The Man in Grey

The Man in Grey is a 1943 British melodrama film made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produced by Edward Black from a screenplay by Arliss and Margaret Kennedy that was adapted by Doreen Montgomery from the 1941 novel The Man in Grey by Eleanor Smith. The film's sets were designed by Walter Murton.

The picture stars Margaret Lockwood, Phyllis Calvert, James Mason, Stewart Granger and Martita Hunt. It melds elements of the successful "women's pictures" of the time with distinctive new elements.

In 1943 London, a Wren, Lady Clarissa Rohan (Phyllis Calvert) and an RAF pilot, Peter Rokeby (Stewart Granger), meet at an auction of the Rohan estate, now being sold off. Making idle conversation, the pilot wonders what the Rohans did to deserve all this wealth. The auction is suddenly paused due to blackout restrictions, and the two agree to return the next day. As they leave, the film flashes back to the early 19th century, and Miss Patchett's finishing school for young ladies. A naive but popular girl, Clarissa (Phyllis Calvert), insists on being friends with a proud, bitter junior teacher, Hesther Shaw (Margaret Lockwood), despite a fortuneteller's warning not to trust women, especially Hesther. Months later, Hesther runs away with a penniless ensign. Miss Patchett forbids the mention of her name by her young charges. Resentfully, Clarissa leaves the school out of loyalty to Hesther. Upon her return home, Clarissa's godmother arranges her marriage to the wealthy Marquess of Rohan (James Mason), a notorious rake who wishes only to have an heir. Thus, the two live separate lives.

One night, Clarissa rushes to a production of Othello in which Hesther plays Desdemona. On the way, her coach is waylaid by a mysterious man, Rokeby (Stewart Granger), who turns out to be the actor playing Othello. He demands a lift to the theater. After the play, Clarissa engages Hesther to be her son's governess. Eventually, Lord Rohan invites Hesther to stay on as Clarissa's companion. Rohan tells Hesther that he knows she abandoned her husband, who later died in Fleet Prison. He admires her ruthless ambition, and they become lovers. At Epsom Downs, Clarissa and Rokeby meet again. They encounter the same fortuneteller who warned Clarissa about Hesther. This time, the prophetess recognizes Rokeby as Clarissa's true love and warns her again about dangerous women. Later, Rokeby confesses his love to Clarissa. They plan to elope to Jamaica, but Rohan confronts them in Vauxhall Gardens, and they fight. The contest, however, is stopped by the Prince Regent (Raymond Lovell).

Rokeby decides it would be wiser to sail to Jamaica alone and summon Clarissa later. She bids him farewell at the port. But once Rokeby has departed, she falls ill and is taken to Rohan's London house. Hesther drugs Clarissa, opens the windows on a storm and damps the fire—ensuring her death. Later, Clarissa's faithful page, Toby, reveals all to Rohan. Though he did not love her, Clarissa was his wife and a Rohan, so he beats Hesther to death with a cane, fulfilling the family motto, "Who Dishonours Us, Dies." Flash-forward to 1943. Peter and Clarissa, descendants of their earlier counterparts, are seen departing the auction, hand in hand. They run to catch a London bus and their future together.

The novel was published in 1941. The New York Times thought it was old fashioned but enjoyed the depiction of the era saying it created a "lively scene for a sad story." The book was a best seller in the US, selling more than 100,000 copies in 1942.

It is unclear who suggested the book to Gainsborough – James Mason felt it might have been R.J. Minney but he was unsure. He said the Ostrer brothers were very enthusiastic about it writing " We must concede to them this one victory in the production field ".

Margaret Lockwood later wrote that when she heard about the project, she read the novel and thought she would be ideal for the role of Clarissa. She was not pleased to be cast as Hesther, writing in her memoirs, "True, I had played that unpleasant little piece in The Stars Look Down after many misgivings. But Hesther was a different matter. She was downright wicked." She says she was persuaded by Carol Reed's advice to not "bother about the number of pages in a part, but think about the motivation." Lockwood "didn't like the motivation – but it was a 'meaty' part."