History Film / SeparateTables

* OperaGloves: Ann is overdressed for a weekend in the country, mainly because she's really there to seduce John.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The C-plot of involves Charles and Jean, a young dating couple who are staying at the hotel and, because they aren't married, have to deal with disapproving looks and gossip from the likes of mean Mrs. Railton-Bell. Charles for his part is a medical student who is cramming for an anatomy exam, while Jean keeps violating [[https://productioncode.dhwritings.com/multipleframes_productioncode.php Section II of the Hays Code]].

* MaybeEverAfter: Both relationships are left hanging. Sibyl refuses her mother's order to shun Major Pollock, but there's no telling what will happen after that. John and Ann have made a tentative reconcilation. When he doubts whether they'll ever work together, she asks if they've ever worked apart.

David Niven won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor, and Hiller won for Best Supporting Actress. Hiller had the best reaction ever to winning an Oscar: "I hope this award means cash - hard cash. I want lots of lovely offers to go filming in Hollywood, preferably in the winter so I can avoid all the horrid cold over here."

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The C-plot involves Charles and Jean, a young dating couple who are staying at the hotel and, because they aren't married, have to deal with disapproving looks and gossip from the likes of mean Mrs. Railton-Bell. Charles for his part is a medical student who is cramming for an anatomy exam, while Jean keeps pestering him for sex.
--> '''Charles''': How can I possibly mix anatomy with romance?
--> '''Jean''': Well, that shouldn't be too difficult.

''Separate Tables'' is a 1958 film adapted from a two-act play of the same name by Terence Rattigan, directed by Delbert Mann, starring Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/RitaHayworth, Creator/DavidNiven, Creator/DeborahKerr, and Creator/WendyHiller. The film features two largely unconnected stories at the cozy little Beauregard Hotel in Bournemouth, which features a mix of long-term residents and temporary guests.[[note]] In the original play, the lead male and female roles in both stories were played by the same performers, Eric Portman and Margaret Leighton; the supporting characters are identical.[[/note]]

* One story focuses on an American resident at the hotel, John Malcolm (Lancaster). He is in a relationship with the hotel proprietor, Miss Cooper (Hiller), but that relationship is upended with the arrival of John's ex-wife Ann (Hayworth). Ann tells John that she is engaged to be married, but despite that, she seems awfully interested in starting things up again with John.
* The other story focuses on long-term hotel resident Major Pollock (Niven), a garrulous man who likes to tell endless stories of his times [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fighting the Jerries in North Africa]]. The shy, awkward, mousy Sibyl Railton-Bell (a de-glammed Kerr) takes a fancy to him. However, Sibyl's mean, domineering mother Maud is trying her hardest to crush the nascent romance, and "Mummy" is very happy when she discovers some embarrassing information about the Major.

''Separate Tables'' is a 1958 film directed by Delbert Mann, starring Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/RitaHayworth, Creator/DavidNiven, and Creator/DeborahKerr. The film features two largely unconnected stories at the cozy little Beauregard Hotel in Bournemouth, which features a mix of long-term residents and temporary guests.

* One story focuses on an American resident at the hotel, John Malcolm (Lancaster). He is in a relationship with the hotel proprietor, Miss Cooper (Creator/WendyHiller), but that relationship is upended with the arrival of John's ex-wife Ann (Hayworth). Ann tells John that she is engaged to be married, but despite that, she seems awfully interested in starting things up again with John.

* The other story focuses on long-term hotel resident Major Pollock (Niven), a garrulous man who likes to tell endless stories of his times [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fighting the Jerries in North Africa]]. The shy, awkward, mousy Sibyl Railton-Bell (a de-glammed Kerr) takes a fancy to him. However, Sybil's mean, domineering mother Maud is trying her hardest to crush the nascent romance, and "Mummy" is very happy when she discovers some embarrassing information about the Major.

''Separate Tables'' was an adaptation of a play by Terence Rattigan. David Niven won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor, and Hiller won for Best Supporting Actress. Hiller had the best reaction ever to winning an Oscar: "I hope this award means cash - hard cash. I want lots of lovely offers to go filming in Hollywood, preferably in the winter so I can avoid all the horrid cold over here."

* LysistrataGambit: Apparently when Tom and Ann were married, she withheld sex from him just to screw with his head, which was effective, since sex was the only reason he married her in the first place.
* MaritalRapeLicense: Back when Tom and Ann were married, her indulging in the LysistrataGambit led him to try and exercise the license. It led to him spending some time in jail.
* MaybeEverAfter: Both relationships are left hanging. Sibyl refuses her mother's order to shun Major Pollock, but there's no telling what will happen after that. Tom and Ann have made a tentative reconcilation. When he doubts whether they'll ever work together, she asks if they've ever worked apart.
* MyBelovedSmother: Sybil's awful mother, who tells her what to do, what to eat, and what to think. She won't let Sybil get a job and she's determined to stop any hint of romance between Sybil and Major Pollock.
* OperaGloves: Ann is overdressed for a weekend in the country, mainly because she's really there to seduce Tom.

* UptownGirl: Part of what wrecked Tom and Ann's marriage--she was high class, he was the son of a steel worker, and even though she married him, she didn't really respect him.

* One story focuses on an American resident at the hotel, John Malcolm (Lancaster). He is in a relationship with the hotel proprietor, Miss Cooper (Wendy Hiller), but that relationship is upended with the arrival of John's ex-wife Ann (Hayworth). Ann tells John that she is engaged to be married, but despite that, she seems awfully interested in starting things up again with John.

''Separate Tables'' is a 1958 film directed by Delbert Mann, starring Creator/BurtLancaster, Rita Hayworth, Creator/DavidNiven, and Creator/DeborahKerr. The film features two largely unconnected stories at the cozy little Beauregard Hotel in Bournemouth, which features a mix of long-term residents and temporary guests.

''Separate Tables'' was an adaptation of a play by Terence Rattigan. David Niven won an AcademyAward for Best Actor, and Hiller won for Best Supporting Actress. Hiller had the best reaction ever to winning an Oscar: "I hope this award means cash - hard cash. I want lots of lovely offers to go filming in Hollywood, preferably in the winter so I can avoid all the horrid cold over here."

* NosyNeighbor: Mrs. Railton-Bell loves, loves, loves to say mean, catty things about the other people in the hotel. She is thrilled when the newspaper story about "Major" Pollock's trial gives her the chance to humiliate him.

* UptownGirl: Part of what wrecked Tom and Ann's marriage--she was high class, he was the son of a steel worker, and even though she married him, she didn't really respect him.

* StageToScreenAdaptation: Rattigan's play was actually two separate one-act plays performed together, both in the same setting, the second set 18 months after the first. The hook was that the same lead actor and lead actress would play the main roles (the ex-husband and wife in the first story, the fake "Major" and shy woman in the second story), with the supporting characters appearing in both. The original idea for the movie was to shoot it like the play, with Creator/LaurenceOlivier and Creator/VivienLeigh playing both parts, but this was eventually abandoned and the four parts were cast with four different actors.