Grand National Night (1953) [DVD]

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Read all After race horse trainer Gerald Coates' (Nigel Patrick) horse wins the Grand National, his wife comes home drunk, and the two of them have a violent argument, and she is accidentally killed.

noel purcell and beatrice campbell do some sterling support and colin gordon is the wonderfully name buns darling. The original West End cast included Leslie Banks, Hermione Baddeley, Frederick Lloyd, Olga Edwardes, Campbell Copelin and Vincent Holman. The film was based on Campbell and Dorothy Christie’s 1945 play, which was also presented as a BBC Radio serial in 1946.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

After race horse trainer Gerald Coates' horse wins the Grand National, his wife come home drunk, and the two of them have a violent argument, and she is accidentally killed. The horse gives birth to a foal on a tempestuous, stormy Grand National day, just when one of Gerald's other horses wins - for the first time ever. Maybe not his "latest and greatest screen role" as it said in the publicity blurb, but it's not a bad vehicle for a star who does enough here to keep it interesting, if not exactly intriguing with what must have been a fairly limited budget. Other members of the supporting cast include Noel Purcell as the vet, Betty Ann Davis as 'Pinkie' (a posh version of Dora Bryan) and Colin Gordon as Patrick's scrounging friend, 'Buns'. Despite part of the plot of this thriller making use of a journey by train, all this appears as studio sets and model work.A solid thriller, directed by George Minter, in which we watch the authorities try to catch the killer, knowing "whodunnit". Babs has already been banned from driving for 10 years, because she killed a man whilst she was driving under the influence. she insists on taking his pregnant mare out for a ride, which eventually causes the horse to go into labour prematurely. Nigel and his staff and friends are sad at the tragedy, which was caused by his thoughtless wife's cruel behaviour. The crime element of the story isn't particularly gripping, but the acting, rural setting and old-fashioned drawing room atmosphere add up to an enjoyable film - more of a melodrama with a mystery element than a thriller.

The black and white print is mostly good, but to my eyes some of the scenes had a slightly bleached quality, with vertical lines occasionally appearing on the right-hand side of the screen. It is not known where exactly this scene was filmed, and it seems rather out of sync with the rest of the film, which is set in Liverpool. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the Grand National. Nigel Patrick stars as Gerald Coates; a racehorse owner/trainer/breeder, whose wife, Babs (Moira Lister), is a drunken party-loving "hellcat". Filmed at the old Nettlefold Studios and starring oily Nigel Patrick as a racing horse trainer, this keeps its momentum up in that traditional cap-doffing British way. I hope the foregoing will give you sufficient, but not too much, information to form your own opinion.