Tripwire Reviews StudioCanal Vintage Classics’ A Touch Of Love

A Slice Of Late Sixties London

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows takes a look at late sixties reissue A Touch Of Love, on Blu-Ray from today from Studio Canal’s Vintage Classics…

A Touch Of Love
Director: Waris Hussein
Stars: Sandy Dennis, Ian McKellen, John Standing, Eleanor Bron

Released back in 1969, this adaptation of Margaret Drabble’s novel The Millstone sees US actress Sandy Dennis, who plays student Rosamund, finding herself with an unplanned pregnancy while living in late 1960s swinging London. So when she decides to keep the baby, she is forced to navigate the choppy waters of a place which frowns on mothers out of wedlock. To make matters a little more complicated, she also has to cope with a health scare with her child. Produced by Amicus, who were horror contemporaries of Hammer Films, this was an incongruous choice for them.

Director Hussein directed the very first episode of Doctor Who back in 1963 and he has a very firm hand on the tiller here, keeping the drama moving throughout. Dennis has a warm vulnerability as its main focus and her British accent is fairly consistent here too. Supporting roles from people like McKellen (his first prominent film part), the father of her baby, and John Standing as one of her other beaus lend it a little extra gravitas and Bron as her eccentric friend Lydia brings a likeable quality to proceedings.

The portrayal of late 1960s London is well-handled by Hussein and Rosamund’s story arc engages the viewer throughout. Unmarried mothers did get a hard time of it when this film was made and it is easy to forget that now in a more enlightened age.

The extras here include a number of interviews with its director Hussein, McKellen and Drabble which do lend a little more context to A Touch Of Love. Considering its origins, A Touch Of Love does definitely point to its literary genesis and it is a snapshot of the time, that’s well-made and a solid watch. It’s a worthy addition to the Vintage Classics line at StudioCanal.

JOEL MEADOWS