In a slummy Northern England town, kindhearted schoolteacher Laurence Olivier (as Graham Weir) is browbeaten by wife Simone Signoret (as Anna), an ex-barmaid guilt-ridden over her inability to have children. Having served time in prison for declining to serve in World War II, Mr. Olivier doesn't expect to rise above his present station as an English secondary school teacher. He offers to tutor mature-looking 15-year-old Sarah Miles (as Shirley Taylor) and she becomes infatuated. On a field trip to Paris, Ms. Miles attempts to seduce Olivier, but he resists, Miles starts kissing passionate student bully Terence Stamp (as Mitchell). According to his girlfriends, Mr. Stamp likes to bite. He also teases Olivier in class about his fondness for whiskey. Unable to deal with rejection, and encouraged by her mother, Miles enacts her revenge...
This is nicely done socially conscious drama by Peter Glenville, but good teachers would have figured Miles out earlier than Olivier (okay, he's a weak-willed alcoholic). In real life, older actors and filmmakers have more success with teenage newcomers. Miles and Stamp make impressive feature film debuts. Hugh Griffith (as O'Hara) does well in the last act, and it would have been nice to see more of the subplot involving bright young Ray Holder (as Thompson), who is neglected and abused by his mother and her boyfriend. In fact, most adults in this film are lacking. Consequently, young people become enthralled with lurid magazines and movies; witness, for example, their hypnotic stares as Olivier approaches the courtroom. At the end, an unexpected decision made by Ms. Signoret lets you know whether the future is bleak or hopeful.
****** Term of Trial (8/16/62) Peter Glenville ~ Laurence Olivier, Sarah Miles, Simone Signoret, Terence Stamp
This is nicely done socially conscious drama by Peter Glenville, but good teachers would have figured Miles out earlier than Olivier (okay, he's a weak-willed alcoholic). In real life, older actors and filmmakers have more success with teenage newcomers. Miles and Stamp make impressive feature film debuts. Hugh Griffith (as O'Hara) does well in the last act, and it would have been nice to see more of the subplot involving bright young Ray Holder (as Thompson), who is neglected and abused by his mother and her boyfriend. In fact, most adults in this film are lacking. Consequently, young people become enthralled with lurid magazines and movies; witness, for example, their hypnotic stares as Olivier approaches the courtroom. At the end, an unexpected decision made by Ms. Signoret lets you know whether the future is bleak or hopeful.
****** Term of Trial (8/16/62) Peter Glenville ~ Laurence Olivier, Sarah Miles, Simone Signoret, Terence Stamp