''Waterloo Road'' is a 1945 British film directed by

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Stoc ...

and starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

, and

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

. It is based on the Waterloo area of

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. According to the

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, ...

database, it is the third in an "unofficial trilogy" by Gilliat, preceded by ''

Millions Like Us ''Millions Like Us'' is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It starred Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Eric Portman and Megs Jenkins. It was co-written and co-directed ...

'' (1943) and ''

Two Thousand Women ''Two Thousand Women'' is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a German internment camp in Occupied France which holds British women who have been resident in the country. Three RAF aircrewmen, whose bomber has been shot down, enter the c ...

'' (1944).

Premise

A soldier, Jim Colter (Mills), goes

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

to return to his home in south London to save his wife from the advances of Ted Purvis (Granger), a philandering

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

-dodger.

Cast

as Jim Colter *

as Ted Purvis *

as Dr. Montgomery *

Joy Shelton Joy Winstanley Shelton (3 June 1922 – 28 January 2000) was an English actress who performed in films, radio and television. Biography Joy Shelton was born in Marylebone, London, and trained at RADA. She appeared in a number of British films in ...

as Tillie Colter *

Alison Leggatt Alison Joy Leggatt (7 February 1904 – 15 July 1990) was an English character actress. Career Born in the Kensington district of London, Leggatt trained under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based in the Royal Alber ...

as Ruby *

Beatrice Varley Beatrice Evelyn Varley (11 July 1896 – 4 July 1964) was an English actress who appeared in television and film roles between 1936 and 1964. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film ''Tomorrow We Live'' and began to portray a variety of ch ...

as Mrs. Colter *

George Carney George Carney (21 November 1887 – 9 December 1947) was a British comedian and film actor. Born in Bristol, he worked in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, in a furniture business, then in the Belfast shipyards. In 1906 he made his debut stage ...

as Tom Mason *

Leslie Bradley Leslie Ernest Bradley (1 September 1907 – 20 July 1974) was an English actor. He died in Desert Hot Springs, California. Filmography * '' The Way of Youth'' (1934) as Lieut. Burton (film debut) * ''Play Up the Band'' (1935) as Jack Heck ...

as Mike Duggan *

Jean Kent Jean Kent (born Joan Mildred Field; 29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013) was an English film and television actress. Biography Born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only child of va ...

as Toni * Ben Williams as Corporal Lewis *

Anna Konstam Anna Konstam (22 February 1914 – 21 November 1982) was a British theatre actor, theatre and film actress. She appeared in the comedy ''Love in a Mist (play), Love in a Mist'' at St Martin's Theatre in 1941. She also played roles at Royal Shake ...

as May *

Vera Frances Vera Frances Ward ( Still, born 29 September 1930) is a British actress who worked with Arthur Askey, Tommy Handley, George Formby, Dinah Sheridan, John Mills and Alastair Sim, amongst others. Frances's father was a props and special effects ...

as Vera Colter * George Merritt as Air Raid Warden

Production

The film was originally known as ''Blue for Waterloo''. Stewart Granger later said the film was one of his favourites as his role "was a heel, but a real character". 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.Brian MacFarlane, ''An Autobiography of British Cinema'', Methuen 1997 p 230 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 Earl St. John (14 June 1892 – 26 February 1968) was an American film producer in overall charge of production for The Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios from 1950 to 1964, and was credited as executive producer on 131 films. He was known ...

who was in charge of Odeon cinemas liked the film and got the dubbing done.Brian MacFarlane, ''An Autobiography of British Cinema'', Methuen 1997 p 225 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".

References

External links

*
''Waterloo Road''
at

BFI Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

Review of film
at ''Variety''

in '' Time Out''
Review
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
MovieMall DVD information
{{Launder and Gilliat 1945 films 1945 drama films British black-and-white films British drama films Films directed by Sidney Gilliat Films set in London Gainsborough Pictures films British World War II films Films with screenplays by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat 1940s English-language films 1940s British films

Premise

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links