The Final Test

This starts with quite an enjoyable assessment of this most English of games (it's not a sport, you know) with the rules and the prospect of playing for five days without a result explained to a visiting and bemused American senator (Stanley Maxted). Meantime, with his dad "Sam" (Jack Warner) about ... to make his last appearance for England in that very test match, his young son "Reggie" (Ray Jackson) faces a bit of a quandary. He is expected to be at the ground to watch this momentous moment, but he is also determined to finish his poem that he wants to send to acclaimed playwright "Whitehead" (Robert Morley). Next thing, he's missed the match but luckily his father has yet to make his appearance, so there's some breathing room next day. Wait, no! He's been invited by his idol to his rural home to present his latest work. He can't do both, and so coming clean with his father - and borrowing the train fare - he sets off to the countryside. Luckily, this writer is a typically eccentric Englishman who loves his cricket, but can they make it there in time? It's based on Terence Rattigan's short play that I felt rather potently illustrated not just that the choices made by a new generation might not always impress their parents, but also it rather poignantly demonstrates the temporariness of success on the field of play. Noisily acclaimed til you too are replaced as you once did that to another, whilst the appreciative crowd applaud but are eager to transfer that loyalty to your successor. Warner plays the role sparingly and he rather engagingly epitomises this widowed character at a crossroads in his life that will see his son start to make his own decisions whilst maybe local barmaid "Cora" (Brenda Bruce) can start a new chapter with him? Morley is at his lively best and there's also an enjoyable role for Adrianne Allen as the auntie trying to keep things peaceable whilst all her fine china becomes tomorrow's jigsaw puzzles. The production is basic but there's quite a fun scene towards the end with Morley, Jackson, a car and some backdrop filming to top off an entertainingly simple story of family and opportunity. read more