Patronise

In 'Murder!', Sir John really comes across (to this viewer anyway) as
snobbish to the extreme. In fact, if I remember correctly, there isn't
one character in the film who he doesn't treat as if they were beneath
him; to him, nobody is his equal or better.

I find it intriguing how Sir John seems to set up his various
relationships with other characters.

With Fane, he's incredibly patronising, cruelly so.
With the Markhams, he's again patronising but more in a kind of
teacher/student way.
With Diana Baring herself, he's her champion, the one destined to save
her.

The film seems so insistent on making us aware of Sir John's inflated
opinion of himself that I can't help but think this was intentional by
the film's makers.

Fergal #.

On Apr 10, 8:16?am, "sawakatoome" wrote:
> In 'Murder!', Sir John really comes across (to this viewer anyway) as
> snobbish to the extreme. In fact, if I remember correctly, there isn't
> one character in the film who he doesn't treat as if they were beneath
> him; to him, nobody is his equal or better.
>
> I find it intriguing how Sir John seems to set up his various
> relationships with other characters.
>
> With Fane, he's incredibly patronising, cruelly so.
> With the Markhams, he's again patronising but more in a kind of
> teacher/student way.
> With Diana Baring herself, he's her champion, the one destined to save
> her.
>
> The film seems so insistent on making us aware of Sir John's inflated
> opinion of himself that I can't help but think this was intentional by
> the film's makers.
>
> Fergal #.

I always imagine that with his title came an understanding of his
higher education and social status. Having found himself part of a
team of jurors passing judgment on a fellow thespian, he initially
found himself unable to refute the initial conclusion by everyone else
that she must be guilty. I didn't sense any airs of superiority that
I wouldn't naturally expect if I found myself in the mist of highly
educated professionals who were accustomed to a life with servants to
take care of their every need.
I confess Fergel, that I was simply sitting in my study looking at
the dust cover to "Murder" shortly before Easter when it occurred to
me that there was much similarity between that film and "12 Angry Men"
with Henry Fonda that I had only recently watched. I've seen "Murder"
at least twice, but it's been about three years.
As for the comment that I had unfortunately left on the end of my
last response, that was simply a 'e-mail signature' that until now,
had seemed appropriate, but was never directed towards you.
I remember that I did enjoy "Murder" very much so it won't be a
chore to watch it again (which had been my thoughts when I first
suggested the study).

Rich