Year of Release: 1958Country of Origin: USA
Director: Delbert Mann
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Burt Lancaster, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper
Plot outline: A look into the lives of several residents at a seaside hotel where guests have their meals at separate tables (IMDb).
Adapted and combined together from two one-act plays written by Sir Terence Rattigan, Separate Tables takes place in the Beauregard Hotel in the seaside town of Bournemouth on the south coast of England. The first subplot (originally the first play entitled Table by the Window) focuses on the troubled relationship between Lancaster's struggling writer John and his ex-lover Hayworth's fashion model Ann. Different worlds, different temperaments ... their mismatched personalities make it impossible for them to live together and yet their sexual attraction makes it impossible for them to live apart. The way they thrash out their past relationship is terrifically nerve-wracking. While Hiller delivers a splendid performance as the hotel keeper who smartly and sympathetically deals with the various crises facing her guests (she herself involves in an affair with Lancaster's character - when he passes her up for his ex-lover, she gracefully accepts it with dignity and pulls herself together as a grown-up with responsibilities). She surely deserved her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The second subplot (originally the second play entitled Table Number Seven) deals with the touching friendship between Kerr's shy spinster Sybil and Niven's phoney Major Pollock. The way they are forced to examine their feelings and emotions when the scandal emerges is superbly heartbreaking. Kerr gives a moving performance opposite Niven's quiet desperation and crumbling character and Cooper's domineering character (the same role she did to Bette Davis in Now, Voyager). Kerr earned her Oscar nomination, while Niven got his Oscar for Best Actor. I particularly like the final scene when Niven enters the dining room and the guests one by one acknowledges him, and Sybil at last stands up to her overbearing mother and acknowledges him too. What a powerful finale ... the characters at last establish a humane connection across "separate tables" as the camera draws back through the dining room window, the theme song tugs at your heart and the guests resume their lives. Separate Tables is a powerful drama and a fantastic study of character. It won two Oscars (Hiller and Niven) and received five Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Writing, Best Music and Best Cinematography. Unfortunately, it seems to be a forgotten masterpiece.
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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