- 1 year ago
The Franchise Affair: A Classic Tale Revived on Screen
The Franchise Affair, a gripping television series, has captured the attention of audiences with its thrilling narrative and complex characters. Based on the 1948 novel by Josephine Tey, the story has been adapted several times, most notably in a TV production in 1962 and again in 1988. The plot centers around a schoolgirl's claim of being kidnapped and forced into servitude by two women at a mysterious mansion known as 'The Franchise'. The ensuing investigation and trial peel back the layers of truth and deception, challenging the viewer's perception of innocence and guilt.
The 1988 adaptation, is particularly memorable for its atmospheric setting and strong performances. Patrick Malahide, Joanna McCallum, and Rosalie Crutchley brought depth to their characters, creating a compelling drama that resonates with audiences even today. The series' ability to maintain suspense and provide a nuanced look at the British legal system of the time is a testament to the quality of the source material and the skill of the filmmakers.
The Franchise Affair stands as a classic example of how literature can be effectively translated to the screen, preserving the essence of the original work while exploring the visual and dramatic possibilities of television storytelling. For those who appreciate a well-crafted mystery that delves into the complexities of human nature, The Franchise Affair is a series that continues to intrigue and entertain viewers across generations.
The Franchise Affair, a gripping television series, has captured the attention of audiences with its thrilling narrative and complex characters. Based on the 1948 novel by Josephine Tey, the story has been adapted several times, most notably in a TV production in 1962 and again in 1988. The plot centers around a schoolgirl's claim of being kidnapped and forced into servitude by two women at a mysterious mansion known as 'The Franchise'. The ensuing investigation and trial peel back the layers of truth and deception, challenging the viewer's perception of innocence and guilt.
The 1988 adaptation, is particularly memorable for its atmospheric setting and strong performances. Patrick Malahide, Joanna McCallum, and Rosalie Crutchley brought depth to their characters, creating a compelling drama that resonates with audiences even today. The series' ability to maintain suspense and provide a nuanced look at the British legal system of the time is a testament to the quality of the source material and the skill of the filmmakers.
The Franchise Affair stands as a classic example of how literature can be effectively translated to the screen, preserving the essence of the original work while exploring the visual and dramatic possibilities of television storytelling. For those who appreciate a well-crafted mystery that delves into the complexities of human nature, The Franchise Affair is a series that continues to intrigue and entertain viewers across generations.
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00:00🎵
00:30Right, let's have it.
01:00🎵
01:13Shocking business, Miss Tuff.
01:15Quite shocking.
01:17It's not at all our usual line, Mr. Heseltine.
01:19I wonder at the wisdom of Mr. Robert.
01:22Taking on such people as clients.
01:24I'm quite sure we can trust Mr. Robert's judgement, Mr. Heseltine.
01:28one would hope that even mr. Bennet would be competent to defend one against a
01:32disgraceful publication like the Bulletin.
01:36can we sue them?
01:38you could try. I doubt if you'd get a verdict.
01:42they practically always settle out of court.
01:44I understand they have a special fund for this sort of thing.
01:47I don't suppose you've seen that poisonous rag at close quarters before?
01:50I take it that question is rhetorical mr. Bennet.
01:53it's run on the principle that 2,000 pounds for damages is a cheap price to pay
01:58for sales worth half a million.
02:00how did they get hold of the story in the first place?
02:02the Bulletin were quite happy to reveal its source.
02:05Barry Kane's stepbrother apparently went off the deep end when he heard the police
02:08weren't taking any further action against you. this is the result.
02:11you really have no redress against this masterpiece of invention.
02:14I'm afraid not. all these statements are perfectly true you see and it is all
02:18statement and no comment.
02:20it's one huge implied comment.
02:22this is condemnation without trial.
02:26I expect they'll be implying next that we bribed Scotland Yard to drop the case.
02:30the point is that the Bulletin has now made Scotland Yard look rather foolish.
02:34so inspector Grant will be moving heaven and earth to try and find corroborative
02:38evidence to back up the girl's story.
02:40and we're supposed to just grin and bear it.
02:42what do you advise us to do?
02:44don't put mr. Blair on the spot mother.
02:46I expect he wants to go on reserving his judgment.
02:50I do realize mr. Blair we're not at all the kind of people that you would choose to represent.
02:55but can you do nothing to clear us of this horror?
02:57well good lord yes we can fight. there are all sorts of things.
02:59Neville please.
03:01I'm not at all sure your partner doesn't believe miss Kane's story mr. Bennet.
03:08it's an absurd story.
03:10there's nothing absurd about it Neville.
03:12women who live lonely lives do insane things.
03:15tantrums don't improve the situation Marion.
03:18we keep on saying it isn't true but we have no way of proving it.
03:22this girl gets away with everything.
03:25she even wears that wretched school uniform like armor.
03:30or camouflage.
03:33you see this picture could just turn out to be the one bright spot in the whole bad business.
03:37you see somebody somewhere when they see this
03:40might just realize that the girl couldn't possibly have been at the franchise when she said she was
03:43because they remember seeing her somewhere else.
03:45that's what we have to prove. not that she wasn't at the franchise but that she was somewhere else.
03:50yes thank you.
03:54we'll do what we can.
03:58goodbye mr. Blair.
04:00it affords me intense pleasure to know that somebody beat her black and blue.
04:03at least there's one person in the world who's arrived at the correct estimate of her.
04:06mrs. Sharp since the incident with the motor car this morning I suggest you stay at home as much
04:10as possible. I'll ring inspector Hallam and see if he can spare someone to look around the franchise
04:15now and then just to show the uniform.
04:18you're very kind. I'll come down with you.
04:27if they do take her to court and they get a verdict what would that mean for us?
04:34to be honest I'm not sure.
04:36well that's certainly honest.
04:38I told you I was a broken reed where criminal procedure is concerned.
04:42I think it's either two years imprisonment or seven years penal servitude.
04:47I'll look it up.
04:49yes do.
04:50that's quite a difference.
04:56bloody woman.
05:11any history of epilepsy?
05:17epilepsy.
05:19the girl's injuries.
05:21well it's worth checking on.
05:23I'll mention it to Hallam.
05:24it also occurred to me that the brat might have been to the franchise before.
05:28before the Sharps moved in I mean.
05:31it would explain how she knew so much about the inside of the place.
05:34it wouldn't explain how she knew so much about it since they moved in.
05:37she even described the saucepan they boiled milk in.
05:40you know old man for a while back there I thought you were going to be against them.
05:43if I seem reluctant to take on it was simply because I can do without being
05:47saddled with a responsibility as serious as this.
05:50well well well Robert Blair.
05:52agent for a pair of scandalous females.
05:55who'd have thought it?
05:56hello Carly.
05:58well how does it feel not to be part of the landscape anymore after so many years of comfortable merging?
06:03is that the latest bulletin by any chance?
06:05hmm it's never possible to feel sorry for that old battle axe at the franchise.
06:09it's now.
06:10front page again.
06:12what of course it's front page.
06:14the beating of kidnapped girls.
06:16it's a gift for the bulletin.
06:17oh um wait till you read the bit about the uh the poor bruised body of this innocent child.
06:24bye.
06:30what do you make of a face like that?
06:32marked resemblance to Saint Bernadette I'd say.
07:32hmm
07:46bloody woman
08:02yes?
08:21no you listen to me.
08:22I don't know who you are or what you want.
08:26justice?
08:27you don't know the meaning of the word you stupid woman.
08:29this is an unwarranted interference into my...
08:32you're a very sick person and I feel sorry for you.
08:49sorry to keep you waiting. I had to see to Leslie's sandwiches.
08:52you don't have to speak to him mum.
08:54I have told the police I'm coming to see you.
08:56if it's better you want to see you can't.
08:57she's staying with friends.
08:59they even had reporters waiting outside the school yesterday.
09:02I wanted her away from all the fuss.
09:04yes I'm afraid it's not just the bulletin now.
09:07they all seem to have it on the front page this morning.
09:10Betty must regret having given her story quite so willingly.
09:14look here you don't understand...
09:15I'm not saying Leslie did right to go to the bulletin mr Blair.
09:19but he meant well.
09:21he's always been devoted to Betty.
09:25personally I'd rather be beaten every day for a fortnight than have my picture on the front page of that rag.
09:29if you've been beaten every day for a fortnight and no one did anything about it
09:33you'd be glad to have your picture anywhere if it got you justice.
09:35Leslie!
09:36I'm off.
09:38you sure you'll be all right?
09:39come on.
09:49Leslie's father.
09:52he was killed in North Africa.
09:56sit down please.
09:57thank you.
10:00Leslie is quite right mrs Wynne. you're under no obligation to talk to me.
10:05I suppose you have to do your best for those women if you're their lawyer.
10:09we have nothing to hide anyway.
10:13like a cigarette?
10:14thank you.
10:23thank you.
10:26what is it you want to know?
10:27just one or two things about Betty's statement to the police.
10:31the night she came home for example was she really only wearing a frock and a pair of shoes?
10:36yes.
10:37no socks no vest and underclothes.
10:42it was very cold in April.
10:44that's all she was wearing.
10:47those women took everything else away from her.
10:50it's it's just that Betty says they gave her blankets to keep warm and
10:54doesn't seem to make sense to take away most of her clothes and then and then give her blankets.
10:58why not just return the clothes?
11:01why don't you ask them?
11:06the police say that Betty wouldn't talk to them for quite some time.
11:09not until after she told you and Leslie what happened.
11:15she wouldn't tell us to begin with but Leslie got it out of her bit by bit.
11:20they adore each other you know she and Leslie.
11:22used to do everything together until he got engaged.
11:26oh really when was that?
11:28Christmas.
11:30must have been very difficult for Betty.
11:34mrs. Wynne if it ever occurs to you that anything in Betty's statement doesn't ring true
11:39I hope you won't let sleeping dogs lie.
11:42innocent people may suffer.
11:44she doesn't tell lies and if I believed her at the beginning I'm not likely to doubt her now.
11:53did she have anything in her pockets?
11:56only the lipstick.
11:58a lipstick?
11:59it was in the pocket of her dress when she came home that night.
12:02nothing else just a lipstick.
12:04Betty says she bought it in Larborough when she was staying with her aunt.
12:08she's a little young for makeup isn't she?
12:10oh it was only for play. all little girls do it.
12:13I was experimenting with my mum's stuff when I was eight or nine.
12:18so you didn't find it at all odd?
12:23I just thought it was a bit queer those women took everything else away from her but left that.
12:44yoo-hoo miss Blair.
12:47custard tarts my dear. how extravagant.
12:50no wonder Robert's putting on weight.
12:53now do tell us my dear what's the latest on our cause to celebrate?
12:58they are Robert's clients aren't they?
13:00if you imagine for one moment that Robert would discuss his business with me
13:04you're very much mistaken.
13:06haven't you heard what they're saying?
13:08who's saying what?
13:09that they not only starved and beat the poor child
13:11they actually threatened to kill her as well.
13:14who on earth told you that?
13:16I heard from Dr. Borthwick's dispenser not half an hour ago.
13:19apparently that dreadful old woman dangled the poor child out of a bedroom window by her wrists.
13:25can you imagine?
13:29I saw that picture too Anita.
13:31it was on at the regal last week.
13:33I'm surprised at you both repeating such absurd stories.
13:36I suppose your nephew knows what he's doing miss Blair.
13:39but I can't help thinking it's rather odd of him to represent those franchise women.
13:44if you were accused of say stealing something from a counter in Woolworths
13:48and you couldn't disprove it
13:50I dare say you'd seek legal advice wouldn't you?
13:53no one would ever accuse Anita of stealing from Woolworths darling.
13:57I'm sure she's never set foot in the place.
14:02it's not just us darling.
14:04the whole of Milford's talking about it.
14:07what you mean Mildred is that you are talking about it to the whole of Milford.
14:14really?
14:15that woman's quite impossibly rude.
14:18I don't know.
14:39excuse me.
14:41there's a timetable on the wall outside.
14:44no I just want to know whether...
14:46this is a private office.
14:49sorry mate.
14:50what do you want?
14:51ducket for the normal spares.
14:59I just want to find out if you ever use double-deckers on the route between Milford and Larborough.
15:07it's rather important. I'm a solicitor. I need this information.
15:13I don't care if you are the shah of Persia.
15:16you wait there.
15:19you want to use a double-decker?
15:25no I just want to find out if one ever ran on that route in March.
15:29could have. when the old singles break down they use doubles.
15:34would it be possible to find out exactly when they ran?
15:37in this firm it's recorded every time you spit.
15:40but you get nothing out of that old buzzard.
15:42he guards his schedules like they're bleeding crown jewels.
15:49I don't know mate. it's more than my job's worth crossing him.
15:55you're on.
17:18Marion! it's Robert Blair.
17:48I suppose this is what royalty has to put up with.
18:12how long have they been there?
18:13all day. waiting for the police to come and move them on.
18:17we provided last night's entertainment as well.
18:40after that the local youth hoisted each other up on the wall.
18:42sat there being offensive for half an hour.
18:45until mother pointed her stick at them. threatened to shoot.
18:50the lack of education is an extraordinary handicap when it comes to being offensive.
18:54they had no resource at all.
18:56well I'm afraid you're stuck with the press for a while.
18:59they're going to camp out in Milford until things are simmered down.
19:02well I can't tell you how glad we are to see you mr Blair.
19:04I've been trying to reach you all afternoon.
19:06oh I'm sorry.
19:07after the fourth or fifth time it really got to be too much.
19:10male or female?
19:11one male four female.
19:14they seem that they're most evil-minded around midnight.
19:18it's not the bad language I find so blood-freezing.
19:21it's the utter hatred.
19:23they all protest against violence of course.
19:26and yet their dearest wish is to flog us both within an inch of our lives.
19:30do you have news for us?
19:31it's too soon for anything positive.
19:33what I've been trying to do is to gather general information about Betty Kane.
19:37who's Betty now is it?
19:38bye-bye Elizabeth.
19:40Neville uh Mr. Bennett has gone to London to see what he can find out about the girl's parents.
19:45what sort of life she led before she was evacuated.
19:48it's probably a wild goose chase but you never know.
19:50and what have you been doing mr Blair?
19:52I've been talking to the girl's foremistress and her aunt in Larborough
19:56and to the family she lives with now the Wins.
19:59and?
20:00I found out the girl's brother got engaged at Christmas which really put her nose out of joint.
20:05I think we should concentrate on the two weeks the girl spent in Larborough
20:09before she disappeared.
20:11according to her aunt Betty Kane spent the entire holiday on innocent visits to the pictures
20:15window shopping and sitting in tea shops with a pile of magazines.
20:19you think our blameless schoolgirl might have met someone her aunt knows nothing about.
20:23that's what we have to find out.
20:25which is why if you're agreeable I should like to bring in a proper inquiry agent tomorrow.
20:31I think it would be best if our financial position were made clear to you.
20:35I will write to our solicitor in London and tell him to give you all details of what we
20:38have to come and go on and then you can make arrangements for the spending of it
20:42in the defense of our good name.
20:44not exactly how we planned to spend it.
20:46you must be thankful we have it to spend.
20:49what do penniless people do in a case like this?
20:52oh they rely on the goodwill of people like me.
20:56I've also been making inquiries in Larborough bus garage
20:59and I think I know how the girl could have seen over your ward.
21:03in the fortnight she spent with her aunt there were two breakdowns on the Larborough to Milford
21:07bus route and on each occasion a double-decker was substituted for the usual single deck.
21:13buses don't run along our road.
21:15they did on the days that there were breakdowns.
21:17the double-deckers don't fit under Ham Green Bridge apparently.
21:20but it doesn't prove anything of course but at least it shows how on two occasions
21:23the girl could have seen the house the driveway you two and the car.
21:28the inside of the house how could she have seen that?
21:30I don't know.
21:31could she have been told about it by someone?
21:34gardener? window cleaner?
21:36you've never had a gardener.
21:37when did you last see a window cleaner?
21:40well there was that Glynn girl from Staples farm.
21:42oh?
21:43Rose Glynn.
21:45she came every day for about three weeks when we first moved in.
21:48scrubbed floors and so on.
21:50what happened to her?
21:52nothing really.
21:53just ran out of things for her to do.
21:56how old?
21:5815 16
22:0117
22:19is this what you mean?
22:21I've had it for years.
22:22it's one of my favorites.
22:23what do you want it for?
22:25I doubt if there's a kitchen in England that doesn't have a pan like this.
22:32what are you up to Robert?
22:36just doodling.
22:44yes?
22:47mr. Truelove has been anxious to talk with you since Monday mr. Robert.
22:52yesterday he was sufficiently provoked to inquire of miss Tuff if you still worked for Blair Haywood and Bennett.
22:57god's sake I was only out of the office for a day.
23:00mr. Bennett was also out of the office for the day sir.
23:03indeed I understand he's not due back from London till this afternoon.
23:07perhaps I should make arrangements to stay late so I can help him get through his arrears of work.
23:12close the door Timmy.
23:18I'm afraid this franchise affair has changed the pattern of our lives a little.
23:22Milford has always been a quiet and dignified town sir.
23:26it's not pleasant to see this notoriety that's overtaken it.
23:29I don't think I like Milford as much as I did a week ago. have you seen the latest?
23:40as I see it mr. Robert we have a choice not between stories but between human beings.
23:46and having now met mrs. Sharp and her daughter I feel quite certain they're incapable of such
23:51insane conduct. you haven't met miss Kane. the word fascist is spelt incorrectly.
23:58it could have written something much worse I suppose. they rate it in best quality paint.
24:02still in no doubt. shall I arrange with Colin Hall to have the obscenities removed? I've already
24:08tried Colin Hall and blunts. everybody in Milford seems remarkably busy all of a sudden.
24:13I get the distinct impression I think the Sharps deserve this. well see what you can do will you?
24:20a garage should be equipped with something for removing paint.
24:24I'll send the boy around to speak to mr. Peters in the meantime mr. Robert. yes
24:28I'll speak to mr. Trullo. they are important clients sir.
24:35good morning. good morning. good morning mr. Blair. inspector Grant. no way to say this
24:40informally I'm afraid. I have a warrant for the rest of your clients mrs. Augustine Sharp
24:45and her daughter Marion.
25:15so
25:45so
26:12you
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