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Separate Tables Details

1958 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 364 members

Life in an English bed and breakfast where the eccentric guests all have one common trait – loneliness. There's Major Pollack who hides a dark secret behind a polished military veneer; Sibyl Railton-Bell, a shy, neurotic old maid who lacks the courage to break away from her domineering mother. John Malcolm, a disenchanted .. Read more

Starring Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Deborah Kerr
Director Delbert Mann
Genres Drama

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Separate Tables

Life in an English bed and breakfast where the eccentric guests all have one common trait – loneliness. There's Major Pollack who hides a dark secret behind a polished military veneer; Sibyl Railton-Bell, a shy, neurotic old maid who lacks the courage to break away from her domineering mother. John Malcolm, a disenchanted writer who drowns his bitterness in a pool of alcohol; and Ann Shankland, whose narcissism masks a deep fear of growing old alone and unloved. In one emotional evening, these four emotional misfits will bare their innermost secrets… and change each others' lives forever.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller
Director Delbert Mann
Studio MGM ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 36 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Dubbed French, German, Italian, Spanish
Hearing-impaired English, German
Subtitles DVD: Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Spanish
Released DVD: 11 Jul 2005
Production year: 1958
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (2) of Separate Tables

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Julie Christie teamed with director John Schlesinger for the fourth and last time (to date) on this TV-movie version of the celebrated Terence Rattigan play that was first filmed by Delbert Mann in 1958. She's far too beautiful for the role of the mousey Sybil, but her hesitant performance just about stands comparison with Deborah Kerr's. Alan Bates, her co-star in Far from the Madding Crowd, is a touch too ebullient in the role that earned David Niven an Oscar, but it's clear the couple enjoy working together.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006
  • 2 stars out of 4

    The genteel melodramas seem less convincing on the Hollywood screen than they did on the London stage, but the handling is thoroughly professional.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
    • Posted 02 Mar 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Separate Tables

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Timeless classic

    If ever a film is held up by acting ability alone this is it, simply superb.

      • A customer from Edinburgh
      • Posted 17 Jul 2007 08:28

  • Most recent members' review of Separate Tables

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    The times they are a-changin'

    To modern viewers, this may appear to be a lot of fuss about nothing. Seemingly tedious interactions between misfits marooned together in a quiet backwater of a south-coast hotel slowly gather pace and some carefully wrought power to transform their lives and attitudes.

    Mrs. R-B, representing Victorian moral values and repression that still held sway before the War, is stripped of her influence in a moving dénouement, which sees the rest of society, as depicted by the other residents, move on, forgive people their various shortcomings and follow a new comandment of live and let live. Kerr and Niven excel.

      • Ian Beecroft from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
      • Posted 25 Feb 2007 18:42

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Rating breakdown

364 Member ratings
  • 100
34
  • 90
35
  • 80
78
  • 70
81
  • 60
65
  • 50
27
  • 40
14
  • 30
12
  • 20
12
  • 10
6

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      • Life in an English bed and breakfast where the eccentric guests all have one common trait – loneliness. There's Major Pollack who hides a dark secret behind a polished military veneer; Sibyl Railton-...