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Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

The Winslow Boy (1948)

Tagged: Law & liberty

When a young cadet is accused of theft and expelled from a government Naval Academy, one of England’s great barristers fights for his right to a fair trial. Based on a true story. [ The Winslow Boy credits: Dir: Anthony Asquith/ Robert Donat, Margaret Leighton, Cedric Hardwicke/ 117 min/ Drama/ Law & Liberty]

“The script, based on the Terence Rattigan play of the same name, is literary. Many parts are well played. Robert Donat, in particular, shines in the leading role as barrister, a virtual personification of ice-cold justice.”

“It is not Winslow’s guilt or Winslow’s innocence that concerns us now. It is something greater by far. It is Winslow’s right as a common citizen of England to be heard, to be heard in defense of his honor, so wantonly pitched into the mire because of this monstrous assumption … that ‘the King can do no wrong.’” This last phrase refers to the government’s claim to immunity from civil suit, which the heroic barrister fights all the way into Parliament in order to secure a hearing for his wrongfully accused client.

This great and peculiarly British story begins when the boy at the center of these events is expelled from a government Naval Academy for allegedly stealing a money order. He protests his innocence to anyone who will listen, even under the most grueling questioning. However, the Naval Academy arbitrarily denies his request for a fair trial and defends its denial with the legal shield that “the King can do no wrong.” Neither side will give in, and thus begins this three-year-long battle between a middle-class family and its government over a matter of principle.

Of course, libertarians are not opposed to anyone being expelled from a private institution, with or without a hearing, according to voluntary agreement. But in this situation the student and Naval Academy relationship is not entirely voluntary. And anyway the government’s presumption that it is above the law, however constituted, makes this a sympathetic case.

The Winslow Boy is also superior entertainment. The script, based on the Terence Rattigan play of the same name, is literary. Many parts are well played. Robert Donat, in particular, shines in the leading role as barrister, a virtual personification of ice-cold justice. This is a particularly popular film among Randians.

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Related Film: The Winslow iBoy (1999)
Book: The Winslow iBoy (Play)

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  1. Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World – The Winslow Boy (1999) says:
    January 27, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    […] film has much in common with the 1948 cinematic version of The Winslow Boy, as might be expected since both have roots in the Terence Rattigan play of the same name. It […]

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This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

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