Separate Tables (1958)

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A wonderful interplay of characters and words in this magical adaptation of a stage play, anyone unfamiliar with the material, like I was at the time, will be rewarded with all the goings-on at Hotel Beauregard. A collection of characters, both long-term and short, at the aforementioned hotel, gather at the time of this narration, at various points in their lives. There are the (for those times, at that place) illicit unmarried couple, one of whom is more intent on the romantic getaway than the other, who'd rather focus on an upcoming examination.There is a mother-daughter couple, one of whom hold dominance/sway over the other, and that dynamic is painful for all those who behold them, including this viewer.There is the boorish ex-armyman, who's fulla stories that test everyone's patience, and attention-span, and who's completely oblivious to the effect he has on his fellow-person, and keep at it anyway. And the mainstay, of course, is the return of an old flame into a milieu where the one who lit that flame has seemingly moved on, to, let's just say, stabler pastures? hardly a powder-keg waiting to go up, but go up it does, with media, whispers and gossip doing their jobs quite effectively, until it all comes to a head. Once again, as with most of the works made in this time, very economical story-telling, and powerful monologues as well as dialogues from all characters, who put in strong performances. The score though, and this is something typical for flicks made in this time and period, is very in your face, and if one learns to ignore its manipulation, one will be rewarded for said effort. Kerr is almost unrecognizable, but Lancaster and Niven do their schtick, and that's not a bad thing, since I'm still not able to visualize anyone else doing what they've done here. Definitely their A-game. Worth repeat viewings.

Separate Tables (Delbert Mann, 1958) is an acting masterclass, a stunning adaptation of Rattigan's two single-act plays set at a Bournemouth hotel. David Niven, Deborah Kerr and Wendy Hiller (my new favourite) are flawless in their sensitive, layered performances: he an army major with a dark secret, Kerr the meek, downtrodden girl who loves him, Hiller the hotel manager fighting disappointments of her own. Shooting on home soil, American stars Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth are very good in somewhat less interesting parts. Taking dead-aim at intolerance, as well as examining the disappointments and compromises of adulthood, this is a remarkable piece of humanist drama and one of the most intelligent films to come out of Hollywood in the '50s. Charles Lang's cinematography is a big plus; the only duff element is the wearisome theme song.

About as far removed from his American playwright contemporary Tennessee Williams as you could get, yet there's a place in my heart for English dramatist Terence Rattigan and his perhaps subtler expositions of motive, need, weakness and ultimately dignity in the human condition.Interestingly, this movie adaptation of his mid 50's play, slightly improbably makes prominent use of American actors, although fortuitously possibly, this helps to elevates its status to a wider and higher level and almost certainly helped it to get noticed by the Academy at the awards round.Director Mann doesn't try too hard to "open out" the play for the cinema, realising its strength lies in depicting the enclosed stultifying world of the not-quite "Grand Hotel", it acting as a metaphor for the trapped existences of its various inhabitants. That said, none of the main characters hardly seem drawn from reality, but once you concede the writer's dramatic licence, you have to admire his skill in their interplay and the well-managed conclusion which works too as an indictment against narrow-minded intolerance as the fellow-guests at last react against flinty old Lady Matheson (Cathleen Nesbitt) and her petty-minded outrage at and desired expulsion of David Niven's disgraced "Major" character. Niven won the Oscar for his performance and you can see why, moving from blustery, caddish bonhomie (his "what what" refrain really gets on your nerves as he himself honestly admits) to his awkward embarrassed demeanour at the end. In support, I also enjoyed the playing of Wendy Hiller as the school-marmy hotelier, Deborah Kerr as Nesbitt's sexually repressed daughter and Gladys Cooper as her put-upon friend who like the daughter rises up but gently to overturn the Major's victimisation and rehabilitate him.It doesn't all work, Lancaster and Hayworth's story seems to belong in a different play / film and the minor parts are too sketchily drawn (Rod Taylor and his randy girlfriend too obviously counterpointing the sexual gaucheness of Kerr's Sibyl) and a too obvious Margaret Rutherford type inserted no doubt to add some humour.I'm pretty sure it would have made for a better night out at the theatre than the cinema, but I wouldn't deny the play's elevation to a wider audience and certainly didn't regret checking in on this occasion.

This movie is an under-rated little gem. Typical of its director, Delbert Mann, it has a low budget and limited set, but a cast with enormous talent. The excellence of the acting and the characters that emerge make this movie special. The movie takes place in a a hotel operated by Wendy Hiller, who is romantically involved with Burt Lancaster. His wife, played by Rita Hayworth, shows up unexpectedly to try to mend fences with her husband. As the movie progresses, David Niven, another of the residents, is exposed as a fraud with a scandal hanging over him. A younger woman, played by Deborah Kerr, has taken an interest in him. Kerr is manipulated by her domineering mother, played by Gladys Cooper, who has moulded her into a sad and shy young woman. As the ring leader of this haven of interesting characters, Gladys Cooper is positively delighted by the news of Niven's shady side and tries to evict him from the hotel. Will she succeed or will the good in people prevail? This is a fine movie with great performances by the cast, British and American. Not mentioned above is Felix Aylmer who adds a touch of class as Mr. Fowler as well as Rod Taylor and Cathleen Nesbitt whose minor roles contribute to the overall pleasure of this movie. If you get the chance, don't miss it.