Term of Trial

Three lives, One fateful lie. Graham Weir is a middle-aged schoolmaster. Shirley Taylor is his adoring 16-year-old pupil. She offers herself, he gently rejects her and she retaliates with a charge of indecent assault.
Term of Trial
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Format:  DVD-R
item number:  FF8Y
Made-on-Demand

DVD-R Details

  • Rated: Not Rated
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 53 minutes
  • Video: Color
  • Encoding: Region 0 (Worldwide)
  • Released: September 15, 2009
  • Originally Released: 1963
  • Label: Warner Archive Collection (MOD)

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , , , , , &
Directed by
Screenwriting by
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Upright82%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 73
Not even Sir Laurence Olivier's immense talent for characterization can defeat a tinge of monotony in his role here as a seedy, idealistic North England schoolteacher... Full Review
Maclean's Magazine
Oct 7, 2019
The only interest is in confirming, once more, one's opinion that Laurence Olivier is the best actor now going: he actually gets something out of his cliché part. Full Review
Esquire Magazine
May 8, 2019

Description by OLDIES.com:

Graham Weir is a middle-aged schoolmaster. Shirley Taylor is his adoring 16-year-old pupil. She offers herself, he gently rejects her and she retaliates with a charge of indecent assault. Acting legend Laurence Olivier and film-debuting Sarah Miles portray teacher and student in Term of Trial, Peter (Becket) Glenville's provocative film notable in its time for its frank sexual theme... and notable in ours for Olivier's authoritative portrait of an unauthoritative man, one too good - or too fearful - to misuse another human being. Simone Signoret, like Olivier an Academy Award® winner, plays Weir's restless wife, whose disdain for her husband leads to a stunning denouement. Three lives. One fateful lie.

Product Description:

Based on James Barlow's novel THE BURDEN OF PROOF, this is a thoughtful drama revolving around the relationship between a schoolteacher and his students, in particular a fifteen year old girl (played by the debuting Sarah Miles, although she was in fact 21 at the time), who has become infatuated with him. But when he rejects her advances during a school trip to France, out of spite she accuses him of rape. The resulting court-case dominates the latter stages of the film.
In its depiction of school life there does seem to be a ring of truth, even if the situations are somewhat exaggerated and for its time this was very strong stuff with its controversial scenario. But the early 60s was an era when film-makers were challenging social taboos, and subjects that had until then remained off-limits were being explored. VICTIM (1961) is another good example of this trend. As the movie also examines the precarious state of the man's marriage, this also gives more poignancy to his predicament. A fine cast is employed here, including a young Terence Stamp who went on to become a major star of the late 60s.

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This product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.
Studio Vaults
Warner Archive Collection

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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 37,608
  • UPC: 883316204825
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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