Grand National Night (1953) [DVD]

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What ought to have been night of celebration turns sour for Grand National winning owner "Coates" (Nigel Patrick) when a contretemps with his drunken wife "Babs" (Moira Lister) leaves him the subject of a police investigation. Coates insists that she didn't come home after the big race, but the police begin to suspect him, after a train ticket is found in his coat. The ‘train’ seems to be that which appeared in A Run For Your Money and Stop Press Girl (both 1949) showing what is thought to be a GWR ‘Castle’ but it turns into a model! After race horse trainer Gerald Coates' (Nigel Patrick) horse wins the Grand National, his wife comes home drunk, and the two of them have a violent argument, and she is accidentally killed. Lister features but sparingly, but her characterisation of "Babs" does rather get under your fingernails, so as the police work proceeded I did start to feel just a bit of sympathy for her rather idiotic, but good natured, husband - and Patrick is on decent form in that role here.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Other members of the supporting cast include Noel Purcell as the vet, Betty Ann Davis as 'Pinkie' (a posh version of Dora Bryan) and Colin Gordon as Patrick's scrounging friend, 'Buns'.A solid thriller, directed by George Minter, in which we watch the authorities try to catch the killer, knowing "whodunnit". Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the Grand National.

After race horse trainer Gerald Coates' horse wins the Grand National, his wife come home drunk, and the two of them have a violent argument, and she is accidentally killed. It premiered at the New Theatre, Oxford before transferring to the Apollo Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 268 performances between 12 June 1946 and 1 February 1947. she insists on taking his pregnant mare out for a ride, which eventually causes the horse to go into labour prematurely. The viewer understands that Nigel, whilst not happy, has tried to make his marriage work, but his wife's alcoholism and reckless behaviour has left him exasperated with her.noel purcell and beatrice campbell do some sterling support and colin gordon is the wonderfully name buns darling. Babs has already been banned from driving for 10 years, because she killed a man whilst she was driving under the influence. Filmed at the old Nettlefold Studios and starring oily Nigel Patrick as a racing horse trainer, this keeps its momentum up in that traditional cap-doffing British way. In 1953 it was made into a British film of the same title starring Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell.

The horse gives birth to a foal on a tempestuous, stormy Grand National day, just when one of Gerald's other horses wins - for the first time ever. He drives her to Liverpool to try and get her medical attention, but he discovers that she had died and leaves her in the car which belongs to a friend of hers. Grand National Night is a 1953 British thriller film brought to the screen by George Minter, produced by Phil C. Nigel Patrick gives a good performance in his role as Gerald Coates, the owner who is thrilled about winning the greatest steeplechase in the world, but then does something he really shouldn’t have. The original West End cast included Leslie Banks, Hermione Baddeley, Frederick Lloyd, Olga Edwardes, Campbell Copelin and Vincent Holman.Despite part of the plot of this thriller making use of a journey by train, all this appears as studio sets and model work. It skips along nicely and engagingly for eighty minutes with a solid contribution from the usually reliable Noel Purcell and a soupçon of glamour from the underused Beatrice Campbell too.

Nigel Patrick stars as Gerald Coates; a racehorse owner/trainer/breeder, whose wife, Babs (Moira Lister), is a drunken party-loving "hellcat". The horses are splendid, and there are quite a few 'hold-your-breath' moments when various characters take some pretty scary fences. I hope the foregoing will give you sufficient, but not too much, information to form your own opinion. The film was based on Campbell and Dorothy Christie’s 1945 play, which was also presented as a BBC Radio serial in 1946.It is also rather confusing in the fact that the train that comes to a halt is a Southern Region 4 SUB EMU, yet Nigel Patrick then jumps down to track level from a GWR coach! A racehorse owner (Nigel Patrick) who accidentally killed his wife (Moira Lister) matches wits with a detective.