Separate Tables (1958) in Color — Starring Deborah Kerr & Rita Hayworth

Separate Tables (1958) — Buy This Classic in Color

Experience Separate Tables, Delbert Mann’s 1958 drama starring Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, and Deborah Kerr, now available as a professionally colorized version. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

At a genteel seaside residential hotel in Bournemouth, England, a small group of lonely, damaged residents live out their quiet dramas at separate tables in the hotel dining room, each isolated by their own secrets and failures. The arrival of two outsiders disrupts the careful equilibrium.

John Malcolm, a troubled, hard-drinking political writer haunted by personal demons, has been staying at the hotel trying to find peace. His fragile stability is shattered when his glamorous ex-wife Ann Shankland arrives unexpectedly, still beautiful and still capable of reopening every wound from their passionate but mutually destructive marriage. Their late-night confrontations in the hotel lounge — fueled by alcohol, regret, and the magnetic pull they still feel toward each other — expose the raw pain of a love that was too intense to survive.

Meanwhile, in the other strand of the story, Major Pollock has become a beloved fixture of the hotel — a dapper, friendly military gentleman whose war stories and courtly manners have charmed the other residents, none more so than the painfully shy Sibyl Railton-Bell. Sibyl is a repressed, anxious woman thoroughly dominated by her imperious mother, Mrs. Railton-Bell, who controls every aspect of her daughter’s life. Sibyl’s tentative friendship with the Major represents her first fragile steps toward independence and human connection. But when a newspaper scandal exposes Major Pollock’s dark secret — revealing that his military background and his entire persona are fabrications — Mrs. Railton-Bell leads a furious campaign to have him expelled from the hotel.

The residents must choose sides: support Mrs. Railton-Bell’s demand for respectable appearances, or show compassion to a lonely, flawed man whose deception harmed no one. As John and Ann confront the wreckage of their own past, and Major Pollock faces the most humiliating moment of his life, each character reaches a reckoning with the fundamental question of whether to retreat into safe isolation or risk the terrifying vulnerability of genuine human connection.

Cast & Crew

Director: Delbert Mann

Stars: Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

Separate Tables was originally filmed in black and white, with its intimate hotel setting demanding nuanced performances over visual spectacle. This professionally colorized restoration brings frame-by-frame precision to the English seaside atmosphere — the muted blues and grays of the Bournemouth coast, the warm burgundy and cream tones of the hotel dining room where secrets simmer over every course, and the striking entrance of Rita Hayworth in an elegant wardrobe that commands every eye in the room. David Niven’s carefully constructed appearance of military respectability gains poignant detail in color, while the drab, mousy wardrobe of Deborah Kerr’s repressed Sibyl perfectly conveys her suffocated existence. The colorized version adds emotional warmth to this restored classic film. Now also available in colour.

Buy Separate Tables in color today for just €15.00. Your DRM-free MP4 download is available for instant access.

Historical Significance

Separate Tables earned David Niven the Academy Award for Best Actor for his deeply moving portrayal of Major Pollock, and Wendy Hiller the award for Best Supporting Actress for her quietly powerful performance as the hotel’s compassionate manager. Based on Terence Rattigan’s celebrated stage play, the film is a masterpiece of ensemble acting featuring four major stars — Lancaster, Hayworth, Niven, and Kerr — at the height of their powers. Deborah Kerr received a Best Actress nomination for her remarkable portrayal of the repressed Sibyl, and the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Score, and Best Cinematography. Director Delbert Mann, who had won the Palme d’Or and Best Director Oscar for Marty, brings the same intimate sensitivity to Rattigan’s sophisticated material. Through professional colorization, this Oscar-winning drama reaches new audiences.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 digital download
• Resolution: HD restored
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: Original mono restored
• Runtime: Approximately 98 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Did this film win any Academy Awards?
A: Yes, David Niven won Best Actor for his portrayal of Major Pollock, and Wendy Hiller won Best Supporting Actress. The film also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Deborah Kerr), Best Score, and Best Cinematography.

Q: Is this based on a stage play?
A: Yes, the film is adapted from Terence Rattigan’s two one-act plays, which were originally performed together on the London stage and Broadway, with the same hotel setting linking the two separate stories.

Q: Are there two separate storylines?
A: Yes, the film interweaves two parallel stories set in the same hotel — one about John and Ann’s failed marriage, and another about Major Pollock and the shy Sibyl. Both stories explore themes of loneliness, shame, and the possibility of human connection.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as an MP4 file compatible with virtually any device or media player.

Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.

Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

Related Colorized Classics

• The Valley of Decision (1945)
• Arch of Triumph (1948)
• The Bride Wore Red (1937)
• Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953)
• Out of the Fog (1962)