Prismark10 Whilst people get nostalgic for a bygone time where supposedly everyone rooted together, conveniently forgetting how much people were in it for themselves and the spiv culture ruled.Here comes a slice of life film that was made when the war was still on. Not sure how this one went past the censor as the subject matter involves an AWOL soldier who wants to find his wife after he gets wind that she is being wooed by a supposedly invalid playboy type draft dodger excellently played by Stewart Granger who is also an ex boxer.Granger is trying to get his wicked ways by spinning whatever yarn he can and showing her a good time. Add to this, some mishaps, John Mills AWOL soldier being pursued by military policemen and a mixture of comedy and drama makes this an easy going gem.There is a rather brutal fight scene at the end and Alistair Sim gives a nice cameo as well as Jean Kent wearing not a lot, not sure what the censor was doing when her scene turned up!

Guy Plot: A British soldier goes AWOL in order to stop his wife cuckolding him with a criminal.This film is a Gainsborough melodrama, and if you know what that means then you know what you'll get. So expect female hysterics and an unconvincingly nasty criminal played by Stewart Granger. John Mills, as an everyman squaddie, holds the piece together with some solid work. The setting is Waterloo station and most of the film is shot on location, which gives it a nice edge of social realism as the story winds through the markets and streets. The plot isn't up to much but it does express one of the great worries of British soldiers: what were their girls up to whilst they were away? Many were on active service for years at a time, and they knew England was full of Yanks, Canadians, spivs and other sorts who were flush with cash, glamour and amorous intentions. It isn't a very good film, with the climactic fist fight being particularly unconvincing, but it's a nice insight into what was a pressing issue at the time.

Spikeopath Waterloo Road is a tidily produced picture that is telling a pretty prickly story. The plot revolves around John Mills everyman railway worker Jim Colte, he gets called up to do his service in the army, leaving behind his recently wedded bride, Tillie. The local Lothario, Ted Purvis {Stewart Granger} has his eye on Tillie, and with Tillie feeling alone and vulnerable, Purvis may just get his wicked way with her. But Jim gets wind of this and after being refused compassionate leave by his superiors, he goes AWOL and intends to track Purvis down. We are told this story by Alastair Sim's wonderfully astute Dr.Montgomery, who has been sent a fair bit of work from previous Purvis doings. The film plays out with Jim dodging the military police and lurching from one Purvis haunt to another, inter cut with this is us following Purvis and Tillie out on the town as the day of reckoning for all three of them draws near. When the finale comes it's well worth the wait, mighty midget John Mills {brilliant here} facing off against the tall and fulsome Stewart Granger, just as Adolf decides to bomb London!. A smashing little film that is risqué with it's themes of unfaithful wives and soldiers absconding from service. 7/10

writers_reign It may well have passed muster at the tail end of the war but seen today the flaws are there for all to see. Stewart Granger's working class accent is a joke and his wooden, over-the-top acting little better. John Mills phones it in as the 'decent' man who goes AWOL when he hears that wife, Joy Shelton, is stepping out with Granger's spiv whilst he, Mills, is doing his bit. The two best performances by a mile are turned in by Beatrice Varley and Alison Leggatt as Mills' mother and sister and Jean Kent weighs in with a passable cameo but the climactic fist fight between Purvis (Granger) and Colter (Mills) is embarrassing. Definitely a Waterloo sunset.