Review for The March Hare

‘The March Hare’ is one of those very light British romantic comedies that gently eats up 90 minutes of a rainy Sunday afternoon – enjoyable enough at the time but almost instantly forgettable too.

Based on a now all but forgotten novel by T.H. Bird ‘Gamblers Sometimes Win’ this is a Shepperton shot film that is supposed to be set in Ireland. It features a handsome young Terence Morgan as Sir Charles Hare, a care-free young aristocrat who has all but gambled away his family fortune. Betting the ranch on one of his horses at Ascot, the horse is 'pulled' on the instructions of Hardwick, a big bookmaker, and Sir Charles is forced to sell his Irish estate – including the racing stud that was the his most treasured possession. However, his aunt, Lady Anne, attends the sale and buys a promising foal which she intends to raise in secret for Charles.


 In the meantime, just as he is about to be evicted from his family’s racing stables he is mistaken for a groom by the daughter of the new American owners, Pat Maguire (played by a very pretty Peggy Cummins). Rather than ‘fess up, Hare decides to hide his real identity and help Pat raise a young colt for racing. It’s not long until their rides together end up with a blossoming romance.


However, Pat leaves for France, and in her absence the single-minded Hare is determined to raise the colt as a winner. When she returns she finds out his real identity and he realises that, although he loves the colt more than anything, he loves Pat even more and is determined to make her his wife.


The supporting cast is a lot of fun with Wilfred Hyde-White doing a good turn as an gambling obsessed Colonel and Cyril Cusack playing the stereo-typical Irish stable-man (Mangen) on full-tilt.  Martita Hunt as Lady Anne is rather good too.


The film culminates in an Ascot Derby, cutting from the real thing back to studio bound scenes of the actors looking on.



The film may well once have looked crisp and colourful but it reflects precious little of that on this print. Indeed, as the film has been in the public domain for a time in damaged form (with some short clips jumping with missing material) I had hoped that this would be a substantially cleaned up and more complete version, but I’m not sure it is. Image quality is frequently a bit soft and washed out with little contrast. There are also several moments where frames are missing. Having said that, it is perfectly watchable though and is perhaps the best you will see the film unless a better transfer turns up.



The films ships with a trailer, an image gallery and two delightful press pamphlets which can be accessed by opening the disc on a PC.