The Man in Grey poster

1943·116 min·Released

The Man in Grey

“The most daring novel of the century lives on the screen”

Drama
Romance

After marrying a dour and disinterested lord for status, a young woman falls in love with a stage actor while her best friend from boarding school enters an affair with her husband.

6.1(47 votes)

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The Man in Grey (1943) Original Trailer

Cast & Crew

Margaret Lockwood

Margaret Lockwood

Hesther Shaw Barbary

Phyllis Calvert

Phyllis Calvert

Clarissa Richmond Rohan / Clarissa Rohan

James Mason

James Mason

Lord Rohan

Stewart Granger

Stewart Granger

Swinton Rokeby / Peter Rokeby

Harry Scott

Harry Scott

Toby

Beatrice Varley

Beatrice Varley

Gypsy Fortune Teller

Martita Hunt

Martita Hunt

Miss Patchett

Helen Haye

Helen Haye

Lady Rohan

Raymond Lovell

Raymond Lovell

The Prince of Wales

Nora Swinburne

Nora Swinburne

Mrs. Fitzherbert

Kathleen Boutall

Kathleen Boutall

Amelia (uncredited)

James B. Carson

James B. Carson

Gervaise (uncredited)

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John Chard

Written on 1/21/2014

The Gypsy Portent and the Woman of Deadly Nightshade. The Man in Grey is directed by Leslie Arliss and adapted to screenplay by Margaret Kennedy and Doreen Montgomery from the novel of the same name written by Eleanor Smith. It stars Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Phyllis Calvert and Stewart Granger. Music is By Cedric Mallabey and cinematography by Arthur Crabtree. A forerunner of Gainsborough’s Wicked Women movies, The Man in Grey is a delicious slice of British noir pie. Proudly decked out in period attire, story is ripe with dastards, narcissists, connivers, the selfish and the cruel. Headed up by Mason’s Lord Rohan and Lockwood’s Hesther Shaw, these people will stop at nothing to get what they want in life. It doesn’t matter who is around them, friends and family etc, if they can in any way hinder their respective selfish goals then they will be trampled upon and not a further thought will be given. It all simmers to the boiling point where lives will not just be ruined, but also ended. The four principal players are great, their respective careers well on the way to leaving behind considerable bodies of work. Arliss (The Night Has Eyes) keeps the story simple in spite of the many character strands and traits jostling for meaty exposure, and photographer Crabtree (Waterloo Road) accentuates the miserablist ambiance with sharp black and white lensing. The use of blackface on white actors is awfully out dated, as is some of the dialogue, but don’t hold these things against The Man in Grey. It’s a darn fine bodice botherer, resplendent with characters straight out of noir’s dark alleyways. 8/10

CinemaSerf

Written on 4/4/2022

James Mason is the spoiled, somewhat ruthless "Marquis of Rohan" who alights on the charming, if naive, "Clarissa" (Phyllis Calvert) and decides she is to be the mother of his heir. That's all he wants from her. No love or romance - just so long as he gets a child. She grew up with "Hester" (Margaret Lockwood) and when many years later, sees her acting in a play, she asks her to come and live with her in her palatial London home. Her infrequent visitor husband, accepts the idea on the basis that he will have a new playmate and soon the manipulative "Hester" is no longer content to be the mistress, but wants the title too. Add to the mix the gallant "Rokeby" (Stewart Granger), a man who has the measure of the venal and ambitious woman and we have a character driven period drama that moves along quite well for 90 minutes. Mason features sparingly, indeed it is the two ladies who drive much of the intrigue here, and for the most part - though the pace can be terribly slow at times - they do a decent job. The scenes at the end have stayed with me since I first saw this film 45 years ago, and are still pretty chilling. It's very much of it's time, this film. There are scenes and characterisations that don't sit so well 80 years on, but it has a more substantial story than many dramas of it's ilk and is worth watching.

Media

The Man in Grey (1943) Original Trailer

The Man in Grey (1943) Original Trailer