Separate Tables

Cinema's treated Terence Rattigan much better than most playwrights. The Browning Version, The Winslow Boy and The Deep Blue Sea all have respectable film versions, not mentioning Rattigan's own screenwriting work. Best-remembered is the ensemble drama Separate Tables (1958), directed by Delbert Mann. More conventional than, say, Terence Davies' expressionist Deep Blue Sea, it's still a fine adaptation.

Bournemoth's classy Beauregard Hotel serves as the meeting place for troubled individuals. Disgraced politician John Malcolm (Burt Lancaster) confronts his needy ex-wife Anne (Rita Hayworth). Socially awkward Sybil (Deborah Kerr) flirts with windbag war hero Major Pollocks (David Niven), even after her mother (Gladys Cooper) discovers the Major's unsavory past. An unhappy younger couple (Rod Taylor and Audrey Dalton) flits around the edges. Presiding over them is Miss Cooper (Wendy Hiller), whose unfussy, uncritical manner provides comfort to her customers.

Separate Tables serves as a powerful mediation on loneliness. Each character struggles to forge meaningful connections with other people, desperate to avoid unhappiness. Anne can't move on from John's rejection and tries to seduce him, even as John pursues Miss Cooper. More effective is Major Pollocks: he cultivates a reputation as a gallant bore, desperately hiding his past as a pathological pervert. Sybil is so desperate to break free from her mother's control that she pursues the Major, even after learning his secret. Rattigan interweaves these stories with deftness and insight, ending on a wistful note.

Rattigan's original work consists of two standalone one-act plays. Mann, Rattigan and cowriter John Gay open things up with more characters and exterior scenes, blending the two stories together. The adaptation works marvelously, creating a felicitous dramatic flow and interplay that allows each plot room to breathe. Rattigan's style and settings are safely middle class but convey universal themes and emotions.

Separate Tables' big appeal comes with the all-star cast. Co-producer Burt Lancaster does another variant of his leering cad, resisting the advances of aging Rita Hayworth. David Niven plays remarkably against-type as a desperate, beaten loser. Deborah Kerr gracefully conveys Sibyl's wounded naivety, despite seeming too old for the role. Wendy Hiller won an Oscar as the businesslike matron. May Hallat, Gladys Cooper and Felix Aylmer inhabit supporting roles; Rod Taylor has a marginal cameo.

Today Separate Tables plays very old-fashioned, but that's part of its charm. Mann's restrained direction allows us to focus on Rattigan's very human story.