CONDUCT UNBECOMING of “officers and gentlemen” is the focus of a 1975 sally into our old friend Military Justice, the Court Martial Division, British Subset. Scarlet tunics, heel clicking, bushy sideburns are present, and the ‘honor of the regiment’ is paramount. Since from at least Paths Of Glory on, we know going in that court martials are deck-stacked to favor The Service over the serving, and subjects of His/Her Majesty have reliably been proven to get the raw end of the swagger stick as evidenced in the cases of Carrington V.C., Billy Budd, Mutiny On The Bounty, King and Country and Breaker Morant. 

India, 1878. This time around, trouble in the Crown’s Jewel comes not from stealthy Thuggees, unruly maharajahs or ever-restive tribesmen but from inside the garrison of a particular regiment of Lancers. ‘Mrs. Marjorie Scarlett’ (Susannah York), widow of a hero, is violently assaulted at a party. Mind you, this outrage comes not from some lout in the ranks, but from one of the officers, a class and breed who live by a severe and venerated code of honor. She accuses ‘Lt. Millington’ (James Faulkner), an arrogant newcomer. To keep scandal from damaging the regiment, a private court martial is held, and Millington’s idealistic fellow newcomer ‘Lt. Drake’ (Michael York) is ordered to defend him. Millington’s an ass, which doesn’t help, while complicating the case is the lady’s history of being a coquettish tease who’s favored by the rest of the fellows.

Both Terence Rattigan and Bryan Forbes made go’s at the script before Robert Enders took on the assignment, adapting from the play written by Barry England. Michael Anderson directed, the bulk done on studio sets, with a few exteriors shot in Pakistan. Both stuffy and tawdry, it takes a while to get going, and feels overly earnest—York and Faulkner in particular: it’s difficult to care for much of anyone. Still, an ace lineup is at hand: Stacy Keach (neat job with the accent), Christopher Plummer (also kitted up for the Raj that year in The Man Who Would Be King), Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough and James Donald. Though in the end it doesn’t measure up to the promise from the cast and the period setting, the intense turns from the old pros are enough to warrant a watch.

Fairly successful in Britain, in the US the gross of $2,500,000 placed #101 in 1975. 108 minutes, with Michael Culver, Rafiq Anwar, Helen Cherry (Howards real-life spouse playing his character’s wife) and Persis Khambatta.