Woman in a Dressing Gown

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Woman in a Dressing Gown
"Woman in a Dressing Gown2 (1957).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 (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 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

Reception

The film lost money at the box office but was critically acclaimed.[4]

References

  1. British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p87
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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.

External links


<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>