Just over two years ago we watched the 2015 BBC version of this J.B. Priestley play and I see that at the time I said we should seek out the Alastair Sim version. Well, guess what? We finally did. I don't feel the need to recap the plot, because it's exactly the same in the important details, so I will just note the differences.
First, the main inspector is called "Poole" rather than the a-little-too-obvious "Goole" (one is reminded of Robert De Niro's Satan-like figure in Angel Heart being called "Louis Siffre"), and he doesn't get to to deliver the final stern speech, which is a shame in some respects, but I think the reason he didn't is because Alastair Sim
plays the inspector as somewhat mocking rather than lecturing, and instead of walking out of the house and the family later finding out that there is no inspector of that name, instead the prospective son-in-law Gerald Croft goes out for a walk to clear his head and bumps into a bobby on the beat who reveals that fact, so Gerald returns while Poole is still there and demands to speak to the family while Poole waits. So they have him go into a side room to wait, where he sits in a rocking chair as Gerald tells the family he's a fake. Then the same things happen: the parents and Gerald are greatly relieved, especially after Gerald calls the infirmary and finds out no girl has been brought in for any kind of suicide, let alone suicide by drinking disinfectant, for weeks. But son and daughter are sickened by the others' relief and vow to remain changed by their experience, and then the phone rings... But if the girl has just been brought in, how did Poole know? And who is he really? They open the door... to find the rocking chair, still rocking, but empty.
So, how do the two versions measure up? Well, I don't remember much about the 2015 one, but this one is excellent. All the actors are good, including, of course (this being a Sim film) the inevitable George Cole in a tiny uncredited role as a tram inspector
(the mother is particularly hateable),
with the possible exception of Eva, although it's a thankless task to portray a Christ-like victim.
(The actor who plays the son, Bryan Forbes, had an amazing career of which acting was perhaps the smallest part.) But it's the blocking that is particularly notable. Every frame has the actors arranged in very dramatic ways, more befitting a film noir than a chamber-piece.
The music is a bit over-the-top in places but definitely serves the story well, accentuating the drama at every turn. The sets are good, too, including the dreary streets of the fictional industrial town of Brumley.
And of course, Sim is wonderful. His heavy lidded gaze set above the lips fixed in a slightly quizzical enigmatic smile, combined with a low-key delivery backed up with implacable self-assurance keep the pompous Birling family constantly on their heels. He is at his most magnetic, never once winking at the audience or dipping into his bag of comedic tricks. He conveys ironic detachment combined with a fierce commitment to justice just by his mien.
One wishes there were more Inspector Pooles out there to nail the rich and powerful to the wall (or at least make them feel the force of their misdeeds for once). In general I was amazed at how gripping and powerful I found the film. It's easy to imagine finding a pre-WW1 story of the misdeeds of the wealthy (who aren't even that bad - both young men genuine feel for Eva and try to do right by her - they don't view her as just a toy to be played with - and even the odious mother feels the obligation to have a charity that helps the poor) completely inadequate at capturing what is wrong with 21st century late-stage capitalism, but it does a startlingly effective job at bringing out the power that the rich have over the poor and how even the well-meaning rich can destroy the poor, whose lives hang by a thread and whose freedom depends on the whims of the wealthy. Strong stuff. Deserves to be re-discovered by the young in the same way that 12 Angry Men has been.
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