The Winslow Boy

Arthur Winslow [Cedric Hardwicke] retires and returns home after 46 years at the bank, stepping away because arthritis makes work untenable. He leads a quiet, orderly life with his middle-class family: his eldest son Dickie Winslow [Jack Watling] is at Oxford, his daughter Catherine Winslow [Margaret Leighton] is a committed, non-militant suffragette, and his youngest son Ronnie Winslow [Neil North] is just starting as a cadet at the Royal Naval College. The nearby neighbor, John Watherstone [Frank Lawton], asks for permission to marry his daughter, signaling the small, interconnected world they inhabit.

Ronnie arrives back unexpectedly, soaked and carrying a letter for his father from the college that he’s too frightened to hand over. He’s accused of stealing a postal order for five shillings, and an internal inquiry is conducted that offers him little chance to defend himself. The verdict is guilty, and Arthur is urged to remove his son from the college. Refusing to accept the outcome, Arthur and Catherine decide to push back, enlisting their family solicitor Desmond Curry [Basil Radford] to help, and briefing England’s foremost barrister, Sir Robert Morton [Robert Donat], in case the case reaches the courtroom.

Morton begins a rigorous, probing examination of Ronnie, pressing for discrepancies in his memories and the habit Ronnie has of copying a friend’s signature that could have been used for the theft. Morton grows convinced of Ronnie’s innocence and agrees to take the case. Arthur also brings the issue to his Member of Parliament, who raises it in the House of Commons, invoking the Magna Carta principle that no subject may be condemned without trial.

The government resists opening the case, but pressure from debates in Parliament eventually yields. As law and Politics collide, the cost of justice becomes painfully tangible: the lawyers’ bill climbs to six-hundred-and-thirty-four pounds, far beyond Arthur’s overdraft. He is advised to cut his losses and withdraw, telling Dickie that he will pull him out of Oxford and find him a job at the bank instead.

The trial unfolds with Morton at the helm, and his cross-examinations manage to discredit much of the prosecution’s evidence. The government eventually withdraws the charges and offers a formal apology to the Winslow family. Yet victory comes at a price. Dickie must leave Oxford and takes a job at a bank in Reading; Catherine loses her marriage settlement and her fiancé John, though Morton’s own presence creates a spark between them. The moment is underscored by a sharp, almost wry observation from Morton:
> “How little you know men”
that hints at the complexities of love, power, and choice.

In the aftermath, Morton declines a promotion to Lord Chief Justice to pursue the case, a decision that leaves him with mixed feelings: he may have secured justice for Ronnie, but at the cost of personal ambition. The Winslow family, while vindicated, discovers that justice can be costly on many fronts, altering the paths of every member. Arthur’s health bears the strain, yet his name is cleared and his family’s honor is restored. The courtroom triumph becomes a broader meditation on duty, resilience, and the imperfect ways in which a society seeks to right an apparent wrong.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:47