Waterloo Road is a 1945 British film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring John Mills, Stewart Granger, and Alastair Sim. It is based on the Waterloo area of South London. According to the British Film Institute database, it is the third in an "unofficial trilogy" by Gilliat, preceded by Millions Like Us (1943) and Two Thousand Women (1944).[3]
| Waterloo Road | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Sidney Gilliat |
| Written by | Sidney Gilliat |
| Story by | Val Valentine |
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Arthur Crabtree |
| Edited by | Alfred Roome |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 mins |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £96,000[1] |
| Box office | 522,090 admissions (France)[2] |
Premise
editA soldier, Jim Colter (Mills), goes AWOL to return to his home in south London to save his wife from the advances of Ted Purvis (Granger), a philandering conscription-dodger.
Cast
edit- John Mills as Jim Colter
- Stewart Granger as Ted Purvis
- Alastair Sim as Dr. Montgomery
- Joy Shelton as Tillie Colter
- Alison Leggatt as Ruby
- Beatrice Varley as Mrs. Colter
- George Carney as Tom Mason
- Leslie Bradley as Mike Duggan
- Jean Kent as Toni
- Ben Williams as Corporal Lewis
- Anna Konstam as May
- Vera Frances as Vera Colter
- George Merritt as Air Raid Warden
- Ian Fleming as Officer at Station
- Wylie Watson as Tattooist
- John Boxer as Policeman at the Fight in Arcade
- Frank Atkinson as Pub Barman
Production
editThe film was originally known as Blue for Waterloo.[4]
Stewart Granger later said the film was one of his favourites as his role "was a heel, but a real character".[5] He says the film was made in ten days while he was also making Love Story. He was particularly proud of the fight scene with John Mills.[6]
Sidney Gilliat said he was taken off the film before it was finished. Production was stopped and there were still some exteriors to be shot. Ted Black had gone and the Ostrers put the film at the end of the dubbing schedule. However, Earl St John who was in charge of Odeon cinemas liked the film and got the dubbing done.[7]
Gilliat said the idea of using Alastair Sim's character as a commentator was his, though based on the original Val Valentine story. However, he thought the device "proved a bit of a mess".[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Fowler, Roy; Haines, Taffy (15 May 1990). "Interview with Sidney Gilliat" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project.
- ^ Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Waterloo Road (1944)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Motion Picture Herald (via: Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library)". Motion Picture Herald; lantern.mediahist.org. November–December 1943. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
- ^ HOWARD THOMPSON (8 November 1953). "GRANGER'S RANGE: At Home and Abroad With A Rising British Star". The New York Times. p. X5.
- ^ Brian MacFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Methuen 1997 p 230
- ^ a b Brian MacFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Methuen 1997 p 225
External links
edit- Waterloo Road at IMDb
- Waterloo Road at BFI Screenonline
- Review of film at Variety
- Review in Time Out
- Review in The New York Times
- MovieMall DVD information