A whole new generation of kids studying GCSE English are discovering J B Priestley’s 1945 play, An Inspector Calls. It seems to be everywhere at the moment: as well as being on the syllabus in schools, the National Theatre’s production of the play was doing the rounds again nationally when the lockdown hit. Sadly, I just missed out on that, having seen the poster too late, but I did find a DVD of the 1954 film for a quid in a charity shop, and snapped it up.

You may well be familiar with the story: set in 1912 in a well-to-do northern Midlands household, in a society divided by class distinction, we find the Birling family assembled in celebration of their daughter Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft. The patriarch, Arthur Birling, is feeling pleased with himself, as his business is doing well and he is on an upward social trajectory, improved even more by the social standing of the Croft family into which Sheila is marrying. Their evening, however, is interrupted by the arrival of Inspector Goole (“Poole” in the film version).

The Inspector, played masterfully by Alistair Sim in the 1954 film, has some questions for all the members of the family and Gerald Croft, in turn, concerning a girl who has just committed suicide in the grisly manner of drinking bleach, a sign of her desperate mental state. It becomes apparent that each person has had some involvement with this poor girl, albeit in a variety of different circumstances, and each has played some part in her descent and degradation. The unfolding of the storyline is subtle and we the audience are gradually drawn in as details are revealed and it dawns on us that everyone present has some connection.

Tellingly, the characters react differently to Inspector Goole’s revelations. The older ones refuse to accept their responsibility; the younger ones – Sheila in particular – approach an epiphany. Priestley lays bare the self-importance of the older generation of the Birlings without flinching. It is a brilliant deconstruction of the human condition.

Here is Alistair Sim (better known perhaps for his cross-dressing comedy performances in the St Trinian’s movies) in a characteristically compelling scene from the film.