Although he did occasionally get to play a leading role Nigel Patrick never quite received the recognition he deserved and it's probably fair to say that he's remembered for his excellent supporting roles in classics like Puffin Asquith's The Browning Version. His name on the credits was the only reason I took the trouble to watch this pot-boiler when it was screened on television the other day. The twist at virtually the last minute is a crib from a much finer film The Fallen Idol which was made some five or six years earlier and though the directors' idea of a racehorse training stable is a couple of shots of horses moving in single file on the horizon and Patrick doesn't appear to even try to be convincing as a leading trainer he still manages to walk away with the film in which he appears with his real-life wife Beatrice Campbell, but is lumbered with the OTT Moira Lister as his screen wife and despite the best efforts of Noel Purcell and Michael Horden to go head to head with him. I'm glad I saw it but once was enough.
Review of Wicked Wife
