The Shooting Party

1913, not long before the First World War. A group of aristocrats gathers at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a weekend of pheasant shooting. As the shooting goes on, the courtesy at the table gives way to the jealousy, debt, infidelity and rivalry piled up underneath it. The only one who sees what is ending is the host himself, a man who has seen enough of everything. Adapted from Isabel Colegate's novel, the film shows a class in its last season without turning anyone into a caricature. Servants and masters stand in the same frame, and both look trapped inside the same arrangement. James Mason plays Sir Randolph in what turned out to be his final film. Paul Scofield had the part first and was badly hurt in a horse-drawn carriage accident on the opening day of filming, which is how Mason came in. John Gielgud and Edward Fox are also in the cast.