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IMDbPro

The L-Shaped Room

  • 1962
  • X
  • 2h 6m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
The L-Shaped Room (1962)
A single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.
Play trailer2:33
1 Video
98 Photos
DramaRomance

A single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.A single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.A single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.

  • Director
    • Bryan Forbes
  • Writers
    • Lynne Reid Banks
    • Bryan Forbes
  • Stars
    • Leslie Caron
    • Anthony Booth
    • Avis Bunnage
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    2.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Bryan Forbes
    • Writers
      • Lynne Reid Banks
      • Bryan Forbes
    • Stars
      • Leslie Caron
      • Anthony Booth
      • Avis Bunnage
    • 43User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 3 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:33
    Official Trailer

    Photos98

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    Top cast26

    Edit
    Leslie Caron
    Leslie Caron
    • Jane
    Anthony Booth
    Anthony Booth
    • Youth in Street
    Avis Bunnage
    Avis Bunnage
    • Doris
    Patricia Phoenix
    Patricia Phoenix
    • Sonia
    Verity Edmett
    Verity Edmett
    • Jane II
    Tom Bell
    Tom Bell
    • Toby
    Cicely Courtneidge
    Cicely Courtneidge
    • Mavis
    Harry Locke
    • Newsagent
    Ellen Dryden
    Ellen Dryden
    • Girl in Newsagent's
    Emlyn Williams
    Emlyn Williams
    • Dr. Weaver
    Jennifer White
    • Monica
    Brock Peters
    Brock Peters
    • Johnny
    Gerry Duggan
    • Bert
    Joan Ingram
    Joan Ingram
    • Woman in Park
    Mark Eden
    Mark Eden
    • Terry
    Stanley Morgan
    Stanley Morgan
    • Waiter in Club
    Gerald Sim
    Gerald Sim
    • Doctor in Hospital
    Pamela Sholto
    • Nurse
    • Director
      • Bryan Forbes
    • Writers
      • Lynne Reid Banks
      • Bryan Forbes
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews43

    7.32.3K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    8mackjay2

    Top Drawer British Realism

    One of the best of the so-called "kitchen-sink" films, THE L-SHAPED ROOM is nearly perfect. The set decoration probably deserved an award for the way it evokes, with poetry, the incredibly realistic environment of a down-and-out London rooming house. As many commentators have noted, this film avoids clichés and gives us real-seeming characters played by gifted actors. There is not a single weak link in the cast, with Tom Bell, Avis Bunnage, Brock Peters, Cicely Courtneige among others providing so many memorable moments. At the heart of the film is Leslie Caron in an award-nominated performance that is not likely to be forgotten by anyone who sees it. This is a performance that elicits true feeling, done with a kind of invisible artistry, so it seems completely real. Bryan Forbes, one of Britain's finest directors of the period, paces the film well, relying on Caron and others to fill what may have been longueurs with true meaning. The only criticism is the use of the Brahms First Piano Concerto in the soundtrack. The surging romanticism, while appealing in itself, doesn't fit very well with the mood of the film, apart from a couple of quiet scenes. It's certainly not a big problem, only it seems an odd musical choice. A deeply affecting, unforgettable film.
    Snowbird121969

    Long-lasting impressions

    I first saw this movie when I was eleven years old, and have never been able to get it out of my mind. I'm glad to see that it hasn't been completely forgotten. I've just ordered the DVD, and I'm anxious to see if it is as poignant to me at fifty-four as it was when I was eleven. There are only one or two scenes that I can actually vividly remember, but I'd say that's pretty impressive after forty-three years! I do remember how I felt when I left the movie-house... life is not easy, some decisions are forever, the way can be rife with disappointments, but if you are honest and open with yourself and others, there will be a firm foundation of strength in your relationships that can support you through anything.
    gill_shave

    The effect of the incidental music

    I saw this film first when I was twenty and, for me, it summed up all the anguish of being young, female and alone in London. The performances are magnificent, and at the time, I found Tom Bell to be quite attractive. I later went off him when he was successively portrayed as a seedy villainous type. The thing which completely mesmerised me at the time was the music (Brahms First Piano Concerto). I haven't read any other comments about the music and I am interested to know if anyone else was as affected by it as I was. It is, of course, a fabulous piece but this was my first introduction to it. I was a music student in 1962 but in common with many other music students of the time, not very knowledgeable. I immediately became very passionate about this piece.
    8Lejink

    The L Word

    Bryan Forbes' second directorial feature was in sharp contrast to the lighter-toned "Whistle Down The Wind" from the year before. At times a sombre mood-piece, it nevertheless is a sensitive character study of the struggling tenants at a cheap Notting Hill (before it was Notting Hill!) boarding-house to which Leslie Caron's Jane character winds her weary way at the outset.

    A 27 year old single French woman, she's pregnant and on her own after her first sexual encounter with an English actor who, like her parents, has recently rejected and abandoned her. Now friendless, she's down at the end of lonely street at this seeming heartbreak hotel where under the bawdy, boozy landlady's charge live a disparate and desperate set of individuals. These comprise a young black jazz musician, a handsome, young, white out-of-work writer, a nosey, fading old white lesbian actress and down in the basement, an old prostitute and her young Hungarian protege, the latter learning the dopes you might say.

    After much pressing, Caron eventually, if reluctantly enters into a relationship with Tom Bell's possessive writer which seems to upset the musician next door who possibly has feelings for either one of them. However, once he learns of the pregnancy, Bell quickly drops her, leaving her to seek friendship at each of the other doors in the establishment. As Caron puts it herself, everyone it seems wants her to have an abortion but apart from one major wobble, she's determined to have the child.

    It all winds up at a Christmas party for all the tenants in the landlady's front room (Bell excepted) and a nicely written (literally) bitter-sweet conclusion as Caron has to face up to her far from certain future.

    Excellently filmed and played by all, this was a fine example of the early 60's kitchen-sink drama prevalent in U.K. cinema at the time. The situations, characterisations, sets and dialogue are credible and natural and shot and played in a convincingly realistic manner. Caron, previously only known to me from big-budget Hollywood movies from her youth is something of a revelation as the alien presence trying to cope with her further alienation all on her own. Bell, too, I was impressed with as the wounded, loquacious charmer unable at the key moment to man-up as today's phrase goes and do the decent thing for someone he clearly loves. All the other supporting characters, played by Brock Peters, Cicely Courtneidge, Avis Bunnage and a pre-Elsie Tanner Pat Phoenix likewise turn in strong performances making this a strong ensemble piece.

    Honest, straightforward and moving, this is one of the best movies of its type I've yet seen, the better for focusing on a female character at its bruised, shifting, but always beating heart.
    8Xstal

    The Lonely Room...

    There's a room on the top floor where you are staying, it's partitioned from another where Johnny's laying, the bed is full of bugs, the landlady just shrugs, all in all the situation is dismaying. But that's the least of all the things that's on your mind, as you've got yourself in somewhat of a bind, after a fling with that man Terry, now you're growing like a berry, this is not the way your life had been designed.

    An outstanding performance from Leslie Caron as Jane, a lost and lonely French young woman seeking sanctuary in a rundown rented London room after discovering she's pregnant. More than ably supported by Tom Bell as the love-struck youth with little to show for his troubles and Brock Peters as the friendly face next door, as their lives entwine and disconnect as the birth of the child approaches.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Smiths open their album "The Queen Is Dead" with the scene of the character Mavis leading a chorus of "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty".
    • Goofs
      The first-floor light goes out by itself (as it does often as the switch is faulty) twice as Jane goes from Toby's room up to hers, looking for him.

      In 60's bedsit land many houses had push-button light switches in the corridors that turned themselves off after a very short time to preserve electricity costs (and also as a fail-safe for people forgetting to turn them off). So the light switch was not necessarily faulty.
    • Quotes

      Jane Fosset: Oh, you English are so funny about smells. You hate garlic, you're frightened of perfume unless it's very cheap and very nasty, but you *love* the smell of fish and chips. First time I went out for a walk with an Englishman, he took us two miles out of our way so I could smell a fish and chips shop.

      Toby: Oh, well, you see it's a very powerful aphrodisiac for an Englishman. Before the war, most children were conceived on Friday nights.

    • Connections
      Edited into The Queen Is Dead (1986)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor Op. 15
      Written by Johannes Brahms (uncredited)

      Performed by Peter Katin and City of London Sinfonia

      Conducted by Muir Mathieson

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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 20, 1962 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Das indiskrete Zimmer
    • Filming locations
      • 4 St Luke's Road, Notting Hill, London, England, UK(boarding house on Brockash Road)
    • Production company
      • Romulus Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $161
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 6 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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