The L-Shaped Room (1963)
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85% of users liked it
(284 ratings)
Considered ultra-mature film fare in 1962, The L-Shaped Room stars Leslie Caron as a unmarried, pregnant French girl. Arranging for an abortion (illegal at that time), she takes up residence in a ramshackle British boarding house where most of the other residents are also outcasts of society. Many… More Considered ultra-mature film fare in 1962, The L-Shaped Room stars Leslie Caron as a unmarried, pregnant French girl. Arranging for an abortion (illegal at that time), she takes up residence in a ramshackle British boarding house where most of the other residents are also outcasts of society. Many of the character types were new to films of the era, but have since become cliches: the understanding young black, the lesbian actress, the prostitutes without golden hearts. There is also a Christopher Isherwood type writer (Tom Bell) who observes the passing parade and writes a book on the subject. Director Bryan Forbes brings his usual muted sensibilities to the project, resulting in a work that downplays the sensational aspects and emphasizes characterization. Surprisingly, while The L-Shaped Room was considered too "hot" for several corporate-owned American movie houses, it was an early arrival on 1960s TV, where it frequently ran uncut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bryan Forbes
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1963 Wide
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Phil Hall, Film Threat
Glamorous Leslie Caron is seriously out of place in this drab kitchen-sink drama.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Leslie Caron received a second Oscar nomination for this British film, in which she plays a French feeme in London, who decides to keep her out of the wedlock baby.
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Cast
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Leslie Caron
as Jane Fosset
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Tom Bell
as Toby
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Anthony Booth
as Youth in Street
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Brock Peters
as Johnny
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Patricia Phoenix
as Sonia
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Dame Cicely Courtneidge
as Mavis
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Avis Bunnage
as Doris
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Bernard Lee
as Charlie
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Harry Locke
as News Agent
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Ellen Dryden
as Girl in News Agent's
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Gerry Duggan
as Bert
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Nanette Newman
as Girl at End
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Diane Clare
as Nurse
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Mark Eden
as Terry
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Verity Edmett
as Jane 11
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Joan Ingram
as Woman in Park
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Stanley Morgan
as Waiter in Club
- Pamela Sholto
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Gerald Sim
as Doctor in Hospital
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Kay Walsh
as Prostitute
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Arthur White
as Milkman
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Jenny White
as Monica
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Emlyn Williams
as Dr. Weaver
- Antony Booth
