The Durant Affair

It is generally assumed that 'the sixties' began on January 1, 1960, but that is incorrect. 'The sixties' as such began in the late summer and early autumn of 1963. Before that, the 1950s continued unabated and British B films such as this continued to be cranked out, which were pure 'fifties' in style and content, many of them directed by Godfrey Grayson, of whose 28 rather undistinguished films this was the last. This film has a mildly interesting story about a girl in her thirties who never knew who her mother was, and who is contacted by the solicitor of her mother, who had confessed on her deathbed that she had this illegitimate daughter whom she had abandoned as an infant. Jane Griffiths, who died at the age of only 46 in 1975, plays this daughter. Like all but one performer in this film (Nigel Green), Griffiths was not at all famous in her profession. Green plays a QC (Queen's Counsel, the highest level of British barrister) who ruthlessly cross-examines witnesses in the trial concerning the inheritance. Green in this role is the usual cold and steely-eyed character which he played to great effect in film after film. Apart from him, the entire cast have left little legacy to posterity and could be described as essentially 'unknowns', as were most of of the actors appearing in these low-budget B films, produced by Dantziger Productions, which ceased making films in this very year, after one last effort, having produced 84 unmemorable films in twelve years, not one of which is remembered today. I do not wish to be too unkind about this film. It is rather contrived and corny, and the performances are not scintillating, but the film still manages to be interesting enough not to turn it off.