The L-Shaped Room (1962)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

Lynne Reid Banks (novel)
Bryan Forbes (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 November 1962 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

"Sex is not a forbidden word!"

Plot:

Jane, a young French woman, pregnant and unmarried, takes a room in a seedy London boarding house, which is inhabited by an assortment of misfits...

Plot Keywords:

Abortion | Kitchen Sink Realism | Pregnancy | Lesbian | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Leslie Caron	...	Jane Fosset
Anthony Booth	...	Youth in Street
Avis Bunnage	...	Doris
Patricia Phoenix	...	Sonia
Verity Edmett	...	Jane II
Tom Bell	...	Toby
Cicely Courtneidge	...	Mavis
Harry Locke	...	Newsagent
Ellen Dryden	...	Girl in Newsagent's
Emlyn Williams	...	Dr. Weaver
Jennifer White	...	Monica
Brock Peters	...	Johnny
Gerry Duggan	...	Bert
Joan Ingram	...	Woman in Park
Mark Eden	...	Terry

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

4 St Luke's Road, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

British Lion Film Corporation

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mary Tyler Moore: The Square-Shaped Room (#2.13)" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Concerto No. 1 in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra

Odd, life-like characters--rich, textured script

The characters in the oddly appealing drama are so deliciously flawed and the texture is so utterly British art. Leslie Caron is underrated as a dramatic actor--having made a name for herself in musicals--but she shines in this one. Her performance is reminiscent of the character she played in "The Subterraneans." She is perfect as the tortured free-spirit who stumbles. Another standout is Brock Peters. You feel the closeness of his room when he is lying in bed, talking to Jane through the wall. In fact, the whole boarding house feels real, seedy and full of dashed hopes. You ache for the pain and loneliness each person on the

house endures--I felt myself like a resident in this menagerie. The direction is taut, spare and real. I would have liked to have learned more about Toby's background, what drove him to this place. But I suppose a good film is supposed to leave a place for the viewers imagination.