Grand National Night (1953) [DVD]

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Nigel and his staff and friends are sad at the tragedy, which was caused by his thoughtless wife's cruel behaviour.

In 1953 it was made into a British film of the same title starring Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell. Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the Grand National.

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. 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.

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. 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! It is not known where exactly this scene was filmed, and it seems rather out of sync with the rest of the film, which is set in Liverpool. noel purcell and beatrice campbell do some sterling support and colin gordon is the wonderfully name buns darling.

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. 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. In this British crime thriller directed by Bob McNaught, adapted from the play by Dorothy and Campbell Christie, a British racehorse owner (Nigel Patrick) manages to win the Grand National with his horse. Babs has already been banned from driving for 10 years, because she killed a man whilst she was driving under the influence. Maybe not his "latest and greatest screen role" as it said in the publicity blurb, but it's not a bad vehicle for a star who does enough here to keep it interesting, if not exactly intriguing with what must have been a fairly limited budget.