Thank You All Very Much

source: Thank You All Very Much

After seeing Sandy Dennis in all her somewhat-quirky roles ( I even saw her hit '60,s play "Any Wednesday", before she got into films), it was almost a revelation: how beautiful and fine her performance. Also, interesting as time warp: 60's situation and attitude, also all the other fine performers when they were young( Bron, Standing, McKellen )

I saw the first 7 or so mins. And realising i was due to miss Ian Mckellen who never fails to fill his excellent acting with every sinew of his mind and body. As Ms. Dennis is the supposed major role here, she reminded me of what i I regard as the ghastly mundane side of 1960s and 70s Brit . Attempts That s to portray characteristic Englishness ! That said Waris Husein is usually an excellent reason to view anything he directed . Unfortunately , not this time ! An indication of good, bad or indifferent films often seems to be indicated by the tiny, or medium sized, or huge.numbers of reviewers ? This one I think has 10 reviews, my opine being the eleventh ! And sure enough it seems those small numbers are in agreement , or rather i am in agreement with them ! I changed channel to Dunkirk with Kenneth Branagh made in 2017 ! That film modestly has I believe over 200 reviews, albeit some viewers were far from satisfied , which is clearly irrelevant for this review? So, "A touch of love" is not an absolute flop, it simply does not reach the heights in 2022 that it may have been enjoyable for its viewers in 1968 or was it 69 ? That said, with all due respects to Mr Hussein, this film has no bite compared to a number of others from those years, "The L. Shaped Room" springs to mind and many others from those earlier years which definitely stands the (sometimes) brutal test of time ! The occasional similarities betwixt and between those 2 films produced within the same time frame is fascinating to observe ? Both love stories, both far apart from each other in my final assessment there are as i have said, many others,, one in particular that was produced in 1947 , which i have already reviewed not only favourably, also as one of the very best conclusions of any film i can recall, apart from most , almost all of Kubricks genius ?

The crying baby with the bright red face Sandy Dennis has thrust into her hands in a hospital waiting room would now be in her fifties (assuming it was a girl). For someone who regards a film made in 1970 as recent, it's sobering to realise that over half a century now separates us from this attempt by sixties schlockmeisters Max J. Rosenberg & Milton Subotsky to go legit by filming Margaret Drabble's 1964 novel 'The Millstone' in a fashion reminiscent of 'The L-Shaped Room'. More decades now separate us from this film than from this film and the silent era; a time when telephones had rotary dials, the Post Office Tower featured prominently in the background during the street scenes so we knew it was London, Sandy Dennis was a bankable Hollywood star, and Penelope Keith as a nurse and Ian McKellan in his film debut look young and fresh-faced (the latter playing a gay man long before he came out in reality. "I keep it secret not because it's wicked but because it's so dull!"). And the stylistic tic indulged in by first-time big screen director Warris Hussein is pans and zooms rather than pans and steadicam, as it would be today.

Thank God for Sir Ian. I was just about to turn this film off when he appeared. I should have trusted my instincts earlier. I don't know if it was supposed to be a commentary on the appalling treatment of single pregnant women during the 1960's or about the terrible state and behaviour of the health service at the time, but it wasn't a good or well made story either way. The lead female didn't have much going for her and I can't see why anyone would even be friends with her let alone get her pregnant. As it happens, I only tuned in to watch it because the synopsis said that she had a baby with a gay TV presenter, which piqued my interests, but although Mr McKellen was a tad effeminate in his way, there was no indication or conversation to confirm his sexuality at all. That might have given it some drama had it been obvious, but alas that's not the case. It's also a bit creepy. The music and style of filming is similar to 'Rosemary's Baby' which lead me to think that the baby could die at any moment or some sort of evil or paranormal activity could occur. All in all not one of the best.

Not sure I find Sandy Dennis very credible, it's a mannered performance, at times impassive and disengaged, at times the opposite - for no discernible reason other than perhaps to maintain her familiar unfathomable screen personna. Clearly written by a woman, judged by the savage portrayal of the sadistic hospital matron who needlessly blocks the young mother from even glimpsing her recovering infant under the pretence of efficiency and rules, in contrast to the kind (male) consultant who is only too happy to allow this. Ian McKellan plays a pleasant young man who one would assume seduces the Dennis character only that she seems neither stirred nor shaken by his advances. Nevertheless clearly we gather from her change of costume into something more comfortable and it being morning, that intimacy has taken place. Somehow this significant event has, while changing her state irrevocably, left her manner as neutral and unchanged as if it never happened. And, oddly, the film ended suddenly leaving me feeling exactly the same - as if nothing of interest or significance had happened.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Very faithful to Drabble's book. Wonderful ensemble cast including Eleanor Bron, Ian McKellen, Maurice Denham, Rachel Kempson and I even spotted Penelope Keith as one of the hospital battleaxes. Some things have changed since 1969. Parents can visit their children in hospital, single mothers aren't faced with a choice between abortion and adoption, and we don't have to wear tent-like beige minidresses any more. When Sandy explains to Eleanor she never slept with either of her official boyfriends Eleanor asks "How did you get away with it?" Maybe things haven't changed that much. Being a Margaret Drabble, the single mother is an academic living free in her parents huge mansion flat. I longed for Sandy to get together with Ian but I suppose it would never have worked. We can only hope the character finds Mr Right and learns to like sex eventually. xxxxxxxxxxx

***SPOIL Very faithful to Drabble's book. Wonderful ensemble cast including Eleanor Bron, Ian McKellen, Maurice Denham, Rachel Kempson and I even spotted Penelope Keith as one of the hospital battleaxes. Some things have changed since 1969. Parents can visit their children in hospital, single mothers aren't faced with a choice between abortion and adoption, and we don't have to wear tent-like beige minidresses any more. When Sandy explains to Eleanor she never slept with either of her official boyfriends Eleanor asks "How did you get away with it?" Maybe things haven't changed that much. Being a Margaret Drabble, the single mother is an academic living free in her parents huge mansion flat. I longed for Sandy to get together with Ian but I suppose it would never have worked. We can only hope the character finds Mr Right and learns to like sex eventually. Xxxxxxxxxxx.

I wish this were on DVD. I know it is an esoteric film but it is a little gem starring Sandy Dennis when she was at her peak popularity. Despite the commentary on the miserable part of living in England, London is beautifully photographed and is almost its own character in the film. Also a great history lesson for young women on how oppressive sexual mores(more-ays) once were before Blondie, Britney and Madonna. Young Ian McKellen is in this for all fans of the awful Lord of the Rings Trilogy. For those who want a juxtaposition of what films once were, just watch these two McKellen films that bookend his career. This is a great film to watch on a rainy afternoon.

A TOUCH OF LOVE is a film adaptation of a famous feminist novel of the 1960s by Margaret Drabble entitled THE MILLSTONE. It's a work of social realism that looks at the plight of a young girl who finds herself pregnant with no father in sight, and the trials and tribulations she faces over what do with the unborn baby. A film which rides the trend for gritty kitchen sink dramas without ever sugar coating the story. What's surprising is that this was put out by the Amicus film studio, who were best known as Hammer's main British rival and who put out horror anthology after horror anthology during the era. A TOUCH OF LOVE is completely atypical for them, and yet as a film it retains a certain quality that gives it the edge over rival fare. American actress Sandy Dennis is an excellent choice for the lead role and totally convinces as the young and naive British girl. Compare her performance with, say, Renee Zellweger in BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY. I know the films are from two entirely different genres, but Zellweger's acting is full of exaggerated mannerisms and a put-on persona, where Dennis is all real, all out in the open, and thoroughly sympathetic as a result. Ian McKellen has a warm role as her friend and the supporting cast is generally fine. Watching as a viewer in the 21st century, I was occasionally flabbergasted at the depiction of the sexist and inhumane attitude of NHS workers during the era; a young Penelope Keith is one of the nurses.