West 11

With writers who were at the heart of the British new wave and set in a run down Notting Gill,as it was,I was expecting a touch of social realism.However what we get is a film that after much coveting of an X certificate,tends to go into lurid melodrama in the last third.However it was good to see Kathleen Harrison and Frieda Jackson,Finlay Currie and of course Diana Dors.A cast to cherish even if the film is not

The beginning of the 1960's introduced a lot of interesting British films, and in my opinion ' West 11 ' is one of the finest. Alfred Lynch was one of the best actors of this period and arguably he was not given enough roles as fine as this. Michael Winner is not among my favourite directors, but somehow he captured well the life of ordinary young people of the pre-swinging sixties London extremely well. The acting is top notch and so is the depiction of the Notting Hill Gate area. By 2024 standards it looks basic but then again ordinary people could afford to live there. The story is simple; a young man tired of routine jobs falls in with a richer man played excellently by Eric Portman who wants to murder his wife, and homes in on Alfred Lynch to do it. Without being at all sensationalist we witness the consequences. The script is finely written, and among the other actors Diana Dors is moving as a woman who feels she can no longer rely on her looks, but does so with stoical resignation. I have no idea why this film is underrated, as it is again in my opinion as good if not better than trendy films such as ' Look Back in Anger ' and ' A Taste of Honey' which I thought were badly cast. An essential London film.

It's very interesting, made before the 'swinging sixties' but just after the 'kitchen sink' this was Winner's first significant film although his first had been Play it Cool (1962) staring Billy Fury and Helen Shapiro. Keith Waterhouse worked on the script which is really good and most of the location around Notting Hill Gate. There are some shots around London especially Kensington Gardens and even a great view of Kenwood House in the snow. Much of the scenes are in the snow which I seem to remember in that very cold winter. As the story begins an ex-army officer tries to get the young guy to bump off his old aunt to get her money. (When he first meets him to try and tell him his plan it is in a Wimpy!) We later see him go to Paddington and even down to Corfe Castle in Dorset and the killing attempt is short but rather thrilling. Winner really does do well here and only about 28. I think it looks as there was only one scene in the studio although I'm not sure about the party and dance scenes although we even see Una Stubbs, probably her first film as she's on her knees at a party and a glimpse of Mike Leigh. There is much more than a glimpse, well about 60 seconds and no talking and no mention in the credits but we clearly see David Hemmings as a young hoodlum. Great fun.

If anybody actually reads my reviews they will say god he has bought a blu ray of an old British film again.

Yes I have and I really liked this one.

I watched Stranger In The House recently and did not like it much.

But I really liked West 11.

Alfred Lynch plays a dodgy chancer who does not want to work.

He hangs out in pre Beatles/Swinging sixties West London seducing girls and eating in cafes and pubs.

I saw pre Beatles London deliberately because the great soundtrack to this is jazz,characters sit about in jazz clubs.

A year after the film was made I assume the jazz clubs would be struggling for customers and Beat Boom would have been in full swing.

I won't give plot details but I feel this film is a great view of society on the edge of change.

Historians and sociologists write about Kensington/Notting Hill and this film might help their studies.

I know Alfred Lynch best from tv drama Manhunt but mut seek out his other work.

I don't know Kathleen Breck at all.

The cast is full of familiar faces in tiny parts,eg David Hemmings.

I think I saw Anthony Valentine in a party scene.

An forgotten classic of its kind I think.

I bet a lot of people who say they are fans of 1960s British cinema will have never seen this.

I don't recall it ever being on tv.

Michael Winner dined out for the rest of his life for testing but not casting Julie Christie for a part in this reminder of those far-off days when even Winner couldn't fail to make a watchable film

Another of that select band of films upon whose behalf fate intervened in the winter of 1963 by covering London in a picturesque covering of snow and employing probably the best cast Winner ever worked with - ranging from Finlay Currie to Francesca Annis - just the title and date tell you that you're in for a treat; with a witty script by Waterhouse & Hall, technical collaborators of the calibre of Otto Heller and designer Robert Jones - the latter with obvious relish placing Tretchikoff's 'Green Lady' on the wall of Diana Dors' apartment - and Mr Acker Bilk on the soundtrack.