Libel (1959)

Legal thriller. - Libel review by Steve

Courtroom melodrama guilty of many shameless plot stunts but which also generates a few delicious dramatic flourishes. It is based on an old faithful of the theatre but updated to WWII. Though the woozy insanity of the narrative would better suit the Great War. Anthony Asquith and a quality cast bring a deep shine to the improbable intrigue.

Dirk Bogarde plays a pair of identical POWs captured at Dunkirk. One is permanently brain damaged in a breakout, while the other gets back to England to be the titled inheritor of a stately pile. But was the wealthy baronet nobbled by his snivelling lookalike, who was a skilled actor? Certainly, the third member of the escape party (Paul Massie) thinks so.

And, after a dramatic court case to establish identity, so does the aristocrat's wife. She is portrayed by Olivia de Havilland, who gets top billing, but this is really a star vehicle for Dirk Bogarde, who is adorably sincere in his absurd predicament. Robert Morley and Wilfred Hyde White are also a fun double act as the combative barristers.

There are no genuine feelings on display, this is pure melodrama. There is some reflection on the reliability of memory. Inevitably, justice is done and social equilibrium is restored, but there is pleasure to be had watching the haughty toff squirm for a while. And Asquith adds striking expressionistic strokes to another of his classic legal dramas.