Dance with a Stranger (1985)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Mike Newell

Writer:

Shelagh Delaney (writer)

Release Date:

9 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Ruth Ellis lives with her 10-year old son Andy next to a night club. One night she meets David Blakely...

Plot Keywords:

Race Car | London England | Engagement | England | 1950s

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Miranda Richardson	...	Ruth Ellis
Rupert Everett	...	David Blakeley
Ian Holm	...	Desmond Cussen
Stratford Johns	...	Morrie Conley
Joanne Whalley	...	Christine
Tom Chadbon	...	Anthony Findlater
Jane Bertish	...	Carole Findlater
David Troughton	...	Cliff Davis
Matthew Carroll	...	Andy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Beale	...	Man in Little Club
Charon Bourke	...	Ballroom Singer
Charles Cork	...	Policeman #2
Patrick Field	...	Builder
Sallie Anne Field	...	Claudette
Ian Hurley	...	Policeman #1
Miki Iveria	...	Landlady
Michael Jenn	...	Wilf
Susan Kyd	...	Barbara
Lesley Manville	...	Maryanne
Tony Mathews	...	Customer 'Magdala'
Nicholas McArdle	...	Landlord (Country Pub)
Lizzie McKenzie	...	Woman
Paul Mooney	...	Clive Gunnell
Martin Murphy	...	Roy
Colin Rix	...	Landlord 'Magdala'
Alan Thompson	...	Ralph
Tracy-Louise Ward	...	Girl with David Blakely

Runtime:

102 min | Argentina:106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Fingest, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Ruth switches on a radio which begins to play immediately. In those times, vacuum-tube radios had to warm up for about 20 seconds.

Quotes:

Anthony Findlater: She
[his wife]
Anthony Findlater: eats like a bird...
Ruth Ellis: Really? My son tells me birds eat twice their own weight every day.

Miranda's Rights

Billing this as the tale of "the last woman who was executed in Britain" sorta lets you know up front that Miranda Richardson's widescreen debut is going to end badly.

Director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) pulls gut~wrenching performances from his leads, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett & the always~underrated Ian Holm, in this fascinating fact~based story about utter sexual obsession.

Set in the dark '50s.

Ruth Ellis (Richardson) runs and lives above a nightclub/brothel frequented by several of London's wealthy gadflies. She's platinum blonde, all brass and ummm... well~liked by the local gentry.

She also has a young son named Andy, about to enter school, who turns the blindest of innocent eyes to Mom's lifestyle.

Enter David (Everett), a sullen alcoholic rich boy and LeMans auto racer wannabe who's taken in by Ruth's wiles within moments of seeing her for the first time ~ after being introduced to Ruth and her "club" by his equally well~heeled close friend Desmond (Holm).

What unfolds is the single most riveting ~ and more importantly, believable ~ love/hate relationship film I've seen. There have been tons of movies about obsessive lust (and I'm not talking about the flix they rent behind that door at the back of your video store whose "A" section takes up three aisles) but this one is a real treat.

David, you see, is seriously involved with another woman when he meets Ruth... yet beds the latter in quick fashion. The other woman (eventually his fiancee) is the rub. As is David's penchant for getting drunk and simultaneously developing still a third wandering eye.

Still, it's Ruth he wants. To the point of showing up at the oddest of times to woo (or just rant drunkenly, incoherently at ~ or just to hit) her. All the while winnowing his way deeply into Ruth and her son's hearts and lives.

Meanwhile Desmond stands stoically by until nearly the bitter end, supporting Ruth during LeMans~boy's long absences and sustaining her each time David fails to live up to his promises, which is pretty much always.

The "fights betwixt the leads" scenes are the best, the most creatively acted and directed.

After a while, Newell yanks you into the almost~triangle between the three and one begins to attempt to choose sides. This proves to be impossible, as none of the characters are particularly sympathetic.

IE: this ain't a Hollywood movie. Each character has flaws which are well~defined, there's no happy ending and (are you listening, Jim Cameron?)... no sequel.

Richardson is simply astonishing in her premiere. Each note she plays, screaming or smoldering, is just right (hence Miranda's Rights).

Everett's superb as the sociopathically obsessed lover.

And Holm is, well, brilliant. Color him unrequited with a vengeance.

9 of 10 Niro~Stars