Woman in a Dressing Gown
| Woman in a Dressing Gown | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Danish poster | |
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Produced by |
Frank Godwin J. Lee Thompson |
| Written by | Ted Willis |
| Starring |
Yvonne Mitchell Anthony Quayle Sylvia Syms Carole Lesley |
| Music by | Louis Levy |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Richard Best |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Associated British-Pathé |
Release dates | June 1957 |
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office |
£450,000 (UK) £1 million (total)[1] |
Woman in a Dressing Gown is a 1957 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson. The film won four awards at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival including "Best Foreign Film".[2] Yvonne Mitchell won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.[3] The film also won the 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film.
The screenplay was written by Ted Willis and the cinematographer was Gilbert Taylor. The producer was Frank Godwin.
Plot
The Prestons are an apparently happy London household, made up of wife Amy (Yvonne Mitchell), husband Jim (Anthony Quayle) and teenage son Brian (Andrew Ray). Although the family appears happy, there is considerable tension, as Amy never gets organised enough to get dressed each day. Instead, she does the housework, cooks the meals, etc., in her dressing gown. Jim is having an affair with a co-worker, Georgie (Sylvia Syms), who threatens to break it off unless Jim divorces his wife and leaves his family. He promises that he will do so, and demands a divorce from Amy. Amy is shocked and distraught, while Brian becomes angry with his father.
Amy invites Jim and Georgie back to the Prestons' flat, to try to convince Georgie not to take her husband away. Amy gets her hair done and tries to organise a meal, paying for it all by pawning her engagement ring. However, she gets drunk and falls asleep on the bed, later ordering Jim and Georgie out of the flat. Jim leaves, but has second thoughts, returning to his wife and son, who cautiously accept him back.
Cast
- Yvonne Mitchell – Amy Preston
- Anthony Quayle – Jim Preston
- Sylvia Syms – Georgie Harlow
- Andrew Ray – Brian Preston
- Carole Lesley – Hilda
- Michael Ripper – Pawnbroker
- Nora Gordon – Mrs. Williams
- Marianne Stone – Hairdresser
- Olga Lindo – Manageress
- Harry Locke – Wine merchant
- Max Butterfield – Harold
- Roberta Woolley – Christine
- Melvyn Hayes – Newsboy
- Cordelia Mitchell – Hilda's baby
Reception
The film lost money at the box office but was critically acclaimed.[4]
References
- ↑ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p87
- ↑ Higson, Andrew (ed.); Ashby, Justine (ed.); Porter, Vincent (2000). British Cinema: Past and Present: "Outsiders in England: the films of the Associated British Picture Corporation, 1949-1958". Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 9780415220620.
- ↑ "Berlinale 1957: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ J. LEE THOMPSON DISCUSSES CAREER: 'GUNS OF NAVARONE' DIRECTOR TOOK DEVIOUS PATH TO FILMS By MURRAY SCHUMACH Special to The New York Times.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 25 July 1961: 18.
- Williams, Melanie, 'Remembering the poor soul walking in the rain: Audience Responses to a Thwarted Makeover in Woman in a Dressing Gown' in Journal of British Cinema and Television, 10 (2013), pp. 709–726.
- Williams, Melanie, 'Dawn of the Kitchen Sink', Sight and Sound, August 2012, p. 22.
- Williams, Melanie, 'Twilight women of 1950s British cinema' in : The British Cinema Book. British Film Institute, 2009.
- Williams, Melanie, ‘Housewives’ choice’: Woman in a Dressing Gown' in British Cinema of the Fifties. MUP, 2003.