It’s a feat that is doubly easy because of Bogarde’s intermittent loss of memory.

At the urging of his wife, Bogarde brings an action for libel. And by the time the opposing counsel (Robert Morley and Wilfrid Hyde White) have crossed swords in court, the doubt as to Bogarde’s identity is even more general.

Together, Bogarde and Olivia de Havilland compel your interest. And Paul Massie acts with a new-found authority. But the whole film has a glossy artificiality, Which makes the dialogue seem stagy and the incidental characters improbable.