Recently I read about something called the Kitchen Sink school of filmmaking that arose in England in the 1950s and was popular through the early 60s, encompassing the same time period as the crime thrillers we've been watching. Without bothering to look it up, I assumed the phrase was short for "everything but the kitchen sink", and figured it meant that the films in that category were constructed from a hodegepodge of styles, featuring the shifts in tone the Brits are so fond of. I thought it must mean that the KS movies were extreme in that way, with their directors throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" - i.e. comedy, drama, music, thrills, pathos, etc. - into their films in the hope that something would stick and attract audiences.
Eventually I ran across a Kitchen sink movie, by accident rather than design, and discovered that the term meant not a mish-mash but hard-nosed realism, specifically of the blue-collar type. After finally Googling it, I found that Kitchen Sink referred to films that looked at hardscrabble life in east London, where folks lived in abject poverty and either accepted it or or were driven toward something better, often through crime.
The movie I found was called "Turn the Key Softly"(1953), which follows three women who've just been released from the notorious Holloway prison (made famous in a song called "Holloway Girls" by Marillion). "Stella" (Joan Collins) is a young prostitute, "Mrs. Quilliam" (Kathleen Harrison) is an elderly shoplifter, and "Monica" (Yvonne Mitchell) is the 30-something victim of a criminal boyfriend, who got her to help him with a "job", then left her holding the bag when the police came. Of the three, Monica has served the longest, having spent twelve long months in Holloway, a year that has left her worn out and wary, but hoping to start a new life away from her no-good boyfriend.
All of the women are released at the same time, and promise to meet up for dinner that night so they can celebrate their first day of freedom, and bolster one another in their quests to go straight. Collins tells the other two she might not be able to make it. "I'm meeting my fiancee", she claims. They find it hard to believe she's getting married, but it's true. Stella's a Cockney lass, uneducated and full of big talk, but she's telling the truth about her boyfriend, a bus driver who might once have been a customer, before she was arrested.
Old Mrs. Quilliam says she's got someone waiting for her as well : a guy named "Johnny". The way she goes on about him, he sure sounds swell. "Johnny this" and "Johnny that". He must be her husband, or maybe her son.......but when she gets home, to the old rooming house where she's a long time resident, we see that Johnny is a dog, and a cute one at that (a lovable "Asta" - type wire haired terrier). She's even stopped at the butcher's on her way home from prison, to buy a steak with her release money that she'll split with Johnny. Oh, she loves him dearly.
Poor Monica has no one to go home to. She spends the afternoon trying to find a job, but is at first turned down because of her prison record. She perseveres, however, until she finds an employer willing to take her on as an accountant. But when she gets back to her apartment, she finds her old boyfriend "David" (Terence Morgan) waiting for her, the crumb bum who let her take the fall for his crime. David's a safecracker but also a smooth talker, so even though he's the worst thing in the world for Monica right now, she allows him into her flat, and before the afternoon is over he's got her in bed, making like nothing ever happened.
The three ladies do end up keeping their dinner appointment, where they toast one another with champagne. Even Johnny is there, slurping ginger ale out of his doggie bowl. He has impeccable table manners, becoming a centerpiece of the film at this point, and when the ladies part, he goes with Mrs. Quilliam to a pub while Joan Collins strolls off with a stray man from the train station. Is she returning to prostitution? What about her fiancee?
Meanwhile Monica waits for David to pick her up.
They have a theater date - David's treat - but when they get there, he shows his true colors. We see it's all been a ruse, as he shoves Monica through a security door leading to the roof of the building. There, he forces her into another "job". She's caught entirely by surprise; before she knows it he's got his ropes and burglary tools out. He's been manipulating her all day long, and now he's gonna pull another safe cracking job right across the street. David's a bad man, and we really feel for Monica, who wanted to live an honest life and just got a real job that afternoon.
Now we cut back to Old Mrs. Quilliam. She's at the pub not for alcohol, only another ginger ale for Johnny and herself. When she gets up to use the restroom, Johnny leaves through the open front door, confused about his absent mistress. Upon returning to the bar, Mrs. Quilliam is distraught. She searches the streets for Johnny, calling his name, asking passersby and policemen if they've seen him. We the audience are feeling real anguish by now, such has the relationship been built up. It's one of the sweetest human/dog pairings on film. That's why - and I'll give you a Spoiler Alert right now - it's all the more devastating to see what happens. It isn't fair, it's emotionally manipulative and it made me mad because it's a contrivance. The screenwriter did not have to do this, and it's wrong. If this is what Kitchen Sink realism is about, someone should throw the kitchen sink at him.
The tone then shifts to a crime thriller ending, as the cops use hook and ladder fire engines to catch David the safecracker, who's doing a balancing act off the rooftops and catwalks above the theater.
"Turn the Key Softly" is exceptionally well made and acted, and would be worthy of Two Huge Thumbs Up - our next-to-highest rating - if it weren't for the emotional manipulation I'm referring to. I know that almost all dramatic movies feature some level of this, but what occurs - to my mind - is entirely unnecessary.
But you know what? I'm gonna give it Two Huge anyway, with the caveat that you'll be bummed out when it's over (sorry bout that). It's still recommended very highly because overall it's a tremendous film, up there with the best British movies we've seen. Give it a shot, but bring a full box of Kleenex. /////
Another Kitchen Sink movie I found was called "A Place to Go"(1963), and in choosing it, I didn't know it was Kitchen Sink. The synopsis on IMDB said it was about the robbery of a cigarette factory, so I thought "heist flick" (oh boy!) and gave it a go.
What turned out was more "slice of life" than plot oriented. It's about an East End family, specifically it's two young men, a factory worker and his brother-in-law, and while there is a plot, it takes an eon to get to.
Really, the story becomes a vehicle to showcase Rita Tushingham, the actress who became a star in the UK on the strength of her portrayals of blunt-spoken Cockney girls. If you remember, we went on a mini Rita Film Fest a couple years ago, watching her in "A Taste of Honey", "Straight on Til Morning" and "Girl with Green Eyes". In addition to her voice, she also had a distinct look, with big round eyes and a wedge shaped face, pretty but with edges.
In the movie, "Ricky" (Michael Sarne) lives with his parents and pregnant sister in a run down flat in Bethnel Green, a London slum. He sings karaoke in a local restaurant by night, works in a cigarette factory by day. His dad is a dockworker on the outs with his union and in danger of losing his job. The family is hard up for money, and when Dad does eventually get fired, he's shamed by his wife, who'll no longer allow him to sit at the head of the table. "You're not the leader of this family any longer", she tells him. That mantle falls now to young Ricky, who at least can pitch in for the bills.
But Ricky's got bigger plans than being merely a wage earner. He knows a hood named "Jack Ellerman" (John Slater), who's set up the robbery of his factory. Jack's older, he poses as a "legitimate businessman" and gambler, who makes his money at the dog track, but really he's a gang boss. He hires Ricky to disable the alarm at the factory so that when they pull the job, it won't go off. Ricky enlists his brother in law in turn, because he's a lorry driver. They'll use his truck to cart the cigarettes away, boxes and boxes of 'em.
The film runs 81 minutes, and for the first hour there's no buildup of plot or tension, because - as we are seeing with Kitchen Sink, plot is not the point.....it's about the characters and their lives.
The gang does eventually pull the robbery, but first Dad dies of a stroke after trying a second career as a busking, Houdini-like escape artist, complete with lock and chains. He takes this act to the streets, where he works for chump change, but then he dies, after an argument with the crook Jack Ellerman ("Stay away from my son"!). Now Mom and Ricky are on their own, except Ricky has already signed on with Jack. Is he headed for a life of crime?
So there's another example of Kitchen Sink for you. This one isn't tight and there ain't much plot. We're just following these folks around for a few days, and half the movie is Rita Tushingham doing her thing. But because they're all characters, in the Cockney sense, it's an interesting hang, culturally speaking. As usual, though, when a tight plot is lacking, the movie would benefit from a fifteen minute cut. The bottom line : I'm gonna give it Two Regular Thumbs Up, which I'll raise to Two Solids if you wanna count the 1963 atmosphere. The Britspeak is unintelligible for long stretches, however, so be forewarned.
Give it a shot if you wish (and check out Rita T. in some of her better known films if you haven't seen them), but it doesn't compare to "Turn the Key Softly" or our recent crime thrillers. ////
So there you have it. That's all I know for today and I'm gonna head out for a hike. Having finished the Brian Wilson book, I'm now giving equal time to Mike Love and his autobiography. Many fans consider him the villain of The Beach Boys. I wanna read his side of the story. One thing's for sure; the BB's are one crazy band, as weird as they are talented. Have a great afternoon, I send you tons of love as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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