| Release Date: | Feb 1985 |
|---|---|
| Genres: | Romance / Drama |
| Awards: | Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination |
| Cast: | James Mason (Sir Randolph Nettleby), Edward Fox (Lord Gilbert Hartlip), Dorothy Tutin (Lady Minnie Nettleby), John Gielgud (Cornelius Cardew), Gordon Jackson (Tom Harker), Cheryl Campbell (Lady Aline Hartlip), Robert Hardy (Lord Bob Lilburn), Aharon Ipalé (Sir Reuben Hergesheimer), Joris Stuyck (Count Tibor Rakassyi), Rebecca Saire (Cicely Nettleby), Sarah Badel (Ida Nettleby), Rupert Frazer (Lionel Stephens), Judi Bowker (Lady Olivia Lilburn), John J. Carney (Jarvis), Ann Castle (Lady Mildred Stamp), Daniel Chatto (John Hoskins), Mia Fothergill (Violet Nettleby), Thomas Heathcote (Ogden the Gardener), Barry Jackson (Walter Weir), Jonathan Lacey (Daniel Glass (as Jonathon Lacey)), Richard Leech (Dr. West), Jack May (Mr. Harry Stamp), Deborah Miles (Ellen), Daniel Moynihan (Maidment), Patrick O'Connell (Charlie Lyme), Nicholas Pietrek (Osbert Nettleby), Warren Saire (Marcus Nettleby), Lockwood West (Rogers), Frank Windsor (Glass) |
Autumn, 1913: on the eve of the Great War, a small party of lords and ladies gather at the Hertfordshire estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby. A code of propriety governs all: dress, breakfast, relations with the estate's peasants, courtship, shooting, adultery. Lionel Stephens, who is courting Sir Randolph's daughter, gets into a shooting competition with Lord Gilbert Hartlip; Lord Gilbert's wife carries on discreet affairs; a pamphleteer circles the estate calling for no more killing, and Sir Robert's grandson hopes to protect a wild duck he's befriended. A way of life is ending: Lord Gilbert's violation of the gentlemen's code suggests internal rot as the real world presses in.
