Carrington V.C. (film)
| Carrington V.C. | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Anthony Asquith |
| Written by | Campbell Christie (play) Dorothy Christie (play) John Hunter |
| Produced by | Teddy Baird |
| Starring | David Niven Margaret Leighton Noelle Middleton |
| Distributed by | Kingsley-International Pictures Inc. |
Release date | 1955 |
Running time | 105 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
Carrington VC is a 1955 film legal drama released by Kingsley-International Pictures starring David Niven and Margaret Leighton. Others in the cast include Noelle Middleton, Allan Cuthbertson, Victor Maddern, Raymond Francis, Michael Bates, Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Keen and Maurice Denham.
It was adapted for the screen by John Hunter from the play by Campbell and Dorothy Christie. It was produced by Teddy Baird and directed by Anthony Asquith.
Plot
Major Charles 'Copper' Carrington (David Niven), who has had a distinguished war record and was awarded the Victoria Cross, is arrested for embezzling 125 pounds (about £5000 today) from his unit's safe. Other charges include leaving the base, when he was supposed to be putting his men through some exercises, and entertaining a woman officer in his room, which was forbidden by the base commander Colonel Henniker (Allan Cuthbertson).
Appearing in his own defence, Carrington's case at his court-martial is that he took the money openly and without secrecy because of all the back pay owed him. The Army Paymaster had failed to pay him back for various financial losses during postings in the Far East and his wife Valerie (Margaret Leighton) was pressuring him for money. She lives in another part of the country, has become ill as a result of the financial worries and has even threatened suicide.
Carrington claims that he told his superior, Colonel Henniker, about his decision to remove the money. He transferred £100 of it to his wife's account in order to give her relief from her financial problems. He then left the base in order to compete in a major horse race in which he betted the rest of the money on himself. He would thus be able to pay back the cash taken from the safe. He succeeded but then fell from his horse in another race. When his friend Captain Alison Graham (Noelle Middleton) tried to return the money she was denied access to the safe.
As for the incident in his room, it is established that Carrington was bed-ridden at the time as a result of his fall and that Graham was visiting him in order to discuss the matter of the embezzlement. She was fully-dressed and sitting on a chair when they were interrupted by Colonel Henniker who stormed into the room reminding them that it was against regulations for a male and female officer to be together in private quarters. He and Carrington argued and there was a bit of a fight. Henniker admits waiting for some time between seeing Graham go to Carrington's room and then going there himself.
Colonel Henniker is in fact Carrington's enemy. He resents his war record and achievements and his popularity at the base. There is an element of sympathy for Carrington's actions and it is pointed out that the Major could be cleared if it is established that Henniker had forewarned knowledge of his intentions. He thus perjures himself at the court-martial by denying being told by Carrington of his decision to take the money from the safe in order to temporarily settle his debts. Much of these debts were due to Henniker's constant delays in pursuing the matter of the Paymaster's failure to pay Carrington the money owed to him.
Carrington's wife Valerie has turned up for the hearing. Due to her health he did not intend to call her as a witness, but decides that he will have to when the case goes against him following Henniker's "evidence". She resents the idea of washing their dirty linen in public but finally agrees.
Things go wrong however when certain conversations make Valerie suspicious about Carrington's friendly relationship with Captain Graham. Under pressure, Graham admits to Valerie that she had a one-night stand with Carrington when they became stranded in a pub in the middle of a snow storm. But Carrington then insisted that a full affair would not be fair on anyone and ended it. He and Graham are now just friends.
Valerie appears to give evidence but also perjures herself, denying that her husband ever told her of his motives for what he did. Carrington produces a letter he wrote to her specifying his grievances against the Army's delay in paying what he was owed. Carrington intends to only read the parts that he feels are relevant to his defence, since the letter also contains some embarrassing matters about the couple and Valerie's health. But when the judge insists that he and the other officials must read it before it is submitted into evidence, Carrington tears it up.
The officers who are to determine his fate are themselves a little unsettled by the way things are going. Some of them have seen through the lies told in court and sympathise with Carrington's position, motives and actions. The law, however, says otherwise and Carrington is found guilty on all counts and dismissed the service. The sentence of the court martial is subject to confirmation, though that is just a legal formality.
The verdict is soon all over the base. All the regular soldiers are near-unanimous that it is an unfair decision. One of them, Owen (Victor Maddern), was a Sergeant who was demoted when loyalty to Carrington resulted in him failing to co-operate with the investigation. He was likely to be demoted again to a mere Private due to his behaviour subsequent to the court case, but feels that this time he has had his money's worth.
Having made his grievances public, Carrington has decided to let the matter drop and not appeal the verdict. His marriage is also over, but, with an attitude that is typical of him, he puts it down to the fact that Valerie is still really in love with her late husband who was killed during the war and was the father of her two sons.
However, in the course of gossiping about the case, another private, a telephonist working at the telephone exchange admits overhearing Carrington's phone conversation with his wife and what was really said. The telephonist's testimony (if heard at the court-martial) would have provided evidence that Carrington's wife was lying under oath. The telephonist's colleague takes her to inform Captain Graham of what was overheard. This suggests the strong possibility that when the telephonist's evidence is heard at the appeal, the verdict of the court martial will be quashed and Carrington acquitted.
Without Carrington knowing about this, as he exits the building where the court-martial was held, the other soldiers rally around and display their support for him. Moved, he decides to go along with the appeal.
Awards and Nominations
Carrington, V.C. was nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best British Film and Best Film from any Source. David Niven was nominated for Best British Actor, and Margaret Leighton and Noelle Middleton were both nominated for Best British Actress.
