Dir: Anthony Asquith | Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Jean Kent, John McCallum, Susan Shaw, Hermione Baddeley, Charles Victor | UK Drama
Despite his rather inflated reputation some of Anthony Asquith’s films are barely even competent. A decisive piece of evidence for the case for the defence is ‘The Woman in Question; the structural resemblance of which to Akita Kurosawa’s ‘Rashomon’ the same year is often remarked upon (rather less point out the use of a framing story like that in J. B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ ).
Jean Kent’s tendency to artificiality is well-used in her career-defining performance in the title role, while the presence of Dirk Bogarde sporting an American accent in full-on bow-tied spiv mode brings home just how long ago this all was. @RichardChatten