Up the Junction (1968)

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writers:

Nell Dunn (book)
Roger Smith (writer)

Release Date:

13 March 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Don't get caught was what she wasn't taught.

Plot:

Movie version of the BBC TV play that first addresses some of the major social issues of the day. A...

Plot Keywords:

Abortion | Class Differences | Remake | Independent Film

Cast

Suzy Kendall	...	Polly
Dennis Waterman	...	Peter
Adrienne Posta	...	Rube
Maureen Lipman	...	Sylvie
Michael Gothard	...	Terry
Liz Fraser	...	Mrs. McCarthy
Hylda Baker	...	Winny
Alfie Bass	...	Charlie
Linda Cole	...	Pauline
Doreen Herrington	...	Rita
Jessie Robins	...	Lil
Barbara Archer	...	May
Ruby Head	...	Edith
Susan George	...	Joyce
Sandra Williams	...	Sheilah

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chelsea Bridge, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

BHE Films

Trivia:

Lulu turned down the role of Rube.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Italian Job' (2003) (V)

Social Commentary and Period Piece

My goodness, this brought back memories. I grew up in London in the 1960s and also lived in areas like this up in the Midlands. The movie is a wonderful nostalgic period piece for those of us who knew this world, peripherally or centrally. But the social commentary is timeless. The central character, Polly, yearns for real earthy genuine living and crosses the bridge from upper-class Chelsea to working-class Clapham to experience freedom from upper class social mores and pretension. The world she finds there is indeed real, genuine and earthy. But she has the choice to enter this world or leave it, unlike most of the people who were born into it. And does she fully understand the world she has entered?