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White Mischief

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6.0/10 • 53

1987-11-101h 47m

CrimeDramaRomanceThriller

In a world of wife swapping, drugs and chocolate covered lobsters, murder seemed so uncivilised.

A millionaire past his prime and his young wife arrive in Kenya circa 1940 to find that the other affluent British expatriates are living large as the homefront gears up for war. They are busy swapping partners, doing drugs, and attending lavish parties and horse races. She begins a torrid affair with one of the bon vivants, and her husband finds out and confronts them. The husband and wife decide to break up peacefully, but the bon vivant is murdered and all the evidence points to the husband.

Directors
Michael Radford
Editors
Tom Priestley

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Greta Scacchi

    Greta Scacchi

    Diana, Lady Broughton

  2. Charles Dance

    Charles Dance

    Josslyn Hay

  3. Joss Ackland

    Joss Ackland

    'Jock' Delves Broughton

  4. Sarah Miles

    Sarah Miles

    Alice de Janzé

  5. John Hurt

    John Hurt

    Gilbert Colville

  6. Trevor Howard

    Trevor Howard

    Jack Soames

  7. Geraldine Chaplin

    Geraldine Chaplin

    Nina Soames

  8. Murray Head

    Murray Head

    Lizzie

  9. Ray McAnally

    Ray McAnally

    Morris

Reviews2

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Nov 2, 2023

6/10

"Alice" (Sarah Miles) moves to colonial Kenya with her elderly husband "Jock" (Joss Ackland) and soon she is enjoying the social whirl that is their unfettered lifestyle. She falls in easily with the great and the good - even befriending the all-but-mute "Colvile" (John Hurt) but it's not that dalliance that worries her husband, though. It's one with the debonaire Earl of Erroll (Charles Dance) and soon a rather embarrassing/cuckolding menage à trois gradually emerges. When the latter man is found brutally slaughtered, a court case ensues but will it convict the culprit? It's speculatively based on real events and the photography is stunning, as is the general aesthetic of the drama. The film itself, though, is all rather underwhelming. A solid cast of British stage and screen actors cannot turn the really pedestrian screenplay into anything that remotely depicts the complex, hedonistic and entitled lives these people lived amidst the abject poverty of the local population. I reckon Joss Ackland is the only one who emerges with any credit here - and that's largely because he has probably the better part, especially as the plot thickens - but as for the rest of this, it's all just a disappointing critique on spoiled people, drug abuse and over-indulgence that I found a bit too sterile.

Media

  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster
  • White Mischief poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$5,300,000.00
Revenue
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Keywords
based on novel or bookupper classafricamurderkenyahedonismdecadence1940s