''The Blind Goddess'' is a 1948 British courtroom

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

Harold French Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography After training at the Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a production of ''The Winter's Tale''. As an ...

and starring

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

Anne Crawford Imelda Anne Crawford (22 November 1920 – 17 October 1956) was a British film actress, born in Palestine of a Scottish father and an English mother, and brought up in Edinburgh. Biography A contemporary of Margaret Lockwood and Phyllis Calver ...

and

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Anth ...

. The screenplay concerns a secretary who sets out to expose his boss, Lord Brasted, for

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

. It was based on a popular 1947 play of the same title by noted barrister

Patrick Hastings Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings (17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was an English barrister and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General. He was educated at Charterhouse ...

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

made her screen debut in the film. The "blind goddess" in question is

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Plot

A valet shoots a man (later named as Count Mikla) dead, steals a bundle of documents, and sets up the crime scene to look like a suicide. Derek Waterhouse sits in an exclusive restaurant with a young woman, Mary Dearing. He is a lawyer and has a quick word with his client, Lady Brasted, before leaving. Outside he chats with the girl in his car until they are moved along by a policeman. Waterhouse is the private secretary to Lord Brasted. He tells Mary that Lord Brasted offered him £10,000 to stay silent on a complicated deal he was trying to stop the prime minister from learning about. Lord Brasted meets with Mary's father, Lord Dearing, a senior advocate, saying that Waterhouse is trying to blackmail him. Lord Brasted confesses to his wife that Waterhouse's accusations are true. When Waterhouse goes to the PM, Lord Barsted has little option other than to sue him for libel. Lady Brasted tries to lean on her former relationship with Waterhouse and goes to convince him to change his story (as he has already told the PM it is unclear what this would achieve). Waterhouse goes to discuss the case with Lord Dearing, but Dearing has to decline as he has already been engaged by Lord Brasted to represent him in the upcoming case of Brasted v. Waterhouse. The case goes to court at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

. Waterhouse discloses that £500,000 sent to Count Mikla in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

for post-war relief had been diverted to other persons. He believes papers in Count Mikla's possession would prove this. Waterhouse claims that Brasted offered him a three year assignment in West Africa plus £10,000 which he interpreted as a bribe to keep silent. Brasted's counsel accuses Waterhouse of trying to blackmail Brasted for a sum of £20.000. Lady Brasted reveals to Lord Dearing that she has a love letter from Waterhouse which would incriminate him in terms of motive. However, when Dearing goes to the Brasted house that evening it is a totally different letter from Waterhouse which is revealed. It is said to have been concealed in the lining of Count Mikla's briefcase. The murderer from the opening scene enters the room. He is introduced as Johan Meyer and Lord Brasted says he has information on the case. Lady Brasted shows Lord Dearing the love letter and he persuaded her to show it to her husband. Lord Dearing first presents the briefcase document to the court, which very much damns Waterhouse. However, it is pointed out that it begins "Dear Mikla" rather than "Dear Stefan" which he can prove is the usual style of his letters. It is presumed that this letter if forged by Brasted. Dearing is then forced to reveal the love letters. This is equally damning. Although it says "he will have to go higher" this has two interpretations: a higher amount of money or a higher authority (the PM). The secretary refuses to waver in his story, which is complicated by his former love of Lady Brasted. Cross-examination focusses on this and accuses the Secretary of

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

. Barsted wins the case. The love letter is printed in the newspapers. It is on

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...

headed paper. When Dearing and his wife dine at the Savoy that evening the head waiter brings over the newspaper and points out that the notepaper was not created until April but the letter is dated March. Meanwhile Mary reappears. Somehow Lady Brasted had intercepted Waterhouse's letter to Mary and passed it off as a letter to her. Mary confronts Lady Brasted. Lord Brasted is happy that the love letters were not to his wife. He questions if their marriage was a good one. She goes to bed. He goes out to post letters, declining the help of his butler. Although the exact circumstance is not seen, it is implied that he throws himself under a car.

Cast

Production

Patrick Hastings was a successful lawyer who wrote plays in his spare time, of which ''Blind Goddess'' was most popular. It premiered in 1948, a few years before Hastings' death. Film rights were purchased by Gainsborough Productions, then part of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

. Gainsborough head of production

Sydney Box Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis. He produced and co- ...

worked on the screenplay with his wife

Muriel Box Violette Muriel Box, Baroness Gardiner, (22 September 1905 – 18 May 1991) was an English screenwriter and director, Britain's most prolific female director, having directed 12 feature films and one featurette. Her screenplay for ''The Seventh ...

. It was filmed in July 1948 at Islington Studios with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Norman Arnold Norman G. Arnold (19 September 1892 – 7 December 1963) was a British art director who designed the sets for over a hundred and twenty films. Early life and World War I Arnold studied architecture, interior decoration & design. During the First ...

. It was the film debut of Claire Bloom. She had auditioned for the part of Ophelia in ''Hamlet'' and been unsuccessful, but her screen test impressed the Rank Organisation and they put her under contract. Betty Box, who produced, requested the original script be modified so that Lady Brasted did not take a lover but only pretended to.

Release

The film was released in the US in 1949. The American distributor tried to engage interest by advertising the film in the New York Law Journal.

Reception

Critical

''Variety'' said "the film is very much a carbon copy of the original play" but praised the handing and acting. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Justice, the poets have it, is a blind goddess...But the (film), which arrived at the Forty-second Street Embassy yesterday, illustrates that justice is not blind precisely but merely myopic and rather routine"; while ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'' noted, "good performances help keep this rather stagy and stiff adaptation moving."

Box Office

The film was not a success at the box office.