Based on a true story, set in the late 19th century: Lord Tichborne, the ninth richest nobleman in England, disappears after a South American shipwreck. Some years later his erudite Afro-English valet, Bogle, is sent to investigate rumors that Tichborne survived and settled in Australia. An alcoholic ruffian answer's Bogle's inquiries claiming to be the lost heir. Bogle suspects fraud, but conspires with the claimant to split the inheritance should the latter succesfully pass himself off to friends, family and the courts. As the claimant returns to England to continue his charade, enough people confirm his identity to make both the claimant and Bogle believe that he just might be the rightful heir after all.
Robert Pugh
as The Claimant
John Kani
as Bogle
Stephen Fry
as Hawkins
John Gielgud
as Cockburn
Robert Hardy
as Lord Rivers
Rachael Dowling
as Mary Anne
Charles Gray
as Arundell
James Villiers
as Uncle Henry
Dudley Sutton
as Onslow Onslow
Paola Dionisotti
as The Dowager
Perry Fenwick
as John Holmes
Tom McCabe
as Keneally
