Winifred Holtby realised that Local Government is not a dry affair of meetings and memoranda:- but 'the front-line defence thrown up by humanity against its common enemies of sickness, poverty and ignorance.' She built her story around six people working for a typical County Council:- Beneath the lives of the public servants runs the thread of their personal drama. Our story tells how a public life affects the private life; and how a man's personal sufferings make him what he is in public. " Corruption, intrigue and romance in a Yorkshire setting. A country squire whose wife is in a mental hospital becomes attracted to a crusading local schoolmistress.
Edna Best
as Sarah Barton
Ralph Richardson
as Robert Carne
Edmund Gwenn
as Alfred Huggins
Ann Todd
as Madge Carne
Marie Lohr
as Mrs. Beddows
Milton Rosmer
as Alderman Snaith
John Clements
as Joe Astell
Edward Lexy
as Mr. Holly
Joan Ellum
as Lydia Holly
Glynis Johns
as Midge Carne
Josephine Wilson
as Mrs. Holly
Gus McNaughton
as Tadman
