During the late fifties and early sixties a feature of the British film industry was what have become known as "kitchen sink" films- social-realist pictures focusing on the lives of ordinary working-class people. Because the British literary scene was also experiencing its own "kitchen sink" movement at around the same time, most of these fils were adaptations of either stage plays ("Look Back in Anger", "A Taste of Honey") or novels ("Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", "A Kind of Loving"), but "Woman in a Dressing Gown" began life as a television drama for ITV. The author, Ted Willis, then adapted it for the cinema and then, when the film proved a success, for the stage as well.
Most kitchen sink films dealt with the problems of young people, especially young men. (The "angry young man" like Jimmy in "Look Back in Anger" and Arthur in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" became something of a cliche at this period). Jim and Amy Preston are a working-class couple living with their teenage son Brian in a cramped flat on a London housing estate. At first they seem happy and contented, and when Jim announces that, unexpectedly, he has to work on a Sunday, Amy happily accepts it. Jim, however, is not being truthful. He intends to spend the day with his mistress Georgie (of whose existence Amy is blissfully unaware). The affair has clearly been going on for some time, and it would appear that Jim has for some time been promising Georgie that he will leave Amy for her, without ever doing so. Georgie is losing patience, and tells Jim that she will end their relationship unless he leaves Amy. The film explores what happens after Jim finally plucks up courage to tell Amy about Georgie and to ask her for a divorce.
Yvonne Mitchell's Amy and Sylvia Syms's Georgie are two very different people. Amy is around the same age as Jim, while Georgie is considerably younger and more attractive, and her accent suggests she may come from a mode middle-class background. Jim's main complaint about Amy is that she is a poor housewife, not very good at cooking and untidy in her habits. Georgie is a much better cook and housekeeper; shots of the Prestons' flat always show it in an chaotic state, while Georgie's is much more spick handspan. Georgie is also more smartly dressed; the film's title refers to the fact that Amy habitually wears a dressing gown around the house. When she tries to smarten herself up to compete with her rival, things do not go to plan. Mitchell was rather cast against type as the slovenly Amy, and her Cockney accent occasionally slips, but this otherwise is a moving performance as a woman who sees her world crumbling around her. Syms, however, does not make a great impression.
Anthony Quayle was a leading light in the British theatre, both as actor and director, but never had quite the same success in the cinema. Most of his films were British- he never attempted to conquer Hollywood- and he mostly appeared in supporting roles. When he did take on a leading role, however, he generally made the most of it, as he did in "The Challenge", a British film noir from 1960, and as he does here. Although Jim is cheating on his wife, he is not the villain of the film; indeed, this is a film without a villain. He is a middle-aged everyman who believes that he is stuck in a rut, trapped in a marriage which has become stale, and who sees a chance of happiness with a younger woman.
There are some similarities here with a later British film, Colin Welland's 1973 television drama "Kisses at Fifty", which also dealt with a middle-aged working-class man, seeking escape from a passionless marriage through an extramarital affair. In that film too the children of the family take their mother's side and turn against the father, as Brian does here. (Kitchen sink drama largely vanished from the British cinema after around 1970, but found a new home on television, especially as part of the "Play for Today" franchise).
The ending, in which Jim gives up Georgie in order to remain with Amy, was criticised even in 1957 as overly sentimental. (The husband in "Kisses at Fifty" makes the opposite decision). Yet I felt that this ending rang psychologically true. Jim is a rather weak figure who finds it difficult to make decisions, especially decisions which will make a big change to his life. (There is a reason why he has put off telling Amy for so long). It therefore makes sense that, faced with an ultimatum he would take the path of least resistance. "Woman in a Dressing Gown" may not be as intensely dramatic as some of the other "kitchen sinks" from the period, but it still has an emotional power of its own. 7/10.
Most kitchen sink films dealt with the problems of young people, especially young men. (The "angry young man" like Jimmy in "Look Back in Anger" and Arthur in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" became something of a cliche at this period). Jim and Amy Preston are a working-class couple living with their teenage son Brian in a cramped flat on a London housing estate. At first they seem happy and contented, and when Jim announces that, unexpectedly, he has to work on a Sunday, Amy happily accepts it. Jim, however, is not being truthful. He intends to spend the day with his mistress Georgie (of whose existence Amy is blissfully unaware). The affair has clearly been going on for some time, and it would appear that Jim has for some time been promising Georgie that he will leave Amy for her, without ever doing so. Georgie is losing patience, and tells Jim that she will end their relationship unless he leaves Amy. The film explores what happens after Jim finally plucks up courage to tell Amy about Georgie and to ask her for a divorce.
Yvonne Mitchell's Amy and Sylvia Syms's Georgie are two very different people. Amy is around the same age as Jim, while Georgie is considerably younger and more attractive, and her accent suggests she may come from a mode middle-class background. Jim's main complaint about Amy is that she is a poor housewife, not very good at cooking and untidy in her habits. Georgie is a much better cook and housekeeper; shots of the Prestons' flat always show it in an chaotic state, while Georgie's is much more spick handspan. Georgie is also more smartly dressed; the film's title refers to the fact that Amy habitually wears a dressing gown around the house. When she tries to smarten herself up to compete with her rival, things do not go to plan. Mitchell was rather cast against type as the slovenly Amy, and her Cockney accent occasionally slips, but this otherwise is a moving performance as a woman who sees her world crumbling around her. Syms, however, does not make a great impression.
Anthony Quayle was a leading light in the British theatre, both as actor and director, but never had quite the same success in the cinema. Most of his films were British- he never attempted to conquer Hollywood- and he mostly appeared in supporting roles. When he did take on a leading role, however, he generally made the most of it, as he did in "The Challenge", a British film noir from 1960, and as he does here. Although Jim is cheating on his wife, he is not the villain of the film; indeed, this is a film without a villain. He is a middle-aged everyman who believes that he is stuck in a rut, trapped in a marriage which has become stale, and who sees a chance of happiness with a younger woman.
There are some similarities here with a later British film, Colin Welland's 1973 television drama "Kisses at Fifty", which also dealt with a middle-aged working-class man, seeking escape from a passionless marriage through an extramarital affair. In that film too the children of the family take their mother's side and turn against the father, as Brian does here. (Kitchen sink drama largely vanished from the British cinema after around 1970, but found a new home on television, especially as part of the "Play for Today" franchise).
The ending, in which Jim gives up Georgie in order to remain with Amy, was criticised even in 1957 as overly sentimental. (The husband in "Kisses at Fifty" makes the opposite decision). Yet I felt that this ending rang psychologically true. Jim is a rather weak figure who finds it difficult to make decisions, especially decisions which will make a big change to his life. (There is a reason why he has put off telling Amy for so long). It therefore makes sense that, faced with an ultimatum he would take the path of least resistance. "Woman in a Dressing Gown" may not be as intensely dramatic as some of the other "kitchen sinks" from the period, but it still has an emotional power of its own. 7/10.