A bit of a change of pace this week from the usual war films, crime dramas and espionage thrillers that is the usual fare for this slot. ‘The Spanish Gardener’ is a family based drama made in 1956, about a British diplomat working in Spain who employs a local man to manage his garden and the impact of the gardener on the relationship between the diplomat and his son. The diplomat, Harrington Brande, played by Sir Michael Horden, is a harsh and bitter man who has the custody of his young son following a fractious divorce. The father keeps his son on a very tight leash, forbidding him to go to boarding school on the grounds that the son is ‘delicate’ and also forbids the boy to have contact with his mother who by now lives in the UK.
The arrival of the gardener Jose, played by the late great Dirk Bogarde, upsets the apple cart somewhat in the family of the diplomat. The son, Nicholas, played by Jon Whiteley, becomes friendly with Jose, much to the disapproval of his jealous and controlling father. Jose’s presence opens up a more open and free world for Nicholas and Jose teaches him how to fish and introduces him to his family. Harrington Brande, twisted by jealousy of Jose and angry that his diplomatic appointment to a small town wasn’t the promotion that he had hoped for, forbids Nicholas from seeing Jose, but Nicholas ignores his fathers instructions and continues to see him and learns that he is a normal boy and not the delicate invalid that his father had convinced him he was.
Eventually the father takes action and attempts to frame Jose for a property crime that he didn’t commit, putting Jose at risk of prison and losing Harrington Brande what residual respect he had from his son.
This is in the main a gentle but powerful film showing how the relationship between a boy and his father can be twisted by the failure of the father to deal intelligently with the situation that he and his son have found themselves in. I think I saw this film first many years ago and I was delighted to find that it was available to watch online. I really enjoyed this film and I hope that you enjoy it too.
