As the last film of director Joseph Losey (a groundbreaking British filmmaker of the 1960's), this screen version of the play by Neil Dunn seems like a mash-up of all of those sadly realistic working class dramas of the 1960's as told by the women who lived them to their closest chums, none seemingly very happy. They are losing this spot too, a rather dowdy looking steam room that could use either a really good spraying down or just plain reconstruction, with the assistance of a wrecking ball. Diana Dors, in her last film, looks a bit like the mature Ginger Rogers, playing the attendant, pal to regular patrons Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, Brenda Bruce and Patti Love.
The set is quite an interesting one, but the conversations aren't all that interesting to audiences in general, because their subject matter is really only of interest to the type of maturing women that this talented cast portrays here. Some of the women are seen stark naked, and for women of a certain age, that's pretty daring. The steam room is shown to be an old fashioned gymnasium with chez lounges pressed up against radiators, then saunas and steam baths, and eventually rowing machines. The women pretty much do nothing but complain about their husbands and children, but reluctantly admit that they wouldn't change a thing, so the question becomes, "So what's the point of all this?" Very stagey and bland, yet occasionally magical when the women finally say something profound. It's definitely an acting exercise for the three legends and lesser known actors, but I wouldn't want to sit through this as a play.
The set is quite an interesting one, but the conversations aren't all that interesting to audiences in general, because their subject matter is really only of interest to the type of maturing women that this talented cast portrays here. Some of the women are seen stark naked, and for women of a certain age, that's pretty daring. The steam room is shown to be an old fashioned gymnasium with chez lounges pressed up against radiators, then saunas and steam baths, and eventually rowing machines. The women pretty much do nothing but complain about their husbands and children, but reluctantly admit that they wouldn't change a thing, so the question becomes, "So what's the point of all this?" Very stagey and bland, yet occasionally magical when the women finally say something profound. It's definitely an acting exercise for the three legends and lesser known actors, but I wouldn't want to sit through this as a play.