The Browning Version

"How could he look on and say nothing ... it was his wife!"

1951 1h 30m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🍅

89%

FRESH

⭐

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 107🍅89%Rotten Tomatoes★8IMDB · 5,576

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Andrew Crocker-Harris has been forced from his position as the classics master at an English public school due to poor health. As he winds up his final term, he discovers not only that his wife, Millie, has been unfaithful to him with one of his fellow schoolmasters, but that the school's students and faculty have long disdained him. However, an unexpected act of kindness causes Crocker-Harris to re-evaluate his life's work.

“How could he look on and say nothing ... it was his wife!”

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Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Michael Redgrave
Andrew Crocker-Harris
Jean Kent
Millie Crocker-Harris
Nigel Patrick
Frank Hunter
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Frobisher
Bill Travers
Fletcher
Ronald Howard
Gilbert
Ivan Samson
Lord Baxter
Judith Furse
Mrs. Williamson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Anthony Asquith
Writers: Terence Rattigan
Languages: English, French, Greek, Latin
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, Greek, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Anthony Asquith, shot by Desmond Dickinson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John D. Guthridge shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent and Nigel Patrick carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "How could he look on and say nothing ... it was his wife!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anthony Asquith directs. Desmond Dickinson behind the camera. John D. Guthridge cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French, Greek, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
275 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, Greek, Latin.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Anthony Asquith, shot by Desmond Dickinson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor John D. Guthridge shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent and Nigel Patrick carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "How could he look on and say nothing ... it was his wife!".
9IMDB entry: tt0043362 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Editing: John D. Guthridge
Makeup / hair: Biddy Chrystal
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Browning Version (1951)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 8/10 · 5,576 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 2 BAFTA 7 wins & 3 nominations total

Best Screenplay Award
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Anthony Asquith

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-03-14
★ 10/10
In despicable literary characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge, and here, Michael Redgrave's Andrew Crocker-Harris, it is necessary--perhaps even more so now than ever before--to see the triumph of the human spirit and the soul-cleansing power of redemption and forgiveness (both in others and of ourselves). This is the quintessential document of such a human transformation.
CinemaSerf2024-02-05
★ 7/10
There's a little bit of the "Mr Chips" story in this adaptation of Terence Rattigan's story of life in a once proud English public school. "Crocker-Harris" (Michael Redgrave) has rather stoically and unsympathetically been trying to drum Greek into his classes of largely disinterested buys for many years, but is now to move on after becoming ill. What's fairly clear from the outset is that his wife "Millie" (an on-form Jean Kent) has little but disdain for her rather pedestrian husband, and that she has been a little too friendly with his slightly smarmy colleague "Hunter" (Nigel Patrick). As the day of his departure looms ever closer, the teacher finds himself beginning to bond with the bright and refreshingly honest young "Taplow" (Brian Smith) who seems not only interested in his Aristotle, but also in this now rather dejected purveyor of education. It's also fairly obvious that none of his professional colleagues are particularly sympathetic to him either - a fact ably demonstrated by the lack of sympathy to their impending financial predicament offered by headmaster "Frobisher" (Wilfred Hyde-White). Redgrave gives a strong and nuanced performance here. His character has been aimlessly cruising for so long, he has forgotten how to live or what he, himself, wanted when he was the age of the young man who is now provoking a long-abandoned sense of worth in the man. His realisation of his domestic predicament, and of the rather shrewishness of his wife, is also effectively banging his head against a wall and wakening him up to a state of affairs of which he was probably aware, but maybe just didn't really care. I can't say I loved the conclusion - perhaps all just a little too much of a volte face from just about everyone, but it's an interesting character study with the odd bit of humour and a strong story.