Woman in a Dressing Gown

Woman in a Dressing Gown
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 date
 June 1957 (1957-06)
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 household, made up of wife Amy (Yvonne Mitchell), husband Jim (Anthony Quayle) and teenage son Brian (Andrew Ray), living in a cramped flat on a London housing estate. Although the family appears happy, tensions soon become clear. Though she is a breezy, loving character, Amy has always been a disorganised housewife, and finds it difficult to concentrate enough to tidy or cook properly. 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 eventually demands a divorce from Amy. Amy is shocked and distraught, while Brian becomes angry with his father.

Amy calls from a telephone kiosk to invite Jim and Georgie back to the Prestons' flat, to try to convince Georgie not to take her husband away. In preparation, she gets her hair done, buys a bottle of whisky for her husband and tries to organise a meal, paying for it all by pawning her engagement ring. However, on leaving the hairdresser's she is caught in the rain, ruining the hairdo. At home, after discussing the matter with a neighbour, a young unhappy wife, who persuades Amy to have a glass from the spirits bottle to calm her down, Amy becomes drunk and falls asleep on the bed, again ruining her plans. After a confrontation she orders 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

Reception

The film lost money at the box office but was well received by critics.[4]

References

  1. ↑ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p87
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "Berlinale 1957: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  4. ↑ 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.
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