Esther Waters

Having made her mark in Reed's Odd Man Out, Irish actress Ryan got herself a real showcase in this period melodrama, from the novel by George Moore (1894), suffering nobly and at length as the honest serving wench in a country house who gets herself pregnant by rapscallion groom Bogarde (in his second screen appearance). He, on the other hand, is more interested in horse racing, and there'll be a fortune won and lost before the day is done. The actors win our sympathy despite the hoary subject matter, though the well-staged racecourse sequences almost convince you the movie's a lot better than it actually is.