I liked both James Mason and John Gielgud a lot as actors. The Shooting Party was the film Mason made as far as i know. I didn't think the film was that bad, it moved slowly and thank god for that, if you want car chases and explosions every other minute, then films like this are not for you anyway. Damacus is of course correct, it is a book/film about a doomed generation, the end of the Edwardian era and the Edwardian country house set.