A Touch of Love **** (1969, Sandy Dennis, Ian McKellen, Eleanor Bron) – Classic Movie Review 5004

Director Waris Hussein’s very special 1969 drama is adapted by Margaret Drabble from her once famous 1960s feminist novel The Millstone.

Sandy Dennis plays Rosamund Stacey, a bookish young London PhD student, studying for her doctorate in the British Museum, while spending her nights trying to avoid complications with the men in her life, but then she is burdened with a millstone. She finds she is pregnant by her first lover, TV personality George Matthews (Ian McKellen), a rising newsreader and announcer.

At first she wants to get rid of the baby, has a failed attempt at self-abortion, and does not tell either the man or her parents (Peggy Thorpe-Bates, Kenneth Benda) about it. Should she tell her parents? Should or could she marry the man, or even let him know that he is the father? So she sets out on a path through pregnancy and into single motherhood, aided only by close friend Lydia (Eleanor Bron).

The moving performances, Drabble’s convincing, expertly honed screenplay and the vibrantly recognizable, truthful situations mean that this touch of love is very touching. Throughout, it hits just the right tone and mood.

A convincing Dennis is adorable, effectively English seeming, even though she was born in Hastings, Nebraska, and the young McKellen gives a lovely star support turn.

Also in the cast are Michael Coles, John Standing, Rachel Kempson, Sarah Whalley, Margaret Tyzack, Roger Hammond, Maurice Denham, Shelagh Fraser, Deborah Stanford and Penelope Keith.

It is shot by Peter Suschitsky, produced by Milton Subotsky for Amicus Productions, released by Columbia and scored by Michael Dress, and runs 106 minutes. It is certainly a surprise film from horror anthology company Amicus, but a good surprise.

Amicus’s Max Rosenberg optioned the novel for ₤1,000 and sold the film to the distributors Palomar and Columbia for more than its cost. So, though it was not a box office success, Amicus made a profit on it. Rosenberg said it was the best movie Amicus produced.

It is also known as Thank You All Very Much, its US release title. This is named after the sarcastic remark the heroine makes to student doctors after they have studied her case without speaking to her or acknowledging her as a person.

Sandy Dennis (1937–1992).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5004 

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