Defense of the Realm (1985)

After a newspaper reporter helps expose a Member of Parliament as a possible spy, he finds that there's much more to the story than that.

Director:

David Drury

Writer:

Martin Stellman

Stars:

Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gabriel Byrne	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Mullen
Greta Scacchi	...	Nina Beckman
Denholm Elliott	...	Vernon Bayliss
Ian Bannen	...	Dennis Markham
Fulton Mackay	...	Victor Kingsbrook
Bill Paterson	...	Jack Macleod
David Calder	...	Harry Champion
Frederick Treves	...	Arnold Reece
Robbie Coltrane	...	Leo McAskey
Annabel Leventon	...	Trudy Markham
Graham Fletcher-Cook	...	Micky Parker
Steven Woodcock	...	Steven Dyce
Alexei Jawdokimov	...	Dietrich Kleist
Danny Webb	...	Danny Royce (as Daniel Webb)
Prentis Hancock	...	Frank Longman

Storyline

A reporter Mullen 'stumbles' on a story linking a prominent Member of Parliament to a KGB agent. In fact it is also linked to a near Nuclear disaster involving a teenage runaway and an Americal USAF base. Has there been a Government cover-up,Mullen teams up with Vernon Bayliss, an old hack, and Nina Beckam the MP's assistant to find out the truth.

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Plot Keywords:

member of parliament | political thriller | journalism | cover up | newspaper reporter | 

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Taglines:

Just how far will a government go to hide the truth?

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Whilst shooting the opening shot of a car driving over the camera on a deserted road (which involved digging a trench in the road) the car crashed into the camera and crane but the shot was still used.

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Goofs

Markham's wife's name is spelled "Trudy Markham" when a typist takes dictation from Nick over the phone and in the rolling credits. In a newspaper clipping that Mullen looks at, her name is spelled "Trudi" in the headline.

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Quotes

Vernon Bayliss: Vodka and Coca-Cola. Detente in a glass!

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Crazy Credits

The research done for this film is shown by the acknowledgment at the end of the credits: "The Producers wish to thank the STAFF and MANAGEMENT of THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS FOR THEIR HELP."

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Connections

Referenced in Howling III (1987)

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Soundtracks

Passion Chorale
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

They're out to get you...

This taut, underrated little thriller might be called a British version of "The Parallax View". Ian Bannen plays a Profumo-like MP targeted by the security services because he knows too much. His career is ruined by muck-raking reporter Gabriel Byrne but the latter's determination to get to the bottom of the story, and his guilt at the death of a colleague (the superb Denholm Elliott), lead him down unexpected political byways...

"Defence of the Realm" can boast excellent location work and a convincing recreation of the vanished world of the "old" hard-drinking Fleet Street. The tone becomes darker and more claustrophobic as the film goes on and the apolitical Byrne enters a paranoid world of car headlights in the rearview mirror, bugged telephones and rifled apartments. The film taps into many of the issues that concerned the British Left in the mid-eighties (secrecy, American missiles on UK soil, the unaccountability of the security services, newspaper obsession with sexual gossip to the exclusion of harder material) and builds to a clever, if shocking, double-twist climax. Well worth locating and viewing.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Defense of the Realm

Filming Locations:

Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,938, 23 November 1986

Gross USA:

$750,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$750,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation, National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC), Enigma Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1