What ought to have been night of celebration turns sour for Grand National winning owner "Coates" (Nigel Patrick) when a contretemps with his drunken wife "Babs" (Moira Lister) leaves him the subject of a police investigation. But then he has a violent argument with his wife (Moira Lister), which results in her accidental murder. Lister features but sparingly, but her characterisation of "Babs" does rather get under your fingernails, so as the police work proceeded I did start to feel just a bit of sympathy for her rather idiotic, but good natured, husband - and Patrick is on decent form in that role here.

The horses are splendid, and there are quite a few 'hold-your-breath' moments when various characters take some pretty scary fences. Nigel Patrick is assured and convincing in the central role of a gentlemen horse trainer who becomes involved in a game of cat-and-mouse with a Scotland Yard inspector who suspects him of murder. Coates insists that she didn't come home after the big race, but the police begin to suspect him, after a train ticket is found in his coat. I hope the foregoing will give you sufficient, but not too much, information to form your own opinion. Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the Grand National.Other members of the supporting cast include Noel Purcell as the vet, Betty Ann Davis as 'Pinkie' (a posh version of Dora Bryan) and Colin Gordon as Patrick's scrounging friend, 'Buns'. The film was based on Campbell and Dorothy Christie’s 1945 play, which was also presented as a BBC Radio serial in 1946.

It is not known where exactly this scene was filmed, and it seems rather out of sync with the rest of the film, which is set in Liverpool.

In 1953 it was made into a British film of the same title starring Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. It is also rather confusing in the fact that the train that comes to a halt is a Southern Region 4 SUB EMU, yet Nigel Patrick then jumps down to track level from a GWR coach! After race horse trainer Gerald Coates' (Nigel Patrick) horse wins the Grand National, his wife comes home drunk, and the two of them have a violent argument, and she is accidentally killed.

It skips along nicely and engagingly for eighty minutes with a solid contribution from the usually reliable Noel Purcell and a soupçon of glamour from the underused Beatrice Campbell too. Nigel Patrick gives a good performance in his role as Gerald Coates, the owner who is thrilled about winning the greatest steeplechase in the world, but then does something he really shouldn’t have. A racehorse owner (Nigel Patrick) who accidentally killed his wife (Moira Lister) matches wits with a detective.He drives her to Liverpool to try and get her medical attention, but he discovers that she had died and leaves her in the car which belongs to a friend of hers. Despite part of the plot of this thriller making use of a journey by train, all this appears as studio sets and model work. Previous to this film version Grand National Night had been presented as a BBC Radio serial as well as the original stage play, which was produced in 1945 and 1946. The horse gives birth to a foal on a tempestuous, stormy Grand National day, just when one of Gerald's other horses wins - for the first time ever.

The original West End cast included Leslie Banks, Hermione Baddeley, Frederick Lloyd, Olga Edwardes, Campbell Copelin and Vincent Holman. The viewer understands that Nigel, whilst not happy, has tried to make his marriage work, but his wife's alcoholism and reckless behaviour has left him exasperated with her.Nigel Patrick stars as Gerald Coates; a racehorse owner/trainer/breeder, whose wife, Babs (Moira Lister), is a drunken party-loving "hellcat". A solid thriller, directed by George Minter, in which we watch the authorities try to catch the killer, knowing "whodunnit". To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The crime element of the story isn't particularly gripping, but the acting, rural setting and old-fashioned drawing room atmosphere add up to an enjoyable film - more of a melodrama with a mystery element than a thriller.