Bitter Harvest

This movie turned up on a local television station in the midnight to dawn slot and I watched it purely by chance. I had never heard of this British movie nor were any of the actors/actresses familiar to me. Despite this the opening scene, musical theme and the scene after it made me want to stick around until the end and learn the full story.

The movie is about Jenny, who predictably is poor and leads a dull ordinary life. Influenced by the models she sees in television and magazine ads, she dreams of a life full of glamour, excitement, beautiful clothes etc. A naive Jenny, in an unexpected and unplanned manner finds herself in London. She has no money and no clothes except for the clothes she's wearing. Her dream does eventually become a reality, but she becomes a victim. Was it all worth it?

The movie begins in the present, flashes back to the not so distant past and back to the present for the final scenes. Jenny's life is shown up to a certain point. After that you are left to fill in the gaps of what might have happened to her, but the clues make it obvious.

Parts of the story were predictable and you could see the story unfold from a mile away. This however did not ruin my enjoyment of the film. Part of the enjoyment was the ending. I expected a more predictable ending, but instead I was surprised and a little stunned.

The theme of the movie seems to be poor, happy and in love versus rich and miserable. The final scene to me suggests that Jenny would have been better off if she had stayed with the man who loved her even though they were living in poverty.

An entertaining dramatic film with a good but depressing storyline. It was worth staying up for.

B movie or A movie, it's not a grandiose masterpiece but it's still good and watchable. The actors are all good, the story is not quite great, it has some gaps but, we are all super intelligent viewers, aren't we, and we can imagine what is missing. The first 5 minutes are very powerful, when Jenny destroys the pillow with scissors, pours the drink on the photo to Karl (Alan Badel) and throws her dresses out the window. The final scene in which Bob (John Stride) crosses the street with Ella (Anne Cunningham) and they are almost hit by the ambulance containing Jenny's lifeless body is impressive and strong. Janet Munro did a great role.

I don't know how I've missed this little gem. The terrific lost talent of Janet Munro and a whole host of top notch actors of the time like the acerbic Thora Hird and the tender John Stride give great performances here. The story is a natural successor to the gritty black and white Bryanston kitchen sink dramas of the late 50s early 60s. It sits well too with pre swinging 60s films like Alfie. A perfect snapshot of the social and sexual mores of the time. A special mention too for the beautiful colour cinematography and the evocative London locations. I don't think you'll be disappointed

The stunning Eastmancolor photography of Ernest Steward, Acker Bilk's swanky Jackie Gleason like score, (particularly the lush main theme) and location shooting in London, do much to distinguish this cautionary tale of a young woman treading down the well worn primrose path.

Janet Munro convinces as a the naive Welsh rustic, ("Jennie Jones") after La Dolce Vita, to which end she tosses decency aside, and heads to the big city, in her pursuit of a theatrical career. That her career is only to be that of "kept woman" is the discovery leading to the titular harvest.

Performances are all very apt, (particulary Francis Matthews, who nails the characterization of a louche libertine)and Director Peter Graham Scott certainly keeps our interest.

But just when one is most absorbed, most ready to watch Jennie's world unravel, the film ends, and one comes away feeling slightly cheated, with the sense that this MIGHT have been a great film, with a running time of 30 more minutes.

Still, it invites and deserves consideration alongside "Darling," and "Taste of Honey," as films that were also exploring unsavoury misfits in swinging 60's Great Britain.

Saw this at the Dominion, Twickenham, Middlesex, in November 1963 - it was the B-movie to a film I've forgotten - I happened to see Bitter Harvest second in the programme. I enjoyed the London setting of the film - Jenny has a room overlooking the railway tracks at Paddington but the film had an overall feeling of terrible sadness and waste - I went and looked at the dark river Thames flowing under the footbridge to Eel Pie island - then I went home and heard that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. So that's what I was doing when...