Before creating the beloved courtroom drama Rumpole of the Bailey,
writer John Mortimer found inspiration in his own life for this portrait
of a difficult but enduring love between father and son in
mid-20th-century Britain.
Screen legend Laurence Olivier stars as the
eccentric patriarch, Clifford Mortimer – a blind barrister so stubborn and cantankerous that
he refuses to acknowledge his sightlessness. Alan Bates (Gosford Park)
portrays his devoted son John, who follows his father's footsteps in the law
while longing to become a writer, with Jane Asher (Brideshead Revisited)
as his wife Elizabeth and Elizabeth Sellars as his mother.
Adapted for the screen by Mortimer himself and filmed
largely on location at his family estate in bucolic Oxfordshire, this
production garnered multiple awards, including an International Emmy for
best drama. Jane was nominated for a BAFTA award for best actress in 1983.
This production was notable for including the blind actor Esmond Knight in a sighted role, as one judge Mortimer senior faces. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, it captures the
special bond between father and son, which at times seems
unbearable--but ultimately unbreakable.
Screencaps from a facebook page I cannot find. Drop me a line if it's yours!
