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White Mischief (film)

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For the festival, see White Mischief (festival).

White Mischief
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Radford
Screenplay byMichael Radford
Jonathan Gems
Based onWhite Mischief
by James Fox
Produced bySimon Perry
Starring
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byTom Priestley
Music byGeorge Fenton
Production
companies
Columbia Pictures[1]
Nelson Entertainment
Goldcrest
Umbrella Films[1]
Power Tower Investments (Kenya)[1]
BBC
Curzon Film Distributors[1]
Jake Eberts[1]
British Screen[1]
Distributed byColumbia Pictures (through Columbia-Cannon-Warner Distributors)
Curzon
Release date
  • 1987 (1987) (United Kingdom)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£8 million[2] or $8.5 million[3]
Box office£1,532,903 (UK)[4][1]

White Mischief is a 1987 British drama film starring Greta Scacchi, Charles Dance and Joss Ackland. It was directed by Michael Radford. The film was based upon the non-fiction book White Mischief: The Murder of Lord Erroll (1982), by James Fox, which originated from a newspaper article published in 1969.[5]

The film dramatises the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, wherein Sir Henry “Jock” Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll. The cast also includes Sarah Miles, Geraldine Chaplin, and Ray McAnally, Murray Head, John Hurt, and Trevor Howard.

Plot

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Throughout the Second World War, aristocrats in the Kenya Colony's Happy Valley region often led hedonistic lifestyles of indulgence in alcohol, drugs, and extramarital relationships.  On 24 January 1941, Josslyn Hay, the philandering Earl of Erroll, was found dead in his car in a secluded area, with his reputation for adulterous relationships preceding him.

One such married woman is Diana Delves Broughton, the beautiful wife of Sir John Henry Delves Broughton, known as "Jock", who is thirty years her senior, with whom she has a pre-nuptial understanding that, should either of them fall in love with someone else, the other party would not impede that romance.

Diana has indeed succumbed to the charms of the roguish Earl of Erroll, whose other lovers include the drug-addicted American heiress Alice de Janzé and the 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 her husband 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 dead in his car near the home of Delves Broughton, who is soon charged with the murder.

Diana is distraught over losing her lover, as is Alice, who openly masturbates next to his corpse at the mortuary. A local plantation owner, Gilbert Colvile, whose only friend is Delves Broughton, quietly offers Diana advice and solace and ultimately shocks her by proposing marriage.

Delves Broughton stands trial. There are no witnesses to the crime and the physical evidence that appears incriminating is also circumstantial. He obviously had the motive and means, but is found innocent, and the scandal comes to an end. De Janzé ultimately kills herself, and Diana discovers further evidence that implicates her husband in her lover's death. After killing their dog and then menacing her with a shotgun, Broughton shoots himself in front of her. The film ends with a fleeing, bloodstained Diana discovering the remaining Happy Valley set partying around de Janzé's grave.

Cast

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Production

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In 1969, James Fox and Cyril Connolly began investigating the case for an article in The Sunday Times called "Christmas at Karen." After Connolly died in 1974, Fox inherited his notes and theories, and returned to Kenya to undertake further research. The result was the book White Mischief, published in 1982.[6][3] The title came from Black Mischief, Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel set in the mythical African kingdom of Azania. The New York Times called it "a fascinating book."[7] The Boston Globe said "had ‘White Mischief’ been a work of fiction it would have required the collaboration of Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse."[8] While researching the book Fox also collected information about Beryl Markham, which was turned into the film A Shadow on the Sun.[9]

The film rights to the book were optioned by Michael White, a friend of Fox's, while the book was being written.[10]

Director Michael Radford collaborated with British playwright Jonathan Gems on the script. Radford emphasized that "films of Africa should be made by Africans" and described the project as "a film of melancholy about people who have everything and yet have nothing. It's about people who want to possess what they can't possess."[11]

Securing funding for the film posed a challenge. The financing was sourced from a chain of Canadian cinemas (Cineplex Odeon, Goldcrest Films and Nelson Entertainment), and the remaining amount came from Columbia Pictures, then under David Puttnam as head of production.[2]

Richard Attenborough was offered and turned down the lead role, because he wanted to focus on directing films.[12]

Filming took place from February to May 1987 at Shepperton Studios and on location in Kenya.[13] Wrotham Park was used as Doddington Hall, the home of Delves Broughton.

Historical accuracy

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The real Alice De Janzé shot herself on 30 September 1941,[14] while Jock Delves Broughton eventually returned to England and committed suicide by morphine overdose in the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool in December 1942, over a year later.[15]

"There is a difference between fact and truth," said producer Simon Perry. "You can be truthful without being factual. It's inevitable there will be people who think Kenya was and still is a paradise of remittance men and black sheep of aristocratic families. Kenya was an exaggerated microcosm of society in Britain at that time, painted in primary colours with characters larger than life."[11]

Sir Jock Broughton's son, Sir Evelyn, complained that the film depicted his father as a murderer. He said his father was too drunk that night to have committed the crime and that Diana was more likely to have done it.[16]

Diana Broughton died in 1987.[17]

Reception

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Box office

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The film lost money during its theatrical release.[4] However, Jake Eberts[18] reported that Goldcrest Films invested £1,300,000 in the film, and received £1,633,000, earning them a profit of £333,000.[19]

Book author James Fox said he was "ambivalent" about the movie.[20]

Legacy

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In 1996, Mariette Bosch murdered Ria Wolmerans in Botswana. Both women were white South Africans. The case was referred to as "Botswana's white mischief".[21]

See also

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  • The Happy Valley, a BBC television drama also dealing with the murder, was first aired on 6 September 1987, several months before White Mischief was released.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 31. ISBN 1-84457-108-4.
  2. ^ a b Power, James. "Requiem for a shooting party." Sunday Times [London, England] 12 Apr. 1987: 51. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Shot in Kenya". Pym, John. Sight & Sound; London Vol. 56, Iss. 3, (Summer 1987): 176.
  4. ^ a b Olins, Rufus (24 September 1995). "Mr Fixit of the British Screen; Simon Perry". The Sunday Times. Gale Academic OneFile Select.
  5. ^ White Mischief: The Murder of Lord Erroll, by James Fox, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-394-75687-8
  6. ^ "Kenya Brits". Brittain, Victoria. The Guardian, 18 Nov 1982: 14.
  7. ^ "Books of The Times: White Mischief. The Murder of Lord Erroll. A True Story of Aristocracy, Alcohol and Adultery". By Michiko Kakutani. The New York Times, 8 Mar 1983: C14.
  8. ^ "Review / Book; Veddy British and Veddy True". Bob MacDonald, Globe Staff. The Boston Globe, 19 Apr 1983: 1.
  9. ^ Onstad, Eric (17 March 1988). "Flier's personal life probed in TV film". The Globe and Mail (C.4. ed.).
  10. ^ "A West End Winner: Michael Murphy met the successful impresario Michael White, an American with a string of theatrical hits behind him, in London". Murphy, Michael. The Irish Times, 20 Dec 1984: 10.
  11. ^ a b "'White Mischief': In Kenya, a film crew stirs dark memories". Fitzgerald, Mary Anne. The Christian Science Monitor, 25 May 1987.
  12. ^ "Attenborough hopes his movie is political". Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct 1987: K22.
  13. ^ "Win some, lose some". Vidal, John. The Guardian, 2 May 1987: 12.
  14. ^ "An Ex-Countess Shot Found Dead", The New York Times, 1 October 1941.
  15. ^ Inquest on Sir Jock Delves Broughton, The Times, 15 December 1942.
  16. ^ Son attacks White Mischief film which calls his father murderer Staff Reporter. The Guardian 16 Feb 1988: 4.
  17. ^ "Last Clue to 1941 Kenya Murder Dies With Aristocrat": [Bulldog Edition]. Faul, Michelle. Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep 1987: 9.
  18. ^ "Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute (White Mischief (Original))". Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  19. ^ Eberts, Jake; Illott, Terry (1990). My indecision is final. Faber and Faber. p. 657. ISBN 9780571148882.
  20. ^ On the spoor of scandal: James Fox, whose book is the basis of the film, talks to Nicholas de Jongh. Fox, James. The Guardian 4 Feb 1988: 15.
  21. ^ Barrow, Greg. "South African woman to hang." BBC. Tuesday, 30 January 2001. Retrieved on 27 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Dressed to think". Banks-Smith, Nancy. The Guardian, 7 Sep 1987: 10.
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