''This Is My Street'' is a 1963 British black and white kitchen sink drama film directed by

Sidney Hayers Sidney Hayers (24 August 1921 – 8 February 2000) was a British film and television director, writer and producer. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hayers began his career as a film editor. Among the films he directed are ''Circus of Horrors'' (196 ...

and starring

Ian Hendry Ian Mackendrick Hendry (13 January 1931 – 24 December 1984) was a British actor. He worked on several British TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, including the lead in the first series of '' The Avengers'' and '' The Lotus Eaters'', and played ...

June Ritchie June Ritchie (born 31 May 1941) is a British actress. Biography Ritchie trained at RADA, where she graduated in 1961, having won the Emile Littler Award for Most Promising Actress and the Ronson Award for the outstanding female student. She ...

Avice Landone Avice Landone (1 September 191012 June 1976) was an English actress who appeared in British television and film. She was born in Quetta, British India, and made her screen debut in the 1948 film '' My Brother Jonathon''. From 1961 she co-starre ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

and Meredith Edwards. The screenplay is by

Bill MacIlwraith William Pirie MacIlwraith (13 April 1928 – 9 May 2016) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. Born in London, to Scottish parents, he trained as an actor at RADA and worked in repertory during the 1950s, performing around the country. With ...

from a novel by Nan Maynard. It concerns a bored

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

living in a run-down

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

London house who begins an affair with her mother's lodger, who lives next door.

Plot

On Jubilee Place, a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

area of

terraced housing In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

, housewife Marge Graham (June Ritchie) lives a life of drudgery with her unambitious husband Sid (Mike Pratt) and her small daughter, Cindy. Lodging next door with Marge's mother Lily is Harry (

), a flashy

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

and

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

owner who repeatedly attempts to seduce her. In the next house love Kitty and Steve, with their good-time girl daughter Maureen. Maureen works in a cafe with young Charlie (

), and is having an affair with a rich dentist, Mark. Marge works in a department store selling handbags where manager, Mr Fingus (

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in ''The Tomb of Lige ...

), makes continual advances on her. One day Cindy goes missing and Harry helps with the search. Finding Cindy in a scrapyard, Marge realises Harry is much more paternal than Sid and she agrees to go for a drink and has a nice afternoon. Meanwhile, Maureen sets her eyes on another rich man, Mr Ransom, while out in a club with Mark. Marge begins an affair with Harry and they meet regularly at a mews owned by Joe. After an argument at Harry's club, Maureen and Mark are caught in a car crash: Mark is killed and Maureen badly injured, scarring her face. She accepts the offer of a date with Charlie, whose offers had previously received short shrift. Harry eventually tires of Marge when he meets her younger, educated sister Jinny (Annette Andre), who has returned from college. It is clear that he is a man for whom the chase is more interesting than the catch, in this case even more so because Jinny has a boyfriend, hospital doctor Paul (Tom Adams); the two men, with their differing class backgrounds, show mutual resentment of each other, with Paul denigrating Harry as a

barrow boy ''Barrow boy'' is a UK, British expression with two meanings, occupational and social. Street traders since the 19th century (and perhaps earlier) sold seasonal goods (especially vegetables) from two-wheeled barrows. London street traders were call ...

. Marge is still infatuated with Harry and jealous of Jinny, and suggests eloping and leaving Cindy behind. When she discovers Harry plans to marry her sister she attempts to kill herself by putting her head in the gas oven. She is saved by a shower which leads her mother to bring in the washing, close enough to the house that she smells the gas. She has left a suicide note exposing her affair with Harry, but her mother's chance intervention means an ambulance rushes her to hospital. Lily evicts Harry, and Jinny breaks it off with him. Lily suggests to Sid that he finds another job in ‘a nice clean area”. Marge recovers and Jinny marries Paul. Harry is left alone, with the final scene showing Marge rejecting his renewed advances before going home to her old street and what appears to be a happier household.

Cast

Critical reception

The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' called it "a well-written, nicely shot squalor fest"; ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' called it an "unsavory British programmer"; ''Britmovie'' noted a "Sixties’ backstreets bedroom drama adapted from Nan Maynard's rather middling novel. Director

fashions an interesting drama amid the sordid squalor of London and creates a number of genuinely sympathetic characters. Ian Hendry giving a performance of compelling magnetic brilliance as the jack-the-lad charmer capable of turning from seducer to scoundrel and back again in the blink of an eye"; and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' wrote, "The even direction smooths over the ugly plot of a mean little womanizer...Hendry and Ritchie exude interesting chemistry together, and the movie spins right along while they are on the screen."

Halliwell Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to: People * Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper * Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s * David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...

describes it pithily as an “unremarkable low-life drama”.

References

External links

* {{Sidney Hayers 1964 films 1964 drama films Adultery in films British black-and-white films British drama films Films based on British novels Films directed by Sidney Hayers Films produced by Peter Rogers Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot at Pinewood Studios Social realism in film 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer)