This Is My Street

What Stands out in this movie for me is the Eric Rogers music, he did all the music for the carry on films, and it's so distinctive in this, sometimes sounds like a comedy, but he gets away with it, adds a style which is so 1960's. Love these British dramas, as many agree they have more story power and character than a lot modern films, and it's always charming to see London in a different light, how it's changed so much since then, filmed in south London nr Clapham. Good film, fully recommend it if you like B&w British class.

That Anglo-Amalgamated were now making kitchen sink dramas showed that by 1963 the genre had reached the commercial mainstream. Reuniting June Ritchie & Ian Hendry from the now forgotten 'Live Now - Pay Later', this isn't even included in the filmography of executive producer Peter Rogers' autobiography, although it's probably as good as anything he ever made. (The one thing betraying that it came from the same stable as the 'Carry Ons' is Eric Rogers' score.)

When I last saw this film on the occasion of it's only screening on BBC2 as the Midnight Movie on the night of 11 June 1977 it was less than fifteen years old and already seemed a period piece. Hendry (still a familiar face on TV) had long since become old and haggard compared to the dashing young fellow he then was. Now he's been dead nearly thirty years and John Hurt - who here looks barely old enough to shave - would be eighty were he still with us. But the film still lives!

Ian Hendry plays a role that would have probably better fit a more downright handsome Laurence Harvey, but he does have the right amount of scoundrel charm that's initially fully-loaded towards pretty married June Ritchie, who definitely has a kid... In fact she and loose lodger Hendry consummate after both take time finding her...

But while there are a fair number of scenes with June's bored, jobless husband Mike Pratt, they really don't seem all that married... and either way there's zero chemistry between the actors...

On the other hand, as the film opens, Ian and June's Harry and Margery are the perfect couple in both age and looks, so their inevitable romantic twist is hardly daring... That's left to the second act as June's younger, spunkier lookalike college-aged sister Annette Andre turns up and gets the full-press treatment...

As predictable soap operatic romance ensues and IS initially intriguing... in fact both affairs (little sis dates a snobby doctor who may soon be her fiance) have the right kind of "how far will this flirtation go" mystique...

But the far more interesting character's kept on the side, a neighboring b-story's b-girl brunette (contrasting the blonde leads) in Philippa Gail, having an affair with a random married man while hit-on by greasy spoon co-worker John Hurt...

And, overall, THIS IS MY STREET does effectively use the titular location that includes the usual bleak B&W "kitchen sink drama" streets, huddled housing and even a bombed-out scrapyard...

What's lacking in the romance department is RISK. Without any real MALE obstacles, our boy Hendry basically seems like a single dude sharking after single girls.

"This Is My Street" is an example of the social realist kitchen sink dramas that were popular in the British cinema during the late fifties and sixties. The phrase "kitchen sink" originated in the visual arts, where it was used to describe the work of painters such as John Bratby, but it was quickly taken up by critics to describe the novels and plays of writers such as John Osborne, John Braine, Alan Sillitoe and Stan Barstow, works which were frequently turned into films. This film also has a literary source, this case a novel by Nan Hayward. Most kitchen sink films had a young man at their centre, but here the nearest the film has to a protagonist is a woman, Marge Graham.

Marge is a young working-class housewife from Battersea, the area of South London featured in Ken Loach's television play "Up the Junction", also made in 1964. The "street" of the title is Jubilee Place, a row of terraced houses. The film also touches upon the lives of some of the street's other inhabitants, especially Marge's mother Lily who lives next door to her, Lily's lodger Harry, and another neighbour, the good-time-girl Maureen. Marge's husband Sid is an unambitious layabout whose main occupation is drinking in the pub with his mates, and she thinks she could do better. Mr Fingus, the lecherous old manager at the shop where she works, is always making advances towards her, but she has her sights fixed on Harry, just as lecherous as Mr Fingus but younger and better looking. Harry owns a nightclub and drives a flashy car, which gives him a certain status in the eyes of an impressionable girl like Marge. (What is never really explained is why Harry, who is obviously not short of cash, cannot find any better accommodation than the small spare bedroom in Lily's little terrace house).

Harry, however, is no more able to remain faithful to Marge any more than Marge is able to remain faithful to Sid, and when Harry meets Marge's younger sister Ginny he turns his attentions to her, even though Ginny already has a boyfriend, a young doctor named Paul. A sub-plot deals with Maureen's affair with a wealthy married dentist, Mark.

Some kitchen sink films- "A Taste of Honey", "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", "A Kind of Loving", "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner", "Alfie"- have become classics of the British cinema. "This Is My Street" has not and remains little known today. Most of the better known kitchen sinks had a big-name star- Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Michael Caine- in the main role, but there is nobody of a similar status here. The name most recognisable to modern film buffs will probably be that of a young, pre-stardom John Hurt, but he only has a relatively minor role as Charlie, a work colleague of Maureen's and Mark's rival for her affections. The best acting performance probably comes from Ian Hendry as Flash Harry. (Hendry probably could have become a major star if it were not for his health problems, especially alcoholism). June Ritchie as Marge is not as good here as she had been in her film debut as Ingrid (a more sympathetic character than Marge) in "A Kind of Loving".

As a contemporary review in the Monthly Film Bulletin noted, the film is "overloaded with sub-plot". The main characters seem to be Marge and Harry, and the film might have been better if it had concentrated on the Marge/Harry/Sid triangle. The addition of Ginny and Paul to the triangle, making it a pentagon, seems to have been done in order to make some comments on class differences; one of the reasons why Harry prefers Ginny to her sister (apart from his love of novelty) is that she is more educated and works in a middle-class profession as a teacher. Paul is always polite to Ginny and her family, but finds it hard to hide his distaste for Harry, whom he calls a "barrow boy". As for the Maureen/Mark sub-plot, that might have been better omitted.

"This Is My Street" is not the weakest of the kitchen sinks: it is, for example, rather better than something like "Bitter Harvest" from the previous year, which seems curiously unfinished, as though a couple of reels of film had gone missing and not been replaced. It is, however, not one of the classics of the genre, and the neglect into which it has fallen is perhaps not undeserved. 6/10.

First off, anyone reading this , do not be under any impression that I have any regrets about my London younger days.

This is an accurate portrayal of how men treated women also how some women often lead men along a path of intimate desire , often ending with no result. Added to which, Harry's ( Ian Hendry ) were as predatory for anything lacking responsibility , so you can certainly discount marriage .And if the woman became pregnant , the man would go out of his way to ensure his water tight disappearance .All that said, many women got taken in , first by good looks, which Harry certainly has and a man that was bold and forward in his sometimes forceful and suggestive words and body language . All these folk, women and men were unique to 1950s to 1970s cultural British attitudes. The well known early film with Michael Caine ' ALFIE ' remains as powerful today as it was then, albeit only dealing with one male , one female as opposed to multiple ladies and gents in this narrative. Take note, the man always drives an expensive , often flashy car, especially Harrys imported American , which in those days was referred to as ' very well heeled man ' Best Italian suites, and only the best shoes silk ties and best luxury cars .In some viewers minds , one critical point are the slightly posh accents which would not be the case for people living in a rather run down London suburb , apart from the son, , whose accent is noticeably at a lower level ! Also, everyone is well dressed . When do theses people go to work and where does their income come from for all their trappings ? An interesting film, although i noticed a number of gaps in the narrative ? The bottom line of my first sentence is due to the fact I never fitted in with these characters, bearing no grudge, as my cars were always ordinary, and my dress sense casual , with no expensive shoes.