Girl on Approval

One of the key films of the British New Wave, an intimate, emotionally honest portrayal of s troubled, disenfranchised young teenaged girl, Sheila (Annete Whitely) a lonely, frequently ill-tempered teen, prone to exceedingly violent temper tantrums, her erratic behaviour proving to be a great strain on her kindly, if somewhat beleaguered foster parents, especially the foster mother Anne Howland (Rachel Roberts) who finds Sheila's lack of engagement, profound solitude, wildly vacillating moods, and uncommonly sour outlook on a hard-knock world that has thus far treated her so poorly almost too much to bear. Charles Frend's genuinely fascinating, Superbly acted, ahead-of-the-curve 'Kitchen Sink' drama is in many ways quite remarkable, while not as emotionally wrecking as Ken Loach's iconic 'Cathy Come Home', it is, perhaps, cut from the very same socially conscious celluloid, and is most certainly the progenitor of Mike Leigh's more trenchant works of uncompromisingly tough, politically engaged British cinema. 'Girl on Approval' remains a laudably frank look at the stark emotional turmoil of a traumatized teenaged girl desperately railing out at a confoundingly cold world she earnestly feels has completely rejected her, and the galvanically raw performance by the fearless Annete Whitely proved to be extremely moving, this adult, boldly unsentimental B/W melodrama comes highly recommended.

Rachel Roberts is as good as ever, unfortunately the support is not as good. The ideals of fostering are put through the ringer but don't make for good viewing. It tries to explore social values. Would have been better as a documentary.

The film is interesting but unbalanced in two significant ways.Firstly there is the great performance of Rachel Roberts and the indifferent performance of Annette Whiteley.The second is the way in which they are portrayed.The foster parents are shown as being very sympathetic and the child is almost out of control.So it is difficult to accept that the family would want to keep her.What makes it worse is that she drives a wedge between husband and wife so that they end up rowing most of the time.The social worker keeps on encouraging the couple to keep the girl,now doubt secretly glad to have the girl off her hands.This is the sort of film that was more suited to television drama.Though worthy in intent it is rather too downbeat to entertain.

More like a public services film on the pitfalls of fostering. It really has dated badly and I can't see how anyone would have gone to the cinema to see it. It certainly wasn't entertaining. Rachel Roberts did her best, but the polarizing of acting abilities when sharing a scene with her on-screen husband was woeful. The BBC accents of the foster home personnel was really irritating.

GIRL ON APPROVAL is a timely kitchen sink drama released during a wave of such films. These were typically stories involving working class families involved in situations that audiences could genuinely identify with. This one tackles the thorny subject of foster care and explores the arrival of a difficult teenage girl on a typical family.

It's a low key and rather ordinary production without much in the way of big moments or memorable set-pieces to remember it by. Despite this, the film is efficiently told and well acted by the cast members, all of whom give realistic performances. Rachel Roberts is the mainstay here, playing the mother who wants to do the right thing but gets increasingly driven to the edge by the problems involved with fostering.

James Maxwell, as her husband, takes a back seat. Unlike other reviewers here, I didn't have a problem with Annette Whiteley's acting, as her awkward performance perfectly encapsulates her own character's awkward age and psychological difficulties.