''Private Potter'' is a 1962 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Caspar Wrede Baron Casper Gustaf Kenneth Wrede af Elimä, known as Caspar Wrede (8 February 1929 in Viipuri, Finland – 25 September 1998 in Helsinki, Finland), was a Finnish theatre and film director. He was long active in the English theatre, co-founding t ...

and starring

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of ...

Mogens Wieth Mogens Wieth (16 September 1919 – 10 September 1962) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in more than 20 films between 1940 and 1962. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to stage and film actors Carlo Wieth and Agnes Thorberg Wieth, and h ...

, Ronald Fraser and James Maxwell.

Plot

During the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November 1 ...

(1955-1959), the eponymous Private Potter is a soldier who claims that the reason he cried out leading to the death of a comrade was that he saw a vision of God. There is then a debate over whether he should be court-martialled.

Cast

as Private Potter *

as Yannis * Ronald Fraser as Doctor * James Maxwell as Lieutenant Colonel Harry Gunyon *

Ralph Michael Ralph Michael (26 September 1907 – 9 November 1994) was an English actor. He was born as Ralph Champion Shotter in London. His film appearances included ''Dead of Night'', '' A Night to Remember'', ''Children of the Damned'', ''Grand Prix'' ...

as Padre *

Brewster Mason Brewster Mason (30 August 192214 August 1987) was an English stage actor who also appeared in films and on television. He was born in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire and made his stage debut at the Finsbury Park Open Air Theatre in 1947. He then appe ...

as Brigadier *

Eric Thompson Eric Norman Thompson (9 November 1929 – 30 November 1982) was an English actor, scriptwriter and stage director. He is best remembered for creating and performing the English narration for ''The Magic Roundabout'', which he adapted from ...

as Captain John Knowles * John Graham as Major Sims *

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...

as Captain Patterson *

Harry Landis Harry Landis (born Hyman Jacob Londinsky, 25 November 1926 – 11 September 2022) was a British actor and director. He had a long career in theatre, film and television, spanning over 60 years. Landis was best known for playing barber Felix K ...

as Lance Corporal Lamb * Michael Coles as Private Robertson *

Jeremy Geidt Charles Jeremy Wollaston Geidt (25 February 1930 – 6 August 2013) was a British-born American stage actor, comedian and acting coach. He was a Professor of Acting at Yale University, and later at Harvard University, being a founding member of b ...

as Major Reid *

Fulton Mackay William Fulton Beith Mackay (12 August 1922 – 6 June 1987) was a Scottish actor and playwright, best known for his role as prison officer Mr. Mackay in the 1970s television sitcom '' Porridge''. Early life Mackay was born in Paisley, Re ...

as Soldier

Production

The screenplay was written by

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ''The Dresser'' (for w ...

for a television play that was broadcast on ITV in 1961 featuring some of the same main cast, including Tom Courtenay, and Caspar Wrede again as director. Finnish-born director Wrede first spotted Courtenay while he was still at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...

and the leading role of the fragile young soldier who wilts under pressure was his first film appearance.

References

External links

* 1962 films British drama films 1962 drama films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films set in Cyprus Films set in the 1950s Cyprus Emergency Films with screenplays by Ronald Harwood Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s English-language films Films based on television plays 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-film-stub