''All Neat in Black Stockings'' is a 1969 British comedy film directed by

Christopher Morahan Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE (9 July 1929 – 7 April 2017) was a British stage and television director and production executive. Biography Early life and career Morahan was born on 9 July 1929 in London, the son of film production designer ...

and starring Victor Henry, Susan George and Jack Shepherd.

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Film & TV Database
All Neat in Black Stockings.
/ref> Based on a novel by Jane Gaskell, its plot follows an easygoing window cleaner called 'Ginger' who falls in love with a woman he meets in

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

. The film is in the

British New Wave The British New Wave is a style of films released in Great Britain between 1959 and 1963. The label is a translation of ''Nouvelle Vague'', the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others. Stylis ...

tradition and shows the blue collar working man lifestyle. The film is a 1960s time capsule of cars, dress and dancing (even Old Spice cologne and Pepsi bottles).

Plot

Ginger (Victor Henry) is a window cleaner with an eye for the girls. His best friend and neighbour, Dwyer, (Jack Shepherd) swaps girls with him. Ginger is cleaning hospital windows and he sets up a date with nurse Babette (Jasmina Hilton). A patient gives Ginger the keys to his house and asks him to care for his pets during his hospital stay. Ginger takes Babette to the local pub but his interest wanders to Carole (Vanessa Forsythe) and Jill (Susan George). He sets up a date with Carole and later that night he switches date Babette with Dwyer. Best friends share everything. Ginger cares for Mr. McLaughlin's birds, rabbits, white rats and many aquaria. This home is far nicer than Ginger's run down bedsit. In fact his pushy brother-in-law moves in with Ginger's pregnant sister, Cecily (Anna Cropper). Issur (Harry Towb) even moves in with his girlfriend, Jocasta (Nita Lorraine). Ginger's passive and uncomplaining sister seems not to object. Ginger takes Carole ice skating, but his interest moves to her friend, Jill. He starts seeing Jill and even buys her a large plush penguin. He meets Jill's mother and Dwyer sees a difference in his friend. Ginger does not even try to have sex with Jill. Jill and her mother live together and Ginger befriends Mum. Issur decides to have a large unauthorised party in the borrowed residence. Angry Ginger shows up and starts to kick people out of the house, ehich has been trashed. Later that night, Ginger finds Jill in bed with Dwyer. She has lost her virginity to Dwyer, who thought nothing was wrong because they always slept with each other's women. Brother-in-law goes off to Mexico with Jocasta and Jill ends up pregnant to Dwyer. House-sitting man (Terence de Marney) returns from hospital to find his pets hungry and possessions damaged. He nonetheless hires Cecily as his housekeeper. Despite all, Ginger decides to marry Jill, and makes a deposit on a rental property, but Jill decides they will live with her mother. Jill has the baby and Ginger says it looks like Dwyer. Ginger continues work cleaning windows and stops for lunch at a café. The waitress is young and pretty and Ginger flirts with her and the movie ends.

Cast

* Victor Henry - Ginger - Window-washer * Susan George - Jillian 'Jill' * Jack Shepherd - Dwyer - Best Mate *

Clare Kelly Clare Kelly (25 February 1922 – 18 February 2001) was an English actress who worked primarily in television. She was known for roles in films such as ''Georgy Girl'' (1966), '' And Soon the Darkness'' (1970), '' The Fourth Protocol'' (1987). TV ...

- Jill's Mother * Anna Cropper - Cicely 'Sis' *

Harry Towb Harry Towb (27 July 1925 – 24 July 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland. Early life and career Towb was born in Larne, County Antrim, to a Russian-Jewish father and an Irish-Jewish mother; he once claimed he was the only Jew ever born i ...

- Sister's Husband, Issur * Vanessa Forsyth - Carole - Jill's friend *

Terence De Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of no ...

- Old Gunge - Owner of home with pets * Jasmina Hilton - Nurse Babette *

John Woodnutt John Edward Arthur Woodnutt (3 March 1924 – 2 January 2006) was an English character actor, often cast in villainous roles. Early life and education The younger son of Harold Frederick Woodnutt and brother of the Conservative MP Mark Woodnutt ...

- Vicar * Nita Lorraine - Jocasta - Issur's girlfriend * Deirdre Costello - New Bird * Andre Dakar - Man with parrot * Rosalind Elliot - New Bird *

Gwendolyn Watts Gwendolyn Watts (23 September 1937 – 5 February 2000) was an English actress of the 1960s and 1970s. she was best known for her role as Iris in ''On The Buses''. Career Born in Carhampton, Somerset, the daughter of Colin B. Watts and Annie ...

- Suburban housewife * Anna Welsh - Hospital Sister * Neil Wilson - Angry householder * Christine Pryor - Cafe waitress * Grahame James - Young bloke * Eric Longworth - Businessman *

Malcolm Tierney Malcolm Tierney (25 February 1938 – 18 February 2013) was an English actor who appeared in many film and television roles. Early life Tierney's father, Ernest, was a boilermaker and trained draughtsman, from Warrington, who worked at Blackpoo ...

- Photographer * Maurice Travers - Car salesman *

Carmen Munroe Carmen Esme Munroe, (born 12 November 1932)

- Nurse *

Larry Dann Larry Dann (born 15 May 1941 in London, England) is a British film and television actor. His acting career began by a fluke, with "a chance knock at the door looking for kids to work in films." He made his film debut age five in '' Adam and Evely ...

- New mate

References

External links

* *

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

All Neat in Black Stockings.
*

Film & TV Database
All Neat in Black Stockings.
* Paul Lewis's review o
All Neat in Black Stockings.
* MP3-Samples of the soundtrac
All Neat In Black Stockings.
''Tape 105'' contains Instrumentals (Soloist

Tony Coe Anthony George Coe (born 29 November 1934) is an English jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, Coe started out on clarinet and was self- ...

and Soloist

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...

. ''Tape 5302'' contains two vocal numbers from the film sung by Jon Mark: "All Neat In Black Stockings" / "Run To Me" (Philips UK BF 1772, April 1969). {{Christopher Morahan 1968 films British comedy films 1968 comedy films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Christopher Morahan 1960s British films