A half hour short film from 1969 offers a slice of social life in Swinging Sixties London. The protagonist wakes up in an unknown flat after a night on the tiles and tries to piece together how he got there by ringing around. They manage a twist ending too. It's okay, quite well made and involved for its running time, although I did find the protagonist quite unlikeable.
2 Reviews
The morning after the night before
ShadeGrenade11 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
During the 60's, British studios churned out a substantial number of half-hour films, often paired with bigger budget movies. Some - like 'A Home Of Your Own' and 'San Ferry Ann' - were comedies. This intriguing 1969 mystery was written and directed by Brian Cummins and went out in the U.K. with Lindsay Anderson's brilliant 'If...'. It starred the late Alexis Kanner ( fresh from 'The Prisoner' television series ) as 'Graham Baird', a twenty-nine ( hence the title ) year old business executive whose hobbies are gambling, drinking heavily and womanising, despite him being wed to the lovely Dee ( Justine Lord, another 'Prisoner' refugee ).
We first encounter Baird waking up one Saturday morning with a dreadful hangover in a strange Chelsea flat, wearing clothes too small for him, and a moustache drawn onto his face. He throws up in the toilet, and memories of the previous night gradually return. Baird had hit Soho to celebrate a successful business deal. After visiting a succession of strip joints, he meets the pretty 'Priscilla' ( Susan Hunt ), goes back to her flat, smokes a joint, only to then pass out on the bed as she begins taunting him about his age. Thinking he might have murdered the girl in a fit of rage, Baird panics. An unknown man hiding in the flat telephones Dee to tell her Graham will soon be home. Satisfied her scheme has cured him of his philandering for good, she smiles. The film ends on a freeze-frame of Baird, running through a crowd of rowdy football fans.
'Twenty Nine' is a good vehicle for the talented Kanner. He brings to 'Baird' the same moody intensity he brought the year before to 'The Kid' in 'Living In Harmony'. The film has a sinister atmosphere that grips from the word go, along with a strong flavour of the seediness of late '60's London. Yootha Joyce ( later found fame in the sitcom 'Man About The House' ) plays a prostitute. The film played a number of times on late night '70's television, but has not been seen anywhere for decades. Thankfully, it is to be released on Blu-Ray in November 2020 as part of a BFI collection entitled 'Short Sharp Shocks'.
We first encounter Baird waking up one Saturday morning with a dreadful hangover in a strange Chelsea flat, wearing clothes too small for him, and a moustache drawn onto his face. He throws up in the toilet, and memories of the previous night gradually return. Baird had hit Soho to celebrate a successful business deal. After visiting a succession of strip joints, he meets the pretty 'Priscilla' ( Susan Hunt ), goes back to her flat, smokes a joint, only to then pass out on the bed as she begins taunting him about his age. Thinking he might have murdered the girl in a fit of rage, Baird panics. An unknown man hiding in the flat telephones Dee to tell her Graham will soon be home. Satisfied her scheme has cured him of his philandering for good, she smiles. The film ends on a freeze-frame of Baird, running through a crowd of rowdy football fans.
'Twenty Nine' is a good vehicle for the talented Kanner. He brings to 'Baird' the same moody intensity he brought the year before to 'The Kid' in 'Living In Harmony'. The film has a sinister atmosphere that grips from the word go, along with a strong flavour of the seediness of late '60's London. Yootha Joyce ( later found fame in the sitcom 'Man About The House' ) plays a prostitute. The film played a number of times on late night '70's television, but has not been seen anywhere for decades. Thankfully, it is to be released on Blu-Ray in November 2020 as part of a BFI collection entitled 'Short Sharp Shocks'.
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