SCANDAL

 This film is a fictionalised account of the Profumo scandal.  Profumo was the Secretary of State for War in the early 1960s when it emerged that he,à married man in his forties, had been enjoying a sexual liaison with Christine Keeler, a young woman barely twenty years of age. To make the scandal even juicier she was at the same time having a fling with a Soviet attaché who was probably a spy.

It may be one of the biggest scandals in British political history but I’m not certain it has enough substance or interest to justify a feature length film with Ian Mckellen as Profumo (sporting a bizarre haircut).

The film focuses on the relationship between Keeler (played by Joanne Whaley) and Stephen Ward (John Hurt) with the result that Profumo himself barely features, with Mckellen’s talents wasted.

Ward was an osteopath whose clientele included many high profile people from the worlds of politics, business and entertainment . He had an eye fro pretty girls who he encouraged to circukate (if I can put it like that) within the elite social circles he enjoyed.

One such girl was Keeler, who lived with Ward off and on for a few years although their relationship seems to have been purely platonic.  I find it hard to characterise their relationship; given the thirty-year age gap between the two you could see him as a kind of father-figure except that it’s a strange father who encourages his daughter to sleep around here, there and everywhere.

Perhaps they were just kindred spirits, just simple fun loving people who treated life as a game.  Unfortunately when news of Profumo’s dalliance with Keeler started to emerge, life ceased to be a game for either of them.  In particular Ward became a scapegoat, committing suicide when it became obvious that he was going to be found guilty of living off the earnings of prostitutes.

Hurt in particular gives a splendid performance and thanks to that one comes away from this film thinking that he was one of the main victims of the whole business. This is true maybe but he was hardly an innocent victim.

Although it’s a competently made film I can’t say I enjoyed it much. Perhaps because I am quite familiar with the story I found it all a bit too predictable and sordid.