Sign In / Sign Up

The Browning Version

The Browning Version
Release date: 1951-04-06
Rating: 7.6
Votes: 94
Genres: Drama
Andrew Crocker-Harris has been forced from his position as the classics master at an English public school due to poor health. As he winds up his final term, he discovers not only that his wife, Millie, has been unfaithful to him with one of his fellow schoolmasters, but that the school's students and faculty have long disdained him. However, an unexpected act of kindness causes Crocker-Harris to re-evaluate his life's work.

Reviews

talisencrw

talisencrw

In despicable literary characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge, and here, Michael Redgrave's Andrew Crocker-Harris, it is necessary--perhaps even more so now than ever before--to see the triumph of the human spirit and the soul-cleansing power of redemption and forgiveness (both in others and of ourselves). This is the quintessential document of such a human transformation.

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

There's a little bit of the "Mr Chips" story in this adaptation of Terence Rattigan's story of life in a once proud English public school. "Crocker-Harris" (Michael Redgrave) has rather stoically and unsympathetically been trying to drum Greek into his classes of largely disinterested buys for many years, but is now to move on after becoming ill. What's fairly clear from the outset is that his wife "Millie" (an on-form Jean Kent) has little but disdain for her rather pedestrian husband, and that she has been a little too friendly with his slightly smarmy colleague "Hunter" (Nigel Patrick). As the day of his departure looms ever closer, the teacher finds himself beginning to bond with the bright and refreshingly honest young "Taplow" (Brian Smith) who seems not only interested in his Aristotle, but also in this now rather dejected purveyor of education. It's also fairly obvious that none of his professional colleagues are particularly sympathetic to him either - a fact ably demonstrated by the lack of sympathy to their impending financial predicament offered by headmaster "Frobisher" (Wilfred Hyde-White). Redgrave gives a strong and nuanced performance here. His character has been aimlessly cruising for so long, he has forgotten how to live or what he, himself, wanted when he was the age of the young man who is now provoking a long-abandoned sense of worth in the man. His realisation of his domestic predicament, and of the rather shrewishness of his wife, is also effectively banging his head against a wall and wakening him up to a state of affairs of which he was probably aware, but maybe just didn't really care. I can't say I loved the conclusion - perhaps all just a little too much of a volte face from just about everyone, but it's an interesting character study with the odd bit of humour and a strong story.

Movie Recommendation

  • The Dawns Here Are Quiet
    The Dawns Here Are Quiet
    1972-06-06
    In a remote village in Karelia, Sergeant Vaskov commands an anti-aircraft unit that protects a rail depot. While his men are transferred to the front line, he is reprimanded for their unruly behavior. He retorts that he wants replacements that aren't drunks or womanizers. In response, he is assigned a unit made up entirely of young women, fresh from training.
    More...
  • Morning Departure
    Morning Departure
    1950-02-21
    The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?
    More...
  • The Quick and the Dead
    The Quick and the Dead
    1987-02-28
    In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.
    More...
  • City Beneath the Sea
    City Beneath the Sea
    1953-04-21
    Two adventures dive for treasure off the coast of Jamaica.
    More...
  • Dune
    Dune
    2020-06-15
    Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.
    More...
  • Change
    Change
    2020-09-10
    I was somewhere between the beggining and the end of life. After winter became spring, and summer became fall, and fall winter again. I always knew change would be constant.
    More...
  • Zamora
    Zamora
    2024-04-04
    Soccer is an alien world for Walter Vismara, an unfamiliar terrain he's always avoided. But when his job hangs in the balance, he's thrust into the role of goalkeeper by his soccer-obsessed boss. Forced into a relentless routine of practice sessions and taunts, Walter finds himself trapped in a nightmare. His troubles escalate when he discovers his beloved in the arms of his archenemy, adding a personal dimension to his challenges. Determined to prove his worth, Walter devises a plan: to play the fool outwardly while secretly honing his skills. As he navigates this comedic yet challenging journey on the soccer field, will Walter emerge victorious and finally earn the respect he deserves?
    More...
  • Robot Apocalypse
    Robot Apocalypse
    2021-07-26
    An expert hacker is targeted by a sentient AI after she realizes the threat it poses, and she must try to stay off its radar long enough to stop it.
    More...
  • Now Judge...
    Now Judge...
    1966-12-31
    The fate of Illarion Groza was tragic. Many years ago, upon returning from the front, he learned that his wife had given birth to a daughter by an Italian officer, and he shot her with his machine gun. But even now, Illarion cannot forget his wife, forgive her betrayal, or justify his cruelty. And that is why his relationship with his daughter Yulka is so dramatic and tense... The artist Bogutovsky, who lives in the captivity of false pompous art, carries the burden of past years... After hearing Illarion's story, the writer Iskra destroys the manuscript of his play: life turns out to be much more complicated than he imagined.
    More...
  • National Family
    National Family
    2023-12-28
    Don Poli, the patriarch of a family embedded in politics, faces the change of party in his state - after a hundred years in power - losing all his privileges. Humiliated and angry, he threatens to disinherit his family and leave to rebuild his life. This forces his children (Kippy, Ramses and Belén) to take extreme measures to ensure their future, causing everything that could go wrong to turn out worse.
    More...
  • An Ideal Father
    An Ideal Father
    2024-04-21
    Michel, the jovial owner of the only café in a small Normandy town, sees his life turned upside down when his teenage daughter is murdered. The community has his back but soon rumor spreads and Michel is singled out. From the ideal father, he becomes the ideal culprit.
    More...
  • The Only Girl in the Orchestra
    The Only Girl in the Orchestra
    2023-11-09
    Trailblazing double bassist Orin O'Brien never wanted the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philarmonic, it was inevitable that she would become the focus of much interest and fascination. Now 87 years old and recently retired, Orin looks back on her remarkable life and career, insisting that a fuss should not be made, much preferring to play a supporting role to the family, students, friends, and colleagues that surround her.
    More...
  • Fight!! Spirit of the Sword
    Fight!! Spirit of the Sword
    1993-06-17
    Yonosuke Hikura appears to be an ordinary high school student. Yet he has inherited the important role of protecting the harmony between Heaven and Earth. With the help of the magical sword Chitentai, and Tsukinojo Inbe, he courageously battles the demons, sending them back to the Earth World, from which they have escaped.
    More...
  • WAR
    WAR
    2023-11-03
    A war veteran tells his personal experience in “The War” to a psychiatrist, as a part of a social experiment. But nothing is as it seems…
    More...
  • The Successor
    The Successor
    2023-11-07
    Happy and accomplished, Ellias becomes the new artistic director of a famous French Haute Couture house. When he learns that his father, whom he has not seen for many years, has just died of a heart attack, Ellias goes to Quebec to settle the estate. The young creator will discover that he has inherited much worse than his father's fragile heart.
    More...
  • No Love Lost
    No Love Lost
    2023-12-20
    Étienne is barely twenty when he falls in love with Valérie. They are hardly any more when their daughter Rosa is born. And then, one day, Valérie leaves and never returns. He chooses not to make a drama of it and builds a happy life for him and his child. Sixteen years later, when Rosa is about to lead her own life, Étienne recognizes his wife in a television report. The past brutally resurfaces, and father and daughter are propelled into one last chaotic family journey.
    More...
  • Forest
    Forest
    2014-02-09
    Short film built from photographs, sped up like a traditional stop motion and is meant to be an evocation of the English Eerie and Folk Horror.
    More...
  • Court: State vs. A Nobody
    Court: State vs. A Nobody
    2025-03-14
    A determined lawyer takes on a high-stakes case to defend a 19-year-old boy, challenging a system that has already branded him guilty.
    More...
  • Eye for an Eye 2
    Eye for an Eye 2
    2024-07-21
    The blind swordsman, skilled in martial arts, named Cheng Xiazi (Xie Miao), accidentally saves Zhang Xiaoyu (Yang Enyou), who has suffered from the destruction of his family. Under the persuasion of the orphan Xiaoyu, Cheng reluctantly keeps him by his side and teaches him skills. Xiaoyu also waits for the opportunity to seek revenge.
    More...
  • 24 Hours with Gaspar
    24 Hours with Gaspar
    2023-10-06
    With only 24 hours left to live, a private investigator follows a trail of confounding clues to uncover the disappearance of his childhood friend.
    More...

Similar Movies