Grand National Night (1953) [DVD]

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The original West End cast included Leslie Banks, Hermione Baddeley, Frederick Lloyd, Olga Edwardes, Campbell Copelin and Vincent Holman. The horses are splendid, and there are quite a few 'hold-your-breath' moments when various characters take some pretty scary fences. It is also rather confusing in the fact that the train that comes to a halt is a Southern Region 4 SUB EMU, yet Nigel Patrick then jumps down to track level from a GWR coach! Lister features but sparingly, but her characterisation of "Babs" does rather get under your fingernails, so as the police work proceeded I did start to feel just a bit of sympathy for her rather idiotic, but good natured, husband - and Patrick is on decent form in that role here.

Grand National Night is a 1953 British thriller film brought to the screen by George Minter, produced by Phil C. It premiered at the New Theatre, Oxford before transferring to the Apollo Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 268 performances between 12 June 1946 and 1 February 1947. The black and white print is mostly good, but to my eyes some of the scenes had a slightly bleached quality, with vertical lines occasionally appearing on the right-hand side of the screen. noel purcell and beatrice campbell do some sterling support and colin gordon is the wonderfully name buns darling. Nigel Patrick gives a good performance in his role as Gerald Coates, the owner who is thrilled about winning the greatest steeplechase in the world, but then does something he really shouldn’t have.Babs has already been banned from driving for 10 years, because she killed a man whilst she was driving under the influence. The ‘train’ seems to be that which appeared in A Run For Your Money and Stop Press Girl (both 1949) showing what is thought to be a GWR ‘Castle’ but it turns into a model! Coates insists that she didn't come home after the big race, but the police begin to suspect him, after a train ticket is found in his coat. I hope the foregoing will give you sufficient, but not too much, information to form your own opinion.

Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the Grand National. Despite part of the plot of this thriller making use of a journey by train, all this appears as studio sets and model work. Nigel and his staff and friends are sad at the tragedy, which was caused by his thoughtless wife's cruel behaviour.Previous to this film version Grand National Night had been presented as a BBC Radio serial as well as the original stage play, which was produced in 1945 and 1946. A solid thriller, directed by George Minter, in which we watch the authorities try to catch the killer, knowing "whodunnit".

The viewer understands that Nigel, whilst not happy, has tried to make his marriage work, but his wife's alcoholism and reckless behaviour has left him exasperated with her. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It skips along nicely and engagingly for eighty minutes with a solid contribution from the usually reliable Noel Purcell and a soupçon of glamour from the underused Beatrice Campbell too.A racehorse owner (Nigel Patrick) who accidentally killed his wife (Moira Lister) matches wits with a detective. The horse gives birth to a foal on a tempestuous, stormy Grand National day, just when one of Gerald's other horses wins - for the first time ever. But then he has a violent argument with his wife (Moira Lister), which results in her accidental murder. What ought to have been night of celebration turns sour for Grand National winning owner "Coates" (Nigel Patrick) when a contretemps with his drunken wife "Babs" (Moira Lister) leaves him the subject of a police investigation. she insists on taking his pregnant mare out for a ride, which eventually causes the horse to go into labour prematurely.