The L Shaped Room (1962)

Alone in London, a pregnant French girl (Leslie Caron) moves into a shoddy flat and haltingly emerges from her self induced cocoon to interact with the other members of the boarding house. Based on the novel by Lynne Reid Banks and directed by Bryan Forbes (SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON). In the early 1960s, England produced a string of marvelous B&W gritty and naturalistic "kitchen sink" dramas which were a refreshing contrast to the glossy Technicolor confections still coming out of Hollywood. Films that were more interested in character than plot, insight rather than entertainment. Directors like Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, John Schlesinger, Jack Clayton and Bryan Forbes who directed this treasure. Forbes doesn't push but lets us discover for ourselves the need for human contact we all need and how the lack of it can slowly destroy the soul. Caron gives the performance of her career (and a justified Oscar nomination) but the film is filled with wonderful characters inhabited by Tom Bell, Brock Peters, Cicely Courtneidge, Bernard Lee, Emlyn Williams, Avis Bunnage, Nanette Newman and Diane Clare. I could have done without the refined Brahms mayonnaise on the soundtrack but John Barry composed some nice jazz.