White Mischief (film)
| White Mischief | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Michael Radford |
| Produced by | Simon Perry |
| Screenplay by | Michael Radford Jonathan Gems |
| Based on |
White Mischief by James Fox |
| Starring | |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
| Edited by | Tom Priestley |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
22 April 1988 |
|
Running time
|
107 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £8 million |
| Box office | $3,107,551 (US) £1,532,903 (UK) |
White Mischief is a 1987 British film dramatizing the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, when Sir Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll.
Based on a book by the Sunday Times journalist James Fox (originally researched with Cyril Connolly for an article in December 1969), it was directed by Michael Radford.
With much of the rest of the world at war, a number of bored British aristocrats live dissolute and hedonistic lives in a region of the Kenya Colony known as Happy Valley, drinking, drugging and indulging in decadent sexual affairs to pass the time.
On 24 January 1941, Josslyn Hay, the philandering Earl of Erroll, is found dead in his car in a remote location. The Earl has a noble pedigree but a somewhat sordid past and a well-deserved reputation for having affairs with married women.
Diana Delves Broughton is one such woman. She is the beautiful wife of Sir John Henry Delves Broughton, known to most as "Jock," a man 30 years her senior. Diana has a pre-nuptial understanding with her husband that should either of them fall in love with someone else, the other will do nothing to impede the romance.
Diana has indeed succumbed to the charms of the roguish Earl of Erroll, whose other lovers also include the drug-addicted American heiress Alice de Janze and the somewhat more reserved Nina Soames. The Earl is more serious about this affair than any of his earlier dalliances, and wants Diana to marry him. She is reluctant to leave what she thinks is the financial security of her marriage to formalise her relationship with Erroll (who has no funds or prospects), unaware that Delves Broughton is deep in debt. Privately humiliated but appearing to honour their agreement, Delves Broughton publicly toasts the couple's affair at the club in Nairobi, asking Erroll to bring Diana home at a specified time. Delves Broughton appears to be extremely intoxicated for the rest of the evening; once he is alone it is clear he was feigning drunkenness. After dropping off Diana, Erroll is shot to death in his car not far from the home of Delves Broughton who is soon charged with Errol's murder.
...
Wikipedia