GB
1970
1hr 36mins
Dir: Eric Till
Starring: David Hemmings and Samantha Eggar
A young woman’s highly ordered life is turned upside-down after she falls for the charms of an artist at a party
This crime drama is based on the 1967 Winston Graham novel of the same name and features an interesting opening sequence filmed on the Central Line of the London Underground with 1962-built tube stock. Samantha Eggar boards at a packed Bond Street and travels one stop to Oxford Circus. The journey onboard is the real thing, with the train being brought to a stand in the tunnel. With brake compressor kicking-in, lights flickering, people squeezed together looking very uncomfortable with each other and then breathing a sigh of relief when it gets going again, it is a true masterpiece of film editing. It is nice to see that, from time to time, production crews spent a little bit of effort in filming a genuine journey where nothing is staged. Very little of Bond Street is seen as the crowds are largely captured in close up, as indeed they would be during the rush hour, and all we see of Oxford Circus is one of its street level entrances. Excellent stuff indeed!
