Un soir de rixe

An interesting and watchable British feature which provides interesting insights into the wartime lifestyles and attitudes of the working class. John Mills is the soldier who goes AWOL during the Blitz to return home to check up on his pretty young wife Joy Shelton after his nosey sister sends him a letter accusing her of having an affair in his absence with Stewart Granger's spivvy draft-dodger.

That's about all the plot there is, apart from a little padding which sees Alastair Sim's G. P. act as the moral conscience of the film, subtly guiding Mills to his wife's whereabouts on the arm of the scheming Granger and even on how to defend himself in the anticipated fisticuffs with his rival.

There's also an encounter between Mills and a U. S. counterpart although significantly the Yank has only gone missing because he wants to see some fighting action, as if American soldiers never committed adultery, especially when in old Blighty!

It's interesting to witness the conflicting treatment of two able-bodied males of the time and almost see the film as part of a recruitment drive for the British forces whilst shaming shirkers like Granger's character. We see this in the way that Mills's character benefits from the pursuing military police almost looking the other way as he tries to sort out his domestic situation and are even given to believe that little Johnny can win a bare-knuckle fight with the much bigger Granger who we're told is a champion boxer.

The contemporary attitude towards women is also interesting to observe as we see Shelton's fading resistance to Granger's charms almost excused by not only the obvious device of his wining and dining her but more pertinently demonstrating some understanding of the sense of loneliness and physical and emotional needs of a young woman deprived of her husband's company for long periods of time.

Naturally it all ends up as it should with the married couple reconciled and the bounder getting a thick ear, but it was nevertheless interesting to view this less than rosy picture of marital life during the war.

Sydney Gilliat, this time without the aid of his long-time associate Frank Launder, wrote the screenplay and directed the action. Just over 70 minutes long, even then it feels slightly padded as Mills and his American army pal try to avoid detection, but nevertheless it doesn't gild the lily in painting its true to life family portrait. There's one particularly fine shot early in the film when Sim's character introduces the extended flashback as we see the present-day part-flattened Waterloo Road restored to completion to begin the story and the film elsewhere makes good use of actual physical locations.

Not the kind of feature normally associated with the Gainsborough studio but definitely a welcome change from its more usual overripe costume melodramas.

An agreeably told story of the domestic upheavals on the home front during the second world war. The cast is a good one: Stewart Granger, as the war dodging Romeo who makes a play for a neglected soldier's wife (Joy Shelton); Alastair Sim as the local g.p. on hand to offer his sage advice; George Carney as the lodger, trying to dodge the warring females in the household and happiest when he's with his pigeons; Beatrice Varley as the worried mother trying desperately to make ends meet and do right by her family; Alison Leggatt as the interfering sister-in-law and Vera Francis as the nosey sister. John Mills and Shelton hold the piece together as Mr and Mrs Ordinary Man and Woman, and there is a nice comic turn from Wylie Watson as a Tattooist. Best of all we have Jean Kent, wisecracking her way through the war as Toni, the discarded girlfriend of Granger, who's done very nicely thank you, having been set up in her own hairdressing business.

"Waterloo Road" deserves to be better known than it is. If, like me, you were born after the war, it is a fascinating glimpse of a time gone by, but don't watch it for that alone. It is a story about ordinary people in wartime, without heroics and melodrama, but with an abundance of character and incident. The characters struck me as being true to life, and I didn't find a jarring line of dialogue or a scene which dragged. John Mills gave a fine performance as a soldier gone AWOL, and Stewart Granger as the cad out to seduce his wife. All in all, a wonderful little film.

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

Waterloo Road is a tidily produced picture that is telling a pretty prickly story. The plot revolves around John Mills everyman railway worker Jim Colte, he gets called up to do his service in the army, leaving behind his recently wedded bride, Tillie. The local Lothario, Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger) has his eye on Tillie, and with Tillie feeling alone and vulnerable, Purvis may just get his wicked way with her. But Jim gets wind of this and after being refused compassionate leave by his superiors, he goes AWOL and intends to track Purvis down. We are told this story by Alastair Sim's wonderfully astute Dr.Montgomery, who has been sent a fair bit of work from previous Purvis doings.

The film plays out with Jim dodging the military police and lurching from one Purvis haunt to another, inter cut with this is us following Purvis and Tillie out on the town as the day of reckoning for all three of them draws near. When the finale comes it's well worth the wait, mighty midget John Mills (brilliant here) facing off against the tall and fulsome Stewart Granger, just as Adolf decides to bomb London! A smashing little film that is risqué with it's themes of unfaithful wives and soldiers absconding from service. 7/10