The Guinea Pig – 1948 | 97 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

This is the story of a social experiment. Jack Read, son of a Walthamstow tobacconist, is sent to Saintsbury, a public school, and placed in the care of Hartley, an elderly housemaster steeped in tradition. The boys pour scorn on the newcomer and mimic his Cockney accent. He becomes surly and suspicious. Time and again he is brought before the housemaster, who is appalled by his lack of respect for Saintsbury’s jealously guarded code of behaviour. Only Nigel Lorraine, the young tutor, understands him.

Jack is determined to run away, when Lorraine catches him and points out that he is really running away from life. Though he agrees to give Saintsbury another chance, he remains an outcast. When Jack returns home for the Christmas holidays, his parents find him sullen and his backstreet friends are sarcastic. Soon he is defending the scheme for which he has hitherto shown contempt. Back at school, he shows that he can stand up for himself; he fights his battles more and more according to the Saintsbury code rather than to that of the back streets.

Hartley remains sceptical, but Lorraine is convinced of the boy’s promise. Lorraine has to tell Jack, however, that he is not good enough to win a scholarship to the University, and Mrs Read goes out to work to raise money. When it is proposed that the school should provide bursaries for boys of limited means, Hartley objects. Lorraine resigns in disgust. Then Hartley meets Mr Read and is impressed by his common sense. He withdraws his objection and on his retirement asks Lorraine to take over his post. The younger man, engaged to Hartley’s daughter Lynne, faces the future with confidence. The experiment has succeeded the ‘guinea pig’ has stood the test.