Woman in a Dressing Gown

1957

1h 33m

Drama

Romance

List

79%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

92%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Jim Preston (Anthony Quayle) has been married to Amy (Yvonne Mitchell) for 20 years. They have a teenage son named Brian (Andrew Ray), a house in London and a dog. They seem perfectly happy -- except Jim is secretly having an affair with co-worker Georgie (Sylvia Syms). Desirous of something more than stolen evenings, Georgie threatens to reveal the affair unless Jim divorces Amy and marries her instead. Jim is forced to choose between his family and his fantasy.

John Gillett

Sight & Sound

Despite the over-facile resolution of the last scene, one's final impression is of an emotional drama of considerable intensity.

Mar 31, 2020

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

This is both a reminder of British sexual mores in the darker days of the Fifties and one of the first attempts in a genre that was later referred to as kitchen-sink drama.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 27, 2012

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

An unmissable rerelease.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 26, 2012

Full Review

Jean-Luc Godard

Arts (France)

The British cinema today is an enigma as much as a legend. How have the descendants of Daniel Defoe, Thomas Hardy and George Meredith reached such a degree of incompetence in matters of art?

Sep 1, 2021

Full Review

MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

The facile ending, with its suggestion of "happy ever after", is in line with the compromising attitude of the film as a whole; and rings entirely false.

Feb 16, 2019

Full Review

Isabel Quigly

The Spectator

J. Lee Thompson's direction has a few documentary-style cliches about it, but provides a good, empty space, most of the time, for Miss Mitchell's virtuosity to shine in.

Feb 16, 2019

Full Review

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martin a

Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Quayle, and Sylvia Syms are outstanding in this Kitchen Sink Drama about a married man who is unhappily married to his disorganized wife and falls for a younger woman at work. He has to pluck up the courage to tell her and when he does, she tries to win him back but it all goes wrong. An outstanding cast and the acting is brilliant

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Highly effective British drama directed by J. Lee Thompson with a fantastic performance by Yvonne Mitchell.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A thoughtful intense English Film about a father cheating on his wife & the family's (especially the wife's) journey through this time & the consequences of the father's actions. It's has great performances, fantastic script & such a confronting yet sophisticated approach that really presents the truthful emotions of this situation. The mother's desperate behaviour was real & you really felt for her. For 1957 it was years ahead of its time. Credit must be given to cameraman Gilbert Taylor who used the camera in a superb way to tell this story. This is an important British Film....a must see....

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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J. Lee Thompson

Director

Yvonne Mitchell

Amy Preston

Anthony Quayle

Jim Preston

Sylvia Syms

Georgie Harlow

Andrew Ray

Brian Preston

Carole Lesley

Hilda

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Synopsis

Jim Preston (Anthony Quayle) has been married to Amy (Yvonne Mitchell) for 20 years. They have a teenage son named Brian (Andrew Ray), a house in London and a dog. They seem perfectly happy -- except Jim is secretly having an affair with co-worker Georgie (Sylvia Syms). Desirous of something more than stolen evenings, Georgie threatens to reveal the affair unless Jim divorces Amy and marries her instead. Jim is forced to choose between his family and his fantasy.

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Producer: Frank Godwin
Screenwriter: Ted Willis
Production Co: Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), Godwin-Willis
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: British English
Runtime: 1h 33m