Lunch Hour

The junior executive takes an interest in the girls work.

British cinema of the 1960’s is amongst my favourite period for British movies, I love the nostalgia it invokes and a new DVD release from that period is always appreciated. BFI Flipside is a DVD label dedicated to great British cinema and its latest offering, Lunch Hour (1963), is very welcome. The film is based on a play by John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey) and directed by James Hill who is best known for his documentaries and short films as well as directing 1965’s Born Free and the 1971 version of Black Beauty starring Mark Lester. Set in a pre swinging London it stars Shirley Ann Field, (The Damned (1963)) who plays a young designer just out of art school, who is starting an affair with a married junior executive at the wallpaper factory where there both employed. Robert Stephens who appeared in other great 60’s movies including The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) and of course A Taste of Honey (1961) where he plays Dora Bryans “fancy man”, plays the part of the junior executive  

This wonderfully acted story focuses on an illicit lunch-hour spent in a seedy hotel room where the tension and the sexual conflict between the two gradually reaches a crescendo with things not turning out as expected! The black and white transfer by the BFI shows Wolfgang Suschitzky cinematography at its best. Highly recommended for film lovers that appreciate British movies of this period.