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The L-Shaped Room, adapted by writer-director Bryan Forbes from Lynne Reid Banks' novel, unfolds in a dank, depressing London boarding house. Leslie Caron plays Jane Fosset, a 27-year-old French woman, down on her luck, who takes a room. There are bugs in her mattress. The taps drip. The landlady ("the lovely Doris") is a drunken, malicious busybody. Forbes doesn't paint the English in a flattering light. They're covetous, eccentric and xenophobic. "I never close my door to the nigs," Doris tells Fosset, as if to prove that she is no racist. When Fosset reveals that she's pregnant and unmarried, everybody turns against her. The one real friend Fosset makes is Toby (Tom Bell), an impoverished would-be writer who lives in the room downstairs. She starts an affair with him, but for all his protestations to the contrary, he too turns out to be moralistic and conservative--he can't accept the idea that she is having another man's baby.
Forbes' dialogue sometimes grates, the film risks running into a dead end (Fosset is stuck with nowhere to go and no prospects), but this is compelling fare all the same. Cameraman Douglas Slocombe (who went on to shoot Raiders of the Lost Ark) makes the boarding house seem as gloomy and oppressive as a Gothic mansion. Forbes doesn't sentimentalise at all. The London he portrays is nothing like the swinging, hedonistic city shown in later British movies of the 60s. --Geoffrey Macnab
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Black & White, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Jane, a young French woman, pregnant and unmarried, takes a room in a seedy London boarding house, which is inhabited by an assortment of misfits. She considers getting an abortion, but is unhappy with this solution. She falls into a relationship with Toby, a struggling young writer who lives on the first floor. Eventually she comes to like her odd room, and makes friends with all the strange people in the house. But she still faces two problems: what to do with her baby, and what to do with Toby. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, Golden Globes, ...The L-Shaped Room
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By M. FUSCO
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Optimum Films has given us the great gift of a beautiful, widescreen transfer of this outstanding film. The photography is stunning, the acting first-rate, and the story compelling. Peter Katin's soulful rendition of Brahm's Piano Concerto in D Minor accompanies, and complements, the touching story throughout.
Leslie Caron is perfect as 27-year-old Jane, a young French woman who finds lodgings in a seedy London rooming house. Next door to her L-shaped attic room is Johnny, a West Indian jazz musician. Downstairs is Toby (Tom Bell in his most memorable role), an aspiring writer. Avis Bunnage is the feisty Cockney landlady and Cicely Courtneidge is an over-the-hill music hall performer. A veritable treasure-trove of delightful English character actors populate their dysfunctional familial world.
The story centers around the shaky romance of Jane and Toby. She is remarkably independent for a woman of that era (1962 was just the dawning of women's rights). Tom Bell is achingly handsome, and utterly winning in his low-key, self-effacing, but determined pursuit of his neighbor. He wins her over, but then takes off when informed that Jane is pregnant by another man. If there is a false note in the film, it is Johnny's curious `morality' (especially for a jazz musician), and his spitefulness in telling Toby of the baby. But he too is in love with Toby.
We want so much for the beautiful couple to be together, the non-committal ending comes as something of a relief. At least we can hope for their future happiness.
Leslie Caron is perfect as 27-year-old Jane, a young French woman who finds lodgings in a seedy London rooming house. Next door to her L-shaped attic room is Johnny, a West Indian jazz musician. Downstairs is Toby (Tom Bell in his most memorable role), an aspiring writer. Avis Bunnage is the feisty Cockney landlady and Cicely Courtneidge is an over-the-hill music hall performer. A veritable treasure-trove of delightful English character actors populate their dysfunctional familial world.
The story centers around the shaky romance of Jane and Toby. She is remarkably independent for a woman of that era (1962 was just the dawning of women's rights). Tom Bell is achingly handsome, and utterly winning in his low-key, self-effacing, but determined pursuit of his neighbor. He wins her over, but then takes off when informed that Jane is pregnant by another man. If there is a false note in the film, it is Johnny's curious `morality' (especially for a jazz musician), and his spitefulness in telling Toby of the baby. But he too is in love with Toby.
We want so much for the beautiful couple to be together, the non-committal ending comes as something of a relief. At least we can hope for their future happiness.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By FAMOUS NAME
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Moving and quite touching story of relationships, lovers and strangers from various backgrounds getting to know each other in a set of dingy rooms.
'Jane' (Lesley Caron) moves into rooms let within a large house. When she arrives, no-one knows she is pregnant. (bearing in mind this is 1962) She rents a room at the top of a house with various other occupants. At first, it appears that everyone keeps themselves to themselves, and that it is unlikely that she'll ever have anything to do with any of them.
Whilst there, she begins a relationship with a handsome 'Tom Bell', whose character lives just below her. Eventually, she gets to know the rest of the Tenants who are not so bad after all.
This movie makes subtle hints at male homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution and racism. It is also a great example at showing how everyone has their good side - and how tolerant people can be. There's a particularly touching scene when Jane's black neighbour whimpers in the night through their partition asking for forgiveness after confessing he's told lies about her out of spite and jealousy concerning her relationship with the young man below.
A real 'mixed bag' of actors in this - including; Pat Phoenix (formerly Elsie Tanner of Coronation Street), Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Mark Eden, Nannette Newman, Bernard Lee and Tony Booth.
'Jane' (Lesley Caron) moves into rooms let within a large house. When she arrives, no-one knows she is pregnant. (bearing in mind this is 1962) She rents a room at the top of a house with various other occupants. At first, it appears that everyone keeps themselves to themselves, and that it is unlikely that she'll ever have anything to do with any of them.
Whilst there, she begins a relationship with a handsome 'Tom Bell', whose character lives just below her. Eventually, she gets to know the rest of the Tenants who are not so bad after all.
This movie makes subtle hints at male homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution and racism. It is also a great example at showing how everyone has their good side - and how tolerant people can be. There's a particularly touching scene when Jane's black neighbour whimpers in the night through their partition asking for forgiveness after confessing he's told lies about her out of spite and jealousy concerning her relationship with the young man below.
A real 'mixed bag' of actors in this - including; Pat Phoenix (formerly Elsie Tanner of Coronation Street), Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Mark Eden, Nannette Newman, Bernard Lee and Tony Booth.
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Darling is one of the great movies of the British New Wave. When John Schlesinger died a couple weeks ago, the U.S. press here dismissed the film as having become dated. But I've always thought Schlesinger's early English films have kept their appeal much more than his later American films. And maybe some of that appeal for me is that the early films do depict their period so convincingly. Certainly the orgiastic confession party in Darling provides a definition of dissipation I associate with the swinging life of that period (in tandem with the similar scene from La Dolce Vita). But the basic story of a beautiful young woman doomed by her own shallowness seems to be a story that still gets told in films. To some degree anyway. It doesn't seem to be a story locked into the 1960s. End of Review. Note on the DVD: The prints presented here are very dirty. Lots of black spots. Buckets of white spots. The L-Shaped Room is stated as being presented in 1:1.66 aspect ratio when in fact it is 1:1.33 and suffers accordingly. I get a sinking feeling that Darling will remain remembered as an also ran if a better DVD doesn't come along.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cicely Courtneidge plays her most dramatic role
A good view reminding me how much I enjoyed the original film on the cinema screen. The memory of Cicely Courtneidge playing the ageing lesbian theatrical has remained with me... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Tim
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a fine actress she is
I've been collecting films featuring Leslie Caron and had to come to England to find L-Shaped Room. Its theme--dealing with an unintended pregnancy or, perhaps, the shame expressed... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael R. Broschat
4.0 out of 5 stars
On the eve of the Youth Rebellion
This story was written and filmed just on the eve of the Youth Rebellion of the Sixties, and it gives a moving and realistic description of the situation of a young woman, who... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Helle Dorrit Sorensen
4.0 out of 5 stars
great little gem of a film
Good film, love the old footage of London,esp Ladbroke grove, love the dynamics of the relationships between the lodgers, bit slow but overall a great film.
Published 8 months ago by tantilizingtrip
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully made
This is one of my favourite books so was thrilled that there was a film available. The film doesn't stray much from the book, and has added a three dimensional life to the... Read more
Published 9 months ago by chicken lisa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Big Drama in a Small Room
Bryan Forbes's "The L-Shaped Room" never seems to be recalled as readily or praised as lavishly as other films from the new wave of British 'kitchen-sink' dramas like "Saturday... Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Gwilliam
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid performance by Leslie Caron highlights a fine film
In the early 1960s, England produced a string of marvelous B&W gritty and naturalistic "kitchen sink" dramas which were a refreshing contrast to the glossy Technicolor confections... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2011 by The CinemaScope Cat
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars for The L-Shaped Room
The 2 films on one DVD wasn't much dearer than the one for The L-Shaped Room alone, so seemed good value. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2010 by Andy E
1.0 out of 5 stars
L-SHAPED ROOM - FABULOUS - DARLING - Boring...
DARLING:
As well as churning out some of the greatest movies, the sixties threw out some very odd films indeed - and this is one of them! Read more
As well as churning out some of the greatest movies, the sixties threw out some very odd films indeed - and this is one of them! Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by FAMOUS NAME
5.0 out of 5 stars
'L' is for 'LOVE IT'
This film is 'based upon' the book of the same name. It is not an audio visual rendition of the literary work, and as such not to be taken as a reproduction of the book, it stands... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by S. J. Cross
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