The relationship and possible affair between a young designer and a married executive plays out over a series of lunch hours.The relationship and possible affair between a young designer and a married executive plays out over a series of lunch hours.The relationship and possible affair between a young designer and a married executive plays out over a series of lunch hours.
- Man Sleeping on Park Bench
- (uncredited)
- Sheila
- (uncredited)
- Girl in Cafe'
- (uncredited)
- Sailor on Train
- (uncredited)
- Elderly Gent in Bowler Hat
- (uncredited)
- Restaurant Customer
- (uncredited)
- Man with Boxer Dog
- (uncredited)
- Tramp
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe story started life as a BBC Radio play with Wendy Craig.
- Quotes
Harris: Girls!
Man: What?
Harris: I said, "Girls!"
Man: Oh, yeah.
Harris: They can't spell, they can't type, they make 15 pounds a week, which took me the best part of my life to rise up to, and what use are they? Will you please tell me that, number two? They sit and read their horoscopes all day, they fill their desks with wet towels and flannels and toothpaste, they bung up the toilet with tea leaves, they burst into tears if you so much as mention the fact that they're half an hour late. What earthly use they are, I don't...
Man: Excuse me
[leaves the office]
- ConnectionsFeatured in Talkies: Shirley Anne Field (2019)
Director James Hill (who directed Mortimer's Peter Sellers comedy "Trial and Error" and later hit paydirt with "Born Free') adopts a deceptively minimalist style that pinpoints the most wonderful little details of the story, many quite memorable incidents. There's the couple attending an Itaiain movie, we only hear the exaggerated, loud Italian dialogue while Stephens only wants to neck (not looking at the picture at all); Kay Walsh scene stealing to her heart's content as manageress of a hotel where Stephens has booked a room for an hour only; a fantasy scene with Auntie (a terrific turn by Hazel Hughes as a meanie); and a cameo by Nigel Davenport as the personnel office's fussy (and perhaps lascivious) man fawning a bit over new employee Shirley.
Right from the abstract opening sequence of railroad tracks crossing in patterns, Hill conjures up some amazing fantasy counterpoint to the realistic events of meeting and getting to know each other, before the romance goes completely off the tracks. Robert's tall tales get him into trouble and we get to see a fantasy world (realistically shot, however) of Shirley becoming his oppressed wife with two kids, all foisted on her by his quite chauvinist imagination.
Unlike the often American-financed and so successful British pictures of this period, this barely hour-long feature was never released in America , and stands for me alongside "Four in the Morning" and other local classics to be appreciated as an outgrowth of the '50s Anderson/Reisz sort of free cinema, not aping the output of Continental Europe or the U. S.
- lor_
- Apr 3, 2024
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, England, UK(the Girl and the Man talk on a bench)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 4 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1