Olivier proves that there is one thing he cannot do by playing a wimp in this contrived drama. Olivier is a spineless schoolteacher working at a difficult institution. He has been sent there because he is a pacifist, and his reward is assignment at the toughest facility his superiors can
find. Olivier likes to think of himself as a man of principles, but those principles have only resulted in scorn and disdain, mostly from his wife, Signoret, who taunts him unmercifully. The school's students are rowdy, unruly, and care little for bettering their northern England lot in life. When
teenager Miles asks Olivier to tutor her, he is thrilled that at least one of the students is interested in learning something. Olivier's disenchantment with his work has caused him to drink, a fact that is not helped by the presence of the school's bully, Stamp, in his class. Olivier takes some
of the students on a field trip to Paris. Miles has developed an enormous crush on Olivier by this time, and she offers herself to him when she goes to his hotel room. Olivier properly rejects her ploy in as jocular a fashion as he can, without hurting her feelings. He sends her out of his room
with a parental slap on her behind. Miles is not that easily tossed aside, and she goes home and tells her parents, Hird and Bird (which sounds like a silly law firm) that she has been sexually assaulted. Hird is up in arms and demands satisfaction, so Olivier goes to trial. In almost a kangaroo
court, he is convicted of the crime, then makes a plea to the courtroom (actually to Miles). Miles can't bear it, as she knows she has lied, and breaks down, admitting her ploy, and the case is set aside. Signoret, in the privacy of their home, twits Olivier for not having seduced the obviously
willing Miles. She thinks that he is such a stiff that something like that might have brought him out of his stuffy image. Olivier then lies to Signoret in order to save his marriage. He tells her that Miles was speaking the truth--he did take advantage of the teenager. This news delights Signoret
as she feels that her mouse has now been magically transformed into a man.
Miles makes her debut in this film, the first of many excellent jobs she has done. Stamp also appears for the first time, although his role is not nearly as important. His next film, BILLY BUDD, was made before this but released afterward and made him a star. Olivier had already proven he could
play kings and princes (RICHARD III and HAMLET) and the defeated types like Archie Rice in THE ENTERTAINER, but this role left him stymied. There was little to sink his teeth into, as the teacher was a somber and moral person, but incredibly dull. Olivier and Miles won awards in 1962 at the Cork
(Ireland) Film Festival. Although Signoret was most believable, casting her opposite Olivier seemed all wrong as she was so strong it seemed impossible that a character like his could love that type of woman. The joke at the end doesn't ring true and relegates this movie to just another "kitchen
sink" drama, the sort that was very popular in the early 1960s. leave a comment
