WOMEN OF TWILIGHT (12)

Another, rather solid review site, upsold WOMEN OF TWILIGHT as the first in a long line of films, to get the X certificate in the UK. True enough. It was. However what I wanted to mention was not the films certification. Nor its creative assemble, that include the lovely Lois Maxwell (or Moneypenny for much of Bonds outings),  Laurence Harvey (in a dodgy nightclub singer role) or Freda Jackson (she is best remembered as the backbone of British cinema but I loved her in THE BRIDES OF DRACULA). Instead I would like to give Danny Angel, producer and British cinema legend, a voice. He was a giant and one that actually doesnt get the credit, nor indeed, the respect he deserved. WOMEN OF TWILIGHT was a stage play, one that, though popular, would have raised a number of eyes and sniffs from respectabel middle brows. Interestingly Jonathan Rigby, the voice of British cinema history, revived it a few years back to great success. But in the 50s, its success was a bitter pill to some. Angel was having non of it. He almost predicted the rising social concious of the time and with rising directorial stars, made a stab at making real films. Films like COSH BOY and CAST A DARK SHADOW.

In WOMEN OF TWILIGHT, we have Vivianne (Rene Ray) who got involved with a man that murdered a women. She is with child and the scandal means she has to live where she can. Forced to rent a room in a decrepit boarding house for unmarried mothers, it looks grim but the landlady, Nellie Alistair (Jackson) seems hospitable. But as time ticks on, she reveals herself to be a ruthless woman. With her ill spewing side kick Jess (Vida Hope) they work on and still from all living there. Things seem to be heading south until Vivianne meets Chris (Maxwell). A lovely fresh lady, looking to leave once her husband is finished in the US, working on a project. But there are sinister motives afoot and exploiting the vulnerable tenants is only a part of the game. Gordon Parry (Innocents in Paris, Third Time Lucky), directs WOMEN OF TWILIGHT, with a sense of stage and screen in mind. Jacobs piece on the journey, reveals that there were some concern over moving the play through the stage because, unlike COSH BOY, this was a play that was domestic in setting but delicate in tone. I feel this is achieved wonderfully. The cast sometimes cat fight, sometimes contort but always deliver some level of melodrama that is more Veritie then very scratchy. Melanie Williams actually looks at the reality within this reality, discussing the time and the events that inspired the film, as well as the filming itself. This captures the guts of the pieces and though the new transfer, which is a restoration from Studio Canal, lacks a bit of punch in clarity and feels a little washed out in body of the image, it delves deep enough to make it worth a watch.

STUDIOCANAL has announced a brand-new restoration and first ever DVD, Blu-ray and Digital release of the lost 1950s gem: Women of Twilight, on March 27.

• NEW Melanie Williams on Women of Twilight
• NEW From Stage to Screen: Interview with Marc David Jacobs
• Stills gallery