‘White Mischief’ (R)

Dignified -- but not transformed -- by the performances of its ensemble cast, "White Mischief" is a World War II melodrama set in Kenya, where the titled sons and daughters of Albion cavort while London burns.

At least cast members Joss Ackland, Charles Dance, Gretta Scacchi and Sarah Miles (among others) seem to be enjoying themselves. But director/cowriter Michael Radford and producer Simon Perry have mined this true story of adultery, murder and a jury acquittal (the subject of an investigative book by James Fox) for titillation rather than truth. The result is a sort of La Dolce Safari that gets lost in the bush.

Escaping the financial overhead of his stately British home, aging gambler and racehorse enthusiast Lord "Jock" Delves Broughton (Ackland) brings peachy bride Diana (Scacchi) to the Kenya Brit community, where aperitifs, polo and extramarital bed-hopping are all the rage. Diana gets plucked almost immediately by philanderer Joss, the Earl of Erroll (Dance), a penniless heir to the Scottish throne. They fall in love rapidly, to Lord Broughton's chagrin.

When one significant Happy Valley player is found shot on a deserted road, the investigation enthralls the British public and culminates in one of those sweltering trials where onlookers fan themselves furiously and gasp at appropriate moments. The jury is charged with deciding a man's fate as much as the fate of a peculiar era of British history.

It's either exhilarating or unnerving to see limeys loosen up. Scacchi is amply qualified as the object of Joss's ardor. She'll probably never clutch an Oscar, but she brings an enticing naiveté to the role. Sarah Miles plays up her earlier sexy roles, as Alice the drug-injected, sweet-voiced floozy. (When we first meet her, she's staring vacantly ahead, an enormous snake draped around her shoulders.) Dance brings the same sexy dash to Joss he brought to his D. W. Griffith in the otherwise disappointing "Good Morning, Babylon."

There are many commendable offerings by "Happy Valley" players John Hurt, the late Trevor Howard and Geraldine Chaplin (who needs little stretching to play eccentric). But the best is by Ackland, who plays the desperate Lord Broughton with unforgettable finesse. Trying to grasp the paradise that's eluding him, he pulls you down with him.