55-548: The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era . The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne . Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for allegedly stealing
110-637: A 1989 production starring Gordon Jackson as Arthur Winslow, Ian Richardson as Morton, and Emma Thompson as Catherine. The Winslow Boy was presented on the BBC Home Service Saturday Night Theatre 15 November 1947. The performance starred David Spenser , Frank Cellier , and Molly Rankin. The Winslow Boy was presented on Theatre Guild on the Air 23 November 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Basil Rathbone , Alan Webb , and Margaret Phillips . A production
165-464: A cadet at Osborne in 1908, who was accused of stealing a postal order from a fellow cadet. His elder brother, Major Martin Archer-Shee, was convinced of his innocence and persuaded his father (also called Martin) to engage lawyers. The most respected barrister of the day, Sir Edward Carson , was also persuaded of his innocence and insisted on the case coming to court. On the fourth day of the trial,
220-453: A five-shilling postal order . To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their peers and society. Similarly, the boy's life would have been wrecked by an indelible stain on his character which would have followed him throughout adulthood. The play was inspired by an actual event, which set a legal precedent : the case of Stonyhurst College alumnus George Archer-Shee ,
275-608: A foreign country, but it was performed from January 1940. During the war, Rattigan served in the Royal Air Force as a tail gunner; his experiences helped inspire Flare Path . In 1943 Rattigan, then an RAF Flight Lieutenant, was posted to the RAF Film Production Unit to work on The Way to the Stars (a substantial reworking and adaption for film of Flare Path ) and Journey Together . After
330-548: A form of cross-examination, to see how young Ronnie would hold up in court) in the presence of his family, and is shown mustering his political forces in the House of Commons on the Winslows' behalf with little concern for the cost to his faction. Catherine remains unconvinced of Sir Robert's sincerity, perhaps not least because of his record of opposition to the cause of women's suffrage , but also due to his dispassionate manner in
385-524: A major new production of Rattigan's final and also rarely seen play Cause Célèbre at The Old Vic in March 2011 as part of The Terence Rattigan Centenary year celebrations. As well as this, Trevor Nunn marked the occasion with a West End revival of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket , between March and June 2011, starring Sienna Miller , James Purefoy and Sheridan Smith . In 2011,
440-613: A more serious play produced After the Dance (1939), a satirical social drama about the " bright young things " and their failure to politically engage. The outbreak of the Second World War scuppered any chances of a long run. Shortly before the war, Rattigan had written (together with Anthony Goldsmith) a satire about Nazi Germany, Follow My Leader ; the Lord Chamberlain refused to license it on grounds of offence to
495-749: A mutiny, informing the Daily Express . Even more annoying to his headmaster, Cyril Norwood , was the telegram from the Eton OTC, "offering to march to his assistance". He then went to Trinity College, Oxford . Success as a playwright came early, with the comedy French Without Tears in 1936, set in a crammer . This was inspired by a 1933 visit to a village called Marxzell in the Black Forest , where young English gentlemen went to learn German; his time briefly overlapped with his Harrow classmate Jock Colville . Rattigan's determination to write
550-422: A solicitor who eventually proposes to Catherine, appear to be fictional. Whilst the play gives only indirect reference to the court case and the parliamentary debates, the 1948 film introduces scenes from these events that are not in the play. Rattigan also moved the events closer to the start of World War I , though the conflict is remote from the characters. In fact, both George and Martin Archer-Shee fought in
605-404: A volatile affair with the politician Henry "Chips" Channon who detailed the relationship in his diary published posthumously in 2022. It has been claimed his work is essentially autobiographical, containing coded references to his sexuality, which was known by some in the theatrical world but not known to the public. There is some truth in this, but it risks being crudely reductive; for example,
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#1732782436446660-543: A way, I was not Orton's best sponsor. I'm a very unfashionable figure still, and I was then wildly unfashionable critically. My sponsorship rather put critics off, I think." Rattigan was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1971 for services to the theatre, being only the fourth playwright to be knighted in the 20th century (after Sir W. S. Gilbert in 1907, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero in 1909 and Sir Noël Coward in 1970). He had previously been appointed Commander of
715-639: A week later on 22 August 1902. He resigned from the army in 1905. In the same year he married Frances Pell (1878-1959), born in Manhattan to Alfred Walden and Mary Kirkland (Tracy) Pell. Frances's aunt Frances Louisa Tracy married the banker J. P. Morgan . At their wedding in Highland Falls, New York, Morgan gave the bride away. Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the wedding. Martin and Frances Archer-Shee had seven children: At
770-630: A world of repression and reticence. Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 in South Kensington , London, of Irish extraction. He had an elder brother, Brian. They were the grandsons of Sir William Henry Rattigan , a notable India-based jurist and later a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for North-East Lanarkshire . His father was Frank Rattigan CMG , a diplomat whose exploits included an affair with Princess Elisabeth of Romania (future consort of King George II of Greece ) which resulted in her having an abortion. The Royal House of Romania
825-482: Is "requested to withdraw" his son from the college (the formula of the day for expulsion). Arthur Winslow believes Ronnie's claim of innocence and, with the help of his suffragette daughter Catherine and his friend and family solicitor Desmond Curry, launches a concerted effort to clear Ronnie's name. This is no small matter, as, under English law, Admiralty decisions were official acts of the government, which could not be sued without its consent—traditionally expressed by
880-401: Is able to discredit much of the supposed evidence. The Admiralty, embarrassed and no longer confident of Ronnie's guilt, abruptly withdraws all charges against him, proclaiming him entirely innocent. Although the family has won the case at law and lifted the cloud over Ronnie, it has taken its toll on the rest. His father's physical health has deteriorated under the strain, as to some degree has
935-457: Is considered to be the inspiration of Rattigan's play The Sleeping Prince . Rattigan's birth certificate and his birth announcement in The Times indicate he was born on 9 June 1911. However, most reference books state that he was born the following day; Rattigan himself never publicly disputed this date. There is evidence suggesting that the date on the birth certificate is incorrect. He
990-454: The BBC presented The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch , a documentary on Rattigan's life and career presented by actor Benedict Cumberbatch , who, like Rattigan, attended Harrow . A new screen version of The Deep Blue Sea , directed by Terence Davies , was released in 2011, starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston . Many of Rattigan's stage plays have been produced for radio by
1045-756: The British Army . He obtained a commission as second lieutenant in the 19th Hussars on 15 March 1893, and was promoted to lieutenant on 7 February 1897. He served in the Second Boer War 1899–1902, where he took part in operations in Natal , including the defence of Ladysmith , then in the Transvaal from July to November 1900. The award of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) (dated 29 November 1900) for his services during
1100-643: The January 1910 general election he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Finsbury Central , winning the seat for the Conservatives and unseating the Liberal-Labour MP, W. C. Steadman . In parliament he was an advocate of Tariff Reform and argued for the case for an enlargement of the navy. Archer-Shee was able to use his political connections to secure
1155-779: The Order of the British Empire (CBE), in June 1958. He moved back to Britain, where he experienced a minor revival in his reputation before his death. Rattigan died in Hamilton, Bermuda , from bone cancer on 30 November 1977, aged 66. His cremated remains were deposited in the family vault at Kensal Green Cemetery . In 1990, the British Library acquired Rattigan's papers consisting of 300 volumes of correspondence and papers relating to his prose and dramatic works. There
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#17327824364461210-522: The Rank Organisation withdrew its support, not wishing to offend David Lean and Sam Spiegel , who had started to film Lawrence of Arabia . Bogarde called Rank's decision "my bitterest disappointment". Also in 1960, a musical version of French Without Tears was staged as Joie de Vivre , with music by Robert Stolz of White Horse Inn fame. It starred Donald Sinden , lasted only four performances, and has never been revived. Rattigan
1265-579: The Representation of the People Act 1918 . He held the seat at the 1922 general election , and was knighted in 1923. He was defeated in 1923 by his Labour Party opponent, George Masterman Gillett . He attempted to re-enter parliament in the following year , but failed to be elected at Peckham . This was to be his last electoral contest: although his name was proposed when a vacancy occurred at Fulham East in 1933, he chose not to stand in
1320-617: The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art later this year. The play has also been adapted for television by the BBC several times, including a 1949 production starring Roger Livesey as Sir Robert Morton and Jack Watling as Dickie Winslow (he had played Dickie in the 1948 film version), a 1958 production with Peter Cushing as Morton and Gwen Watford as Catherine Winslow, a 1977 production starring Alan Badel as Morton, Eric Porter as Arthur Winslow and Michele Dotrice as Catherine Winslow and
1375-516: The Royal Exchange, Manchester , in 2006. His play on the last days of Lord Nelson , A Bequest to the Nation , was revived on Radio 3 for Trafalgar 200 , starring Janet McTeer as Lady Hamilton, Kenneth Branagh as Nelson, and Amanda Root as Lady Nelson. Thea Sharrock directed his rarely seen After the Dance in the summer of 2010 at London's Royal National Theatre . She directed
1430-628: The Royal Navy as a cadet in 1886. After two years on the training ship HMS Britannia he became a midshipman on HMS Agincourt , part of the Channel Fleet , later transferring to HMS Cleopatra . He later joined The Castaways' Club to keep in touch with his former service. In 1890 he resigned from the navy in order to enter the Royal Military College Sandhurst and to become an officer in
1485-557: The Solicitor General , Sir Rufus Isaacs , accepted that Archer-Shee was innocent, and ultimately the family was paid compensation. Ronnie Winslow, a fourteen-year-old cadet at the Royal Naval College, is accused of the theft of a five-shilling postal order . An internal enquiry, conducted without notice to his family and without the benefit of representation, finds him guilty, and his father, Arthur Winslow,
1540-769: The University of Roehampton , established by the Society of the Sacred Heart (George's half-sister Winefrede Archer Shee having been a religious follower of the Society); and on Tablet 35 of the Menin Gate in Ypres , as he has no known grave. The play's London premiere in 1946 featured Emlyn Williams , Mona Washbourne , Angela Baddeley , Kathleen Harrison , Frank Cellier , Jack Watling and Clive Morton . It
1595-558: The attorney general responding to a petition of right with the formula "Let Right be done". The Winslows succeed in engaging the most highly sought-after barrister in England at the time, Sir Robert Morton, known also as a shrewd opposition Member of Parliament. Catherine had expected Sir Robert to decline the case, or at best to treat it as a political football; instead, he is coolly matter-of-fact about having been persuaded of Ronnie's innocence by his responses to questioning (in fact,
1650-399: The BBC. The first play he wrote directly for radio was Cause Célèbre , broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 27 October 1975, based on the 1935 murder of Francis Rattenbury . A number of Rattigan's plays have been filmed (he was the screenwriter or co-writer for all those made in his lifetime): Terence Rattigan also wrote or co-wrote the following original screenplays: Rattigan wrote or co-wrote
1705-703: The First World War; Martin commanded an infantry battalion, and George was killed, at the age of 19, at the First Battle of Ypres . His name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of Woodchester , Gloucestershire, where his parents lived; on the memorial plaque outside the Catholic St Mary on the Quay church in Bristol city centre, where he had been an altar boy; on the war memorial at
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1760-1152: The Forum Theatre, Wythenshawe, the Orchard Theatre, Dartford , the Grand Opera House, Belfast , the Beck Theatre , Hayes and the Ashcroft Theatre , Croydon. A 1994 production starring Simon Williams as Sir Robert, Peter Barkworth as Arthur Winslow, Eve Matheson as Catherine and Charles Edwards as Dickie Winslow played at the Globe Theatre , London. A 1999 film version , directed by David Mamet , starred Nigel Hawthorne as Arthur Winslow, Jeremy Northam as Morton, and Rebecca Pidgeon as Catherine. A 2013 production starring Peter Sullivan as Sir Robert, Henry Goodman as Arthur Winslow, Naomi Frederick as Catherine and Nick Hendrix as Dickie Winslow played at The Old Vic , London. A 2024 amateur production will be staged at
1815-461: The Major approached for sex were men rather than young women. However, Rattigan changed his mind about staging it, and the original version proceeded. Rattigan was fascinated with the life and character of T. E. Lawrence . In 1960, he wrote a play called Ross , based on Lawrence's exploits. Preparations were made to film it, and Dirk Bogarde accepted the role. However, it did not proceed because
1870-427: The case. The play ends with a suggestion that romance may yet blossom between Sir Robert and Catherine, who acknowledges that she has misjudged him all along. The last couplet of the dialogue ("How little you know women, Sir Robert" and "How little you know men, Miss Winslow") seems to bolster this implication. In the play, Rattigan quotes from actual parliamentary debates and court transcripts but makes major changes to
1925-464: The characters and the timing of events. In the play, it was the accused boy's father who first believed in his innocence; in fact, it was an older brother, Martin, who persuaded their father, and used his influence as an MP to involve Carson in the case. Martin Archer-Shee junior was a very different character from the failed university student, Dickie Winslow, of the play. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1910, and in his mid-thirties at
1980-530: The early part of the war, was announced in the September 1901 South African Honours list. In February 1902, he was wounded near Kromdraal when he captured enemy soldiers ( mentioned in dispatches 25 April 1902 ), and he was invalided home in May that year, shortly before the official end of hostilities. Following the war he was promoted to captain on 15 August 1902, and received the rank of brevet major
2035-498: The era of kitchen sink dramas by the writers known as the Angry Young Men . Rattigan responded to this critical disfavour with some bitterness. His later plays— Ross , Man and Boy , In Praise of Love , and Cause Célèbre —although showing no sign of any decline in his talent, are less well-known than his earlier works. Rattigan explained that he wrote his plays to please a symbolic playgoer, "Aunt Edna", someone from
2090-664: The following screenplays from existing material by other writers: Wolfe, Peter. Terence Rattigan: The Playwright as Battlefield . Lexington, 2019. Other works including discussions on Rattigan's theatre: Martin Archer-Shee Sir Martin Archer-Shee CMG DSO (5 May 1873 – 6 January 1935) was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician. He was the son of Martin Archer-Shee (1846-1913) and his wife Elizabeth Edith Dennistoun (1851-1890) ( née Pell) of New York who married in 1872 at Piccadilly. His maternal grandfather
2145-560: The happiness of the Winslows' home. The costs of the suit and the publicity campaign have eaten up his older brother Dickie's Oxford tuition, and hence his chance at a career in the civil service, as well as Catherine's marriage settlement. Her fiancé John Watherstone has broken off the engagement in the face of opposition from his father (an Army Colonel), forcing her to consider a sincere and well-intentioned offer of marriage from Desmond, whom she does not love. Sir Robert, on his part, has declined appointment as Lord Chief Justice rather than drop
2200-604: The midst of the Winslow family's financial sacrifices. The government is strongly disinclined to allow the case to proceed, claiming that it is a distraction from pressing Admiralty business; but in the face of public sympathy garnered through Winslow and Catherine's efforts, and of Sir Robert's impassioned speech on the verge of defeat in the Commons, the government yields, and the case is allowed to come to court. At trial, Sir Robert (working together with Desmond Curry and his firm)
2255-468: The original theatre production, appeared. A production starring Kenneth More as Sir Robert Morton, Lawrence Naismith as Arthur Winslow and Annette Crosbie as Catherine Winslow played from 1970 to 1971 at various theatres including the New Theatre , London. A 1984 revival directed by Jeremy Sinden starring Marius Goring as Arthur Winslow and Allan Cuthbertson as Sir Robert Morton played at
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2310-508: The playwright Joe Orton congratulating the latter on his very dark comedy Entertaining Mr Sloane , to which Rattigan had escorted Vivien Leigh in its first week. He had invested £3,000 in getting the play transferred to the West End. Although an unlikely champion of the risqué Orton, Rattigan recognised the younger man's talent and approved of what he considered a well-written piece of theatre. He also acknowledged in retrospect that, "in
2365-491: The repeated claim that Rattigan originally wrote The Deep Blue Sea as a play about male lovers, turned at the last minute into a heterosexual play, may be unfounded, though Rattigan said otherwise. On the other hand, for the Broadway staging of Separate Tables , he wrote an alternative version of the newspaper article in which Major Pollock's indiscretions are revealed to his fellow hotel guests; in this version, those whom
2420-448: The services of Edward Carson in the court case involving his half-brother, George. With the outbreak of war in 1914, Archer-Shee rejoined the army. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and commanded three different infantry battalions during the conflict: the 12th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol's Own) , the 2/4th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and the 10th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers . He
2475-461: The time of the case. Arthur Winslow was also made less prosperous than his factual counterpart. Although Archer-Shee did have a sister, she did not have much in common with Catherine Winslow in the play, a suffragette and, as we learn in the final lines of the play, a potential future politician. To some extent then, Rattigan has reversed the character and roles of the brother and sister. Also, her erstwhile fiancé, John Watherstone, and Desmond Curry,
2530-501: The war, Rattigan alternated between comedies and dramas, establishing himself as a major playwright: the most successful of which were The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952), and Separate Tables (1954). Rattigan's belief in understated emotions and craftsmanship was deemed old fashioned and "pre-war" after the overnight success in 1956 of John Osborne 's play Look Back in Anger began
2585-475: The well-off middle-class who had conventional tastes; his critics frequently used this character as the basis for belittling him. "Aunt Edna" inspired Joe Orton to create "Edna Welthorpe", a mischievous alter ego stirring up controversy about his own plays. Rattigan was homosexual, with numerous lovers but no long-term partners, a possible exception being his "congenial companion ... and occasional friend" Michael Franklin. From 1944 to January 1947 he enjoyed
2640-487: Was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background. He wrote The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and Separate Tables (1954), among many others. A troubled homosexual who saw himself as an outsider, Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or
2695-698: Was a revival of The Deep Blue Sea in 1993, at the Almeida Theatre , London, directed by Karel Reisz and starring Penelope Wilton . A string of successful revivals followed, including The Winslow Boy at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2001 (with David Rintoul , and subsequently on tour in 2002 with Edward Fox ), Man and Boy at the Duchess Theatre , London, in 2005, with David Suchet as Gregor Antonescu, and In Praise of Love at Chichester, and Separate Tables at
2750-729: Was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 6 May 1953 with Dennis Arundell as Morton, Cecil Trouncer as Arthur Winslow and Angela Baddeley as Catherine Winslow. Another BBC Home Service production was broadcast on 30 January 1965 starring Marius Goring as Sir Robert Morton, Lockwood West as Arthur Winslow and Mary Wimbush as Catherine Winslow. A 1981 production on BBC Radio 4 featured Aubrey Woods as Morton, Michael Aldridge as Arthur Winslow, Sarah Badel as Catherine and Michael Maloney as Dickie Winslow. Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE (10 June 1911 – 30 November 1977)
2805-467: Was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1962 but seemingly recovered two years later. He fell ill again in 1968. He disliked the so-called " Swinging London " of the 1960s and moved abroad, living in Bermuda , where he lived off the proceeds from lucrative screenplays including The V.I.P.s and The Yellow Rolls-Royce . For a time he was the highest-paid screenwriter in the world. In 1964, Rattigan wrote to
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#17327824364462860-687: Was given no middle name, but he adopted the middle name "Mervyn" in early adulthood. Rattigan was educated at Sandroyd School from 1920 to 1925, at the time based in Cobham, Surrey (and now the home of Reed's School ), and Harrow School . Rattigan played cricket for the Harrow First XI and scored 29 in the Eton–Harrow match in 1929. He was a member of the Harrow School Officer Training Corps and organised
2915-535: Was mentioned in dispatches four times, and was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his services. Following an altercation in Parliament, Noel Pemberton Billing offered Archer-Shee a duel by boxing in public for charity; Archer-Shee declined. At the 1918 general election Archer-Shee was elected MP for the new constituency of Finsbury , parliamentary boundaries having been altered by
2970-570: Was the American insurance executive Alfred Shipley Pell . His father was a bank manager of the Bank of England , was the grandson of the painter Martin Archer Shee . His half-brother was George Archer-Shee , whose notable acquittal of the accusation of theft became the basis of the play The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan . Archer-Shee was educated at The Oratory School before entering
3025-465: Was under the direction of Glen Byam Shaw . The play's Broadway premiere in 1947 featured Frank Allenby as Sir Robert, Alan Webb as Arthur Winslow, and Valerie White as Catherine Winslow. The play was later made into a 1948 film directed by Anthony Asquith , starring Robert Donat as Sir Robert Morton KC, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Arthur Winslow, and Margaret Leighton as Catherine Winslow. Both Mona Washbourne and Kathleen Harrison, who had been in
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