CrimeDramaRomanceThriller

White Mischief

- 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.

Release Date : 1987-11-10

Language :EnglishSwahili

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : GoldcrestNelson EntertainmentPower Tower InvestmentsUmbrella Films

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Diana, Lady Broughton

Original Name : Greta Scacchi

Gender : Female

Character Name : Josslyn Hay

Original Name : Charles Dance

Gender : Male

Character Name : 'Jock' Delves Broughton

Original Name : Joss Ackland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alice de Janzé

Original Name : Sarah Miles

Gender : Female

Character Name : Gilbert Colville

Original Name : John Hurt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jack Soames

Original Name : Trevor Howard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nina Soames

Original Name : Geraldine Chaplin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lizzie

Original Name : Murray Head

Gender : Male

Character Name : Morris

Original Name : Ray McAnally

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gladys, Lady Delamer

Original Name : Susan Fleetwood

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lady June Carberry

Original Name : Catherine Neilson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sir Walter Harrigan

Original Name : Alan Dobie

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hugh

Original Name : Hugh Grant

Gender : Male

Character Name : McPherson

Original Name : Gregor Fisher

Gender : Male

Character Name : Idina Soltau

Original Name : Jacqueline Pearce

Gender : Female

Character Name : Land Agent

Original Name : Tristram Jellinek

Gender : Male

Character Name : Raymond de Trafford

Original Name : Tim Myers

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gerald Portman

Original Name : Sean Mathias

Gender : Male

Character Name : Club Manager

Original Name : Ron Donachie

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kiptobe

Original Name : Douglas Chege

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sheridan

Original Name : Wensley Pithey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Carberry

Original Name : Stephan Chase

Gender : Male

Character Name : Abdullah

Original Name : Louis Mahoney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Girl

Original Name : Susannah Harker

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nancy Wirewater

Original Name : Amanda Parkin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kaplan

Original Name : Olivier Pierre

Gender : Male

Character Name : Poppy

Original Name : David Quilter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Baines

Original Name : John Rees

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fox

Original Name : Anthony Benson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Muffin-Faced Woman

Original Name : Clare Travers-Deacon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Handsome Reporter

Original Name : Nigel Le Vaillant

Gender : Male

Character Name : Spotty Reporter

Original Name : Basil Whybray

Gender : Male

Character Name : Servant

Original Name : Gary Beadle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jury Foreman

Original Name : Bill Moody

Gender : Male

Character Name : Registrar

Original Name : John Darrell

Gender : Male

Character Name : African Policeman

Original Name : Ilario Bisi-Pedro

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy Waiter

Original Name : Edwin Mahinda

Gender : Male

Character Name : Maasai Warrior

Original Name : Seipal Ngojine

Gender : Male

Character Name : Maasai Warrior

Original Name : Pilip Saitoti

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2023-11-02

"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.

kevin2019

@kevin2019

2024-06-14

"White Mischief" provides an account of what the vapid British elite did when the Luftwaffe began the blitz on London - they simply packed up their stiff upper lips and ran away to Kenya to continue indulging in the obscene and debauched life of privilege which they had become accustomed to. A life which was no doubt an accident of birth instead of an admirable and triumphant rise out of the oppressive and unforgiving depths of poverty through sheer determination and an ambition to succeed. Unfortunately such people hold no fascination or have any true relevance to the way hard working ordinary people live their lives, so it really comes as something of a surprise this film should hold any interest at all outside the circles of the well-to-do and those with aspirations to be just like them. However, this keen sense of fascination is indeed fleeting and ultimately there is very little to relieve the unremitting and tiresome monotony of it all.