FILM · 1958
Separate Tables
23 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (23)
- #001
When London's News Chronicle interviewed Wendy Hiller about her Oscar win, she said she thought the Academy was crazy to give her the award. "The only thing you can see of me in the picture is the back of my head. I don't see how I could have won for acting with my back to the camera. They cut my two best scenes and gave one to Rita Hayworth." She went on, "Never mind the honor, though I'm sure it's a very nice gesture. I hope this award means cash - cash money. I want some very nice offers to go to Hollywood to shoot, preferably in the winter months, so I can avoid all this hardship - it's a terrible cold here."
- #002
With 23 minutes and 39 seconds of screen time, David Niven's performance was the shortest ever to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the fourth shortest ever to win in either lead category. Contrary to popular belief, Anthony Hopkins did not break Niven's record with his win for The Silence of the Lambs (1991); Hopkins's performance runs 24 minutes and 52 seconds.
- #003
Director Delbert Mann filmed May Hallatt's pool scene in a long take with a deliberately moving camera, wanting to show that a stand-in would not work for her. Unfortunately, the shot was taken away from him and re-edited with the middle of the take removed, eliminating that effect.
- #004
David Niven hosted the 1958 Academy Awards ceremony. He is the only person to have won an Oscar at a ceremony he hosted.
- #005
Years later, Delbert Mann was surprised that this film was chosen for a retrospective of British films. According to Mann, the entire film was shot at Goldwyn Studios on Stage 5.
- #006
Director Delbert Mann was so upset that producer/star Burt Lancaster recut the picture that he severed his relationship with the company. According to Mann, this was done because Lancaster's character was the last of four major heroes to be introduced.
- #007
When Charles asks Major Pollock whether he won the Sword of Honour at Sandhurst (Britain's equivalent of West Point), he is referring to the award given by the commandant to the best overall student in the class. David Niven, who played Major Pollock, had indeed graduated from Sandhurst before becoming an actor; in 1939 he interrupted his film career, returned to Britain and re-entered the British Army, eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
- #008
Terence Rattigan's play was usually performed as two one-act plays separated by an interval; the same actor played Major and John, and the same actress played Ann and Sybil.
- #009
With its frank discussions of sexual matters, generally considered taboo, it was regarded as quite daring at the time.
- #010
At the time, Rita Hayworth was married to the film's co-producer, James Hill, her fifth (and last) husband; all of her marriages ended in divorce.
- #011
The role played by Rita Hayworth was originally given to Vivien Leigh, but she left the project after her then-husband, Laurence Olivier, decided not to direct the film.
- #012
David Niven's Oscar-winning performance in this film is his only Oscar nomination.
- #013
Sixteen years earlier, Gladys Cooper played another haughty and domineering mother who gives birth to a maladjusted daughter, played by Bette Davis, in Now, Voyager (1942).
- #014
Terence Rattigan's original Broadway production of "Separate Tables" opened on 25 October 1956 at the Music Box Theatre in New York, ran for 332 performances and was nominated for the 1957 Tony Award for Best Play (New York City). May Hallatt recreated the role of Mrs. Meacham in the film version. The play's only Tony Award went to Margaret Leighton for Best Actress for the role of Miss Shankland.
- #015
Audrey Dalton would recall that the film was shot in sequence after a three-week rehearsal period.
- #016
The musical theme of the terrace sequence and several other pieces were rewritten by David Raksin at the producers' request after a poor preview.
- #017
The cast includes three Oscar winners: David Niven, Burt Lancaster and Wendy Hiller; and two Oscar nominees: Deborah Kerr and Gladys Cooper.
- #018
Both Cathleen Nesbitt and Gladys Cooper played Professor Henry Higgins's mother as portrayed by Rex Harrison: Nesbitt on Broadway (twice, 25 years apart) and Cooper in My Fair Lady (1964).
- #019
Deborah Kerr also appeared with Cathleen Nesbitt, who played Cary Grant's grandmother in An Affair to Remember (1957).
- #020
The character Ann Shankland was inspired by Jean Dawnay, a close friend of Terence Rattigan.
- #021
Deborah Kerr's first screen appearance (not left on the cutting room floor) came opposite Wendy Hiller in Major Barbara (1941). According to director Michael Powell's memoirs, he hoped to cast Kerr in the lead of I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), but when she was unavailable the role went to Wendy Hiller. In Separate Tables (1958), Hiller wears a brooch she had worn in I Know Where I'm Going! (1945).
- #022
Both Cathleen Nesbitt (first name Gladys) and Wendy Hiller (surname Cooper) share the real name of Gladys Cooper in the film.
- #023
Its New York television premiere was on 3 October 1965 on WOR channel 9.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work