Up the Junction (1968)

Up the Junction: Directed by Peter Collinson. With Suzy Kendall, Dennis Waterman, Maureen Lipman, Adrienne Posta. Addresses some of the major 60s social issues – a bored rich London-girl from Chelsea decides to go “slumming” in depressed Battersea, getting a flat and starts factory-work and makes friends… of which one has to get an illegal abortion.

“Though justifiably not considered a particularly important British film of the late sixties, u0026quot;Up The Junctionu0026quot; has much genuine charm and remains a film for which I have a lot of affection.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWritten by Nell Dunn, who specialized in portraying working class life, the characters are well drawn and brought to life with much conviction by a fine cast, some of whom have lasted and some who somehow faded away.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhereas leading man Dennis Waterman went on to a long career in both television and on the stage, the lovely Suzy Kendall, who seemed to be headed towards becoming the next Julie Christie, proceeded to an undistinguished career. Thereu0026#39;s a touching chemistry between the pair.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLikewise the strong supporting players have had varied careers. The pairing of Maureen Lipman and Andrienne Posta was so successful in this film, that there was talk of them becoming a comedy team. Like Waterman, Lipman has been a regular on television and the stage, while Posta simply vanished.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Up the Junctionu0026quot; too has vanished into obscurity, without even a video release. Itu0026#39;s odd that while other far lesser British movies of the same period have been kept alive, this small but very appealing work should suffer such a fate.”