It Scorches With All the Intensity of Truth
1961-02-14
N/A
110 min
Johnnie Byrne is a member of the British Parliament. In his 40s, he's feeling frustrated with his life and his personal as well as professional problems tower up over him. His desires to win the next election are endangered by his constant looking for love and he is faced with the choice of giving up a career in politics or giving up the woman he loves.
Peter Finch seems very much at home with this role. He is "Johnnie Byrne", the successfully returned Labour MP for the working class constituency of "Urnley". Overlooked for a government position, he lives a pretty rakish existence regularly cheating on his wife with younger women. It all comes to a bit of an head when he comes into information that he could use to damage his own government; intent on using it he instead gets caught up with a lady friend "Pauline" (Mary Peach) and misses the opportunity to ask the question. One of his cohorts is less than impressed, so leaks this to his local party who force a vote of no confidence in him. He has to take stock now - else he could and up with nothing at all. Despite the decent cast - Stanley Holloway, Donald Pleasance and Billie Whiteaw appear now and again - it really is a bit of a single-hander from Finch. He does a decent enough job, but I found that the film slides into mediocrity after a promising start. The quality of the dialogue slips markedly as the story progresses and somehow, there is a convenience to the ending that rendered it just a bit hollow. I suppose for 1961 it might be considered a bit racy, but that has lost what potency it had now, too. Worth it for Finch, but I don't know that I would bother watching it again.
