Tragedy and farce

Articles in THE are often enlivened by uncredited stills from old films. However, many readers will have identified Admiral D'Ascoyne (Alec Guinness) dutifully going down with his ship as an illustration of the need for university managers to grasp the strategic direction of their institutions ("Modern managers need a compass to navigate stormy market waters", 26 April).

The illustration used was taken from Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), directed by Robert Hamer for Ealing Studios, a company famous for its dark comedies - a genre totally appropriate for describing the inner workings of some universities.

R.E. Rawles, UCL honorary research fellow in psychology, University College London