Waterloo Road

Waterloo Road is an enjoyable and underrated film I think. It is not perfect as it is too short and occasionally too rushed. However, the cinematography and scenery are agreeable and the soundtrack is bouncy and energetic. The script is witty yet does a good job in the more serious bits, the story is interesting and well crafted with some risqué themes for the time and the direction is competent. The acting is fine, John Mills is delightful and I was surprised at his energy here, Stewart Granger is dashing and Alastair Sim as always is a joy. The best comes from Jean Kent, who is delicious and Ben Williams, who provides some of the most entertaining bits of the film. My favourite bit? The climax was hilarious I thought. Overall, if a little flawed it is good fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I wonder how daring this film was for wartime with a sympathetic treatment of soldiers AWOL? Also unfaithful wifes, a worry to many soldiers, the ones that weren't frollicking with girls in liberated countries of course. My interest were lots of authentic outdoor scenes in wartime London. Only criticism was the requirement for the cad to be doubly punished!! (Villains had to be seen to punished for it to get by the censor). Alister Sims seemed menacing even though he was playing a good guy.

A young English soldier early in World War II (John Mills), learning his wife is stepping out with a spiv (Stewart Grainger, in a different sort of role) goes AWOL to have it out with the wife-stealer.

For Americans it's an eye-opening peek into wartime London. It wasn't all sing-songs in the Underground. It was also people dodging the army with phony certificates, homebodies romancing the wives of men at the front and illicit sales on the black market.

The slang may be difficult for Americans who aren't Anglophiles.

The best parts are when Alistair Sim pops in as the kindly doctor and (infrequent) narrator.

It has nicely comic touches to relieve the melodrama and plenty of odd British characters. Thank goodness. And at the end Sim has a curious explanation for Hitler.

A most satisfying film ,well acted and produced,a simple story of a wartime incident when the husband(john mills) came on leave.The fight scene between John Mills and Stewart Granger was the highlight.In those unsophisticated days audiences often applauded and cheered a good film.It was the only entertainment for the hard working people in those wartime years.

When John Mills gets a letter from his sister that his wife, Joy Shelton, is carrying on with local sporting man Stewart Granger, he goes AWOL back to his home to track them down and deal with the situation.

I've passed up numerous chances to see this movie before I realized that it had John Mills in it. "Huh! Is there a third movie version of WATERLOO BRIDGE?" No, it's a domestic drama directed and co-written by Sidney Gilliat, so it has a good, rough sense of humor, abetted by Alastair Sim as the local doctor, and one of every three characters who recognize local boy Mills. This being released before the end of the War, it also has a morale-boosting bit of propaganda at the end, enlarging Sim's role a bit.

There are lots of faces familiar to movie fans, including Jean Kent, Wallace Lupino, Ben Williams, and Kathleen Harrison. It's not a very deep or important film, but it will interest and amuse fans of the talented cast and crew.