Nominated for seven Academy Awards and the winner of two, Separate Tables is a compelling and satisfying drama of the distinctly “old-fashioned” variety. Based on the popular stage play by Terence Rattigan, Separate Tables wends its way between two main plots and deftly juggles several interesting and melancholy characters. The key theme here is simple loneliness, and although Separate Tables deals with some rather unhappy people, odds are you’ll be quickly drawn in by the intertwined tales of woe.

The Beauregard Hotel in South England is a clean and tidy place, and the regulars who live there year-round seem content in their self-induced isolation. John Malcolm (Burt Lancaster) is a reclusive novelist and part-time drunk enjoying a drab romance with hotel owner Mrs. Cooper (Wendy Hiller). Malcolm’s seclusion is threatened with the arrival of his former wife, fashion model Ann Shankland (Rita Hayworth), who has a few devious tricks up her sleeve to win back her former flame.

Another Beauregard regular is the pompous yet good-natured Major Pollock (David Niven), a stodgy old chap who has the unfortunate habit of propositioning the wrong women. When the major’s latest dalliance is publicized in the daily newspaper, several of the hotel’s residents immediately begin an uproar. The most determined busybody is Mrs. Railston-Bell (Gladys Cooper) who simply will not rest until the major is tossed out of the hotel for his indiscretions. Her daughter is the painfully shy Sibyl (Deborah Kerr), a skittish young girl who unfortunately holds a bit of a torch for the old major.

These two storylines flow in and out of each other, and there are handfuls of other hotel denizens who chime in with their own brief subplots: Charles (Rod Taylor) and Jean (Audrey Dalton) are young lovers hiding out from their respective parents; Mr. Fowler (Felix Aylmer) is a pontificating old headmaster, and Miss Meachem (May Hallatt) hasn’t left the hotel in several years.

While it’s evident that Separate Tables had its genesis as a stage play, this version manages to stand on its own as a damn good movie. Although much of the film is devoted to exchanges of dialogue, director Delbert Mann keeps the actors moving and allows the hotel to become one of the characters. Considered rather daring in its day, Separate Tables is notable for its frank discussions of sexual topics generally considered taboo in 1950s entertainment.

This might not be the happiest movie ever made, but as far as old-fashioned soap-opera stories go, this one’s a winner. The exemplary cast is uniformly strong, with the standouts being Niven, Hiller and Lancaster. The first two won Oscars for their performances. The screenplay, while somewhat sombre, touches upon the fears of loneliness and abandonment we’re all familiar with and the result is a touching and absorbing movie that (thankfully) doesn’t wrap everything up with a big, dumb, happy ending.

Scott Weinberg

DVD version:

MGM delivers this well-remembered mini-classic in fine DVD fashion. The film is presented in its original widescreen format (1.66:1 aspect ratio, letterboxed). Audio is presented in Dolby digital 2.0 mono (in the original English, plus dubbed tracks in Spanish and French) with subtitles available in French and Spanish. A true rarity for a movie this old is a full-length commentary, yet 80-year-old director Delbert Mann shows up and offers a damn interesting audio track. His initial story about the film’s incongruous title song is a hoot! The original theatrical trailer (with Lancaster talking to the audience about the film) is also included.

Directed by Delbert Mann
Stars Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Burt Lancaster, Gladys Cooper, Cathleen Nesbitt, Felix Aylmer, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton, May Hallatt, Priscilla Morgan, Hilda Plowright
Studio/distributor: MGM