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Woman In A Dressing Gown

100 Years of Elstree Studios - Part Thirteen

Ribbon of Dreams

This week we dip into the mid-1950s and a film that caught my eye while watching an excellent history of Elstree made by David Puttman. Once again Elstree was in the vanguard of film history. Woman In A Dressing Gown was one of the first of the 'socially realistic dramas' that were to dominate British films for the rest of the decade and into the sixties. Filmed in 1956 and released in 1957, it was written by Ted Willis of Dixon Of Dock Green fame, and directed by the experienced J Lee Thompson, the film explored a tragic relationship. This was the first time a lower-middle or working class family had been the subject of such a film, and the producer Frank Godwin called it 'the first kitchen sink movie'.

Anthony Quayle and Yvonne Mitchell play the husband and wife. She is very disorganised and always in her dressing gown, while he is having an affair with a much younger work colleague played by the luminous Sylvia Syms. Things go from bad to worse, but you'll have to see the film to find out how it all turns out - one reviewer thought the ending 'rings entirely false'. No doubt it will be shown on TPTV if it hasn't already. The film earned some awards at the Berlin Film Festival and a nomination for a BAFTA for Sylvia Syms.  Once again Elstree was in the forefront.