- Counsel's Opinion
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Counsel's Opinion Directed by Allan Dwan Produced by Alexander Korda Written by Arthur Wimperis
Gilbert Wakefield (play)Starring Henry Kendall
Binnie BarnesCinematography Bernard Browne
Philip TannuraEditing by Harold Young Studio London Films Release date(s) March 1933 Running time 75 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English Counsel's Opinion is a 1933 British romantic comedy film starring Henry Kendall and Binnie Barnes. It was one of three films directed in Britain in the early 1930s by Canadian-American Allan Dwan and was an early production from Alexander Korda's London Films. Counsel's Opinion was based on a Gilbert Wakefield play and was remade, again by London Films, in 1938 as The Divorce of Lady X starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon.
Contents
Plot
Divorce barrister Logan (Kendall) arrives back in London from a trip overseas to find the whole city fogbound. Unable to reach his flat, he books in to the exclusive Royal Parks Hotel, where a costume ball is taking place. Many of the partygoers are also stranded by the fog and while some are happy to bed down for the night in the hotel lounge, Leslie (Barnes) sweet-talks Logan into letting her stay in his suite. Although the pair are attracted to each other, the night passes innocently with Leslie in the bedroom and Logan in the sitting-room. As he leaves the suite for work the next morning, Logan barrels into a lady's maid in the corridor outside the room.
On arriving at Chambers, Logan is asked to act as counsel for Lord Rockburn, who is seeking a divorce from his wife. Logan accepts the brief, but then discovers to his horror that Lady Rockburn was a guest at the Royal Parks Hotel ball the previous night, and a cornerstone of the case is alleged impropriety after a maid observed a man leaving her room that morning. Convinced that Lady Rockburn can only be Leslie, Logan tries to back out from the case, until Lord Rockburn produces his chief witness the maid, who shows no sign of recognising Logan after their brief encounter in the hotel corridor.
When Leslie calls to return a dressing gown Logan lent her, he invites her to dine with him that evening, still believing her to be Lady Rockburn and intending to inform her of the situation. At the restaurant he lays his cards on the table and Leslie reassures him that she reciprocates his feelings. The romantic evening comes to an abrupt end when Lord Rockburn shows up at the same restaurant accompanied by another woman, and Logan and Leslie are forced to make an unobtrusive early exit to avoid a potentially scandalous public scene. They go back to Logan's flat, where he assures Leslie that he has fallen in love with her and will if necessary sacrifice his legal career for her. Meanwhile Lord Rockburn is informed that a private detective he has on the case has uncovered the identity of his wife's lover. He decides to visit Logan immediately to tell him the good news, and is baffled by Logan's horrified reaction when he opens the door. Logan admits him to the flat where Leslie is sitting, throwing himself on Lord Rockburn's mercy by confessing that he loves her and is prepared to face the consequences. To his astonishment, the bewildered Lord Rockburn informs him that he has never seen Leslie before in his life. Leslie then confesses that she has gone along with Logan's incorrect assumption as a means of seeing how much he would be prepared to give up for her. She tells him that she is in fact a widow, and that he has passed the test with flying colours.
Cast
- Henry Kendall as Logan
- Binnie Barnes as Leslie
- Lawrence Grossmith as Lord Rockburn
- Cyril Maude as Willock
- Francis Lister as James Gowan
- Harry Tate as Taxi Driver
- C. Denier Warren as Hotel Manager
- Mary Charles as Stella Marston
- Margaret Baird as Saunders
- J. Fisher White as Judge
- Stanley Lathbury as George
Reception and later history
Surviving evidence suggests that Counsel's Opinion had a generous budget and relatively high production values for a British film of the early 1930s, with careful attention being paid to elegant and expensive-looking costuming and set design, and special permission being obtained for location filming in London's Middle Temple.[1] Extant reviews indicate a generally favourable critical reception. Kine Weekly praised "clever dialogue, fine team work by an experienced cast, and good production qualities", while The Cinema appreciated "fluent direction...first-class team work...effective backgrounds...beautiful photography, flawless recording" and suggested the film's appeal to the more sophisticated end of the market as "attractive general entertainment, especially for better-class halls".
After its original cinema run, there is no indication of the film ever having been seen again. The British Film Institute does not hold a print in its National Archive and classes the film as "missing, believed lost". As what would appear to have been a well-received prestige production of its day, with the involvement of names such as Korda and Dwan, Counsel's Opinion is included on the BFI's "75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films.[2]
References
- ^ Counsel's Opinion Original Press Book. Retrieved 14-09-2010
- ^ 75 Most Wanted - Counsel's Opinion BFI National Archive. Retrieved 14-09-2010
External links
- Counsel's Opinion at the Internet Movie Database
- Counsel's Opinion at AllRovi
- Counsel's Opinion at BFI Film & TV Database
Films directed by Allan Dwan 1910s The Restless Spirit (1913) · Back to Life (1913) · Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913) · Bloodhounds of the North (1913) · The Lie (1914) · The Honor of the Mounted (1914) · Remember Mary Magdalen (1914) · Discord and Harmony (1914) · The Menace to Carlotta (1914) · The Embezzler (1914) · The End of the Feud (1914) · The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914) · The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914) · Richelieu (1914) · Wildflower (1914) · A Small Town Girl (1915) · The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915) · A Girl of Yesterday (1915) · The Good Bad Man (1916) · An Innocent Magdalene (1916) · Accusing Evidence (1916) · Headin' South (1918) · Mr. Fix-It (1918) · Bound in Morocco (1918)1920s Robin Hood (1922) · Zaza (1923) · Manhandled (1924) · The Coast of Folly (1925) · Stage Struck (1925) · The Joy Girl (1927) · The Iron Mask (1929) · Tide of Empire (1929)1930s Wicked (1931) · Her First Affaire (1932) · Counsel's Opinion (1933) · 15 Maiden Lane (1936) · Heidi (1937) · Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) · Suez (1938) · The Three Musketeers (1939) · The Gorilla (1939) · Frontier Marshal (1939)1940s Sailor's Lady (1940) · Young People (1940) · Look Who's Laughing (1941) · Friendly Enemies (1942) · Here We Go Again (1942) · Up in Mabel's Room (1944) · Brewster's Millions (1945) · Calendar Girl (1947) · Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)1950s I Dream of Jeanie (1952) · Montana Belle (1952) · Silver Lode (1954) · Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) · Tennessee's Partner (1955) · Slightly Scarlet (1956) · Hold Back the Night (1956) · The River's Edge (1957) · The Restless Breed (1957) · Enchanted Island (1958)The films of Alexander Korda 1910s Orhaz a Karpatokban (with Gyula Zilahi) · A Becsapott újságíró (with Gyula Zilahi) · Tutyu és Totyó · Lyon Lea (with M. Miklós Pásztory) · A Tiszti kardbojt · Mesék az írógépröl · Mágnás Miska · Fehér éjszakák · Ciklámen · Az egymillió fontos bankó · A Nevetö Szaszkia · A Nagymama · A Kétszívü férfi · A Dolovai nábob leánya · St. Peter's Umbrella · Harrison és Barrison · Faun · A Gólyakalifa · Mágia · Mary Ann · Yamata · Neither at Home or Abroad · White Rose · Ave Caesar!1920s A 111-es · The Prince and the Pauper · Herren der Meere · Die Tragödie eines verschollenen Fürstensohnes · Samson and Delilah · Das unbekannte Morgen · Jedermanns Frau · Tragödie im Hause Habsburg · Dance Fever · Madame Doesn't Want Children · A Modern Dubarry · The Stolen Bride · The Private Life of Helen of Troy · Yellow Lily · Night Watch · Love and the Devil · The Squall · Her Private Life1930s Lilies of the Field · Women Everywhere · Princess and the Plumber · The Golden Anchor · Rive gauche · Marius · Die Männer um Lucie · Längtan till havet (with John W. Brunius) · La dame de chez Maxim's · Service for Ladies · Wedding Rehearsal · The Private Life of Henry VIII · The Girl from Maxim's · The Private Life of Don Juan · Rembrandt1940s Productions That Night in London (1932) · Men of Tomorrow (1932) · Strange Evidence (1933) · Counsel's Opinion (1933) · Cash (1933) (with Randall Faye) · Catherine the Great (1934) · The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) · Things Are Looking Up (1935) (with Michael Balcon) · Sanders of the River (1935) · The Ghost Goes West (1935) · Things to Come (1936) · Men Are Not Gods (1936) · The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) · Conquest of the Air (1936) · I, Claudius (1937) (unfinished) · Elephant Boy (1937) · Knight Without Armour (1937) · The Squeaker (1937) · Action for Slander (1937) · South Riding (1938) (with Victor Saville) · Prison Without Bars (1938) (with Arnold Pressburger) · The Four Feathers (1939) · Over the Moon (1939) · The Lion Has Wings (1939) · 21 Days (1940) · The Thief of Bagdad (1940) · Lydia (1941) · Jungle Book (1942) · Anna Karenina (1948)Categories:- British films
- English-language films
- 1933 films
- 1930s romantic comedy films
- Films directed by Allan Dwan
- London Films films
- Lost films
- Black-and-white films
- Films based on plays
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