1963 British film by Wolf Rilla
The World Ten Times Over (US title Pussycat Alley) is a 1963 British drama film written and directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Sylvia Syms, June Ritchie, Edward Judd and William Hartnell.[2] Donald Sutherland makes a brief appearance, in one of his earliest roles. The British Film Institute has described it as the first British film to deal with an implicitly lesbian relationship.[3]
Plot
The lives of two club hostesses Billa and Ginnie, who work in the Soho area of London, have their friendship challenged by jealousies arising when Ginnie becomes romantically involved with Bob, a rich married businessman.
Production
The film marked the debut of Cyclops Productions, a company formed by Wolf Rilla and producer Michael Luke. Finance was provided by Associated British. Filming started in January 1963 and took place on location in London and at Elstree Studios.[4]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Wolf Rilla's direction lacks any distinctively personal tone, and the film's stylistic coherence is further weakened by an indulgence in those shock effects and crude linking devices so beloved of British film-makers. The low point of the film is perhaps the climactic night-club sequence, tastelessly conceived and crudely executed, during which the old 'warm-hearted tart' cliché is turned inside out, to unpleasant and implausible effect. The players, handicapped by some inapposite casting, cope as best they severally can with the unmemorable dialogue, but even William Hartnell (made up to look unnervingly like Lord Attlee in his Prime Ministerial days) is unusually ineffective, Sarah Lawson's brief but telling appearance, and Larry Pizer's polished photography, in fact, are the consolations of this further monument to Elstree's evident aspirations towards emulating the 'Free French'."[5]
Variety wrote, "The result is overdramatic but provides opportunities for deft thesping. Nightclub and location sequences in London have a brisk authenticity," the reviewer went on to praise Sylvia Syms' performance, "Her scenes with her father (William Hartnell) are excellent. Hartnell, playing the unworldly, scholarly father, who has no contact with his daughter, also gives an observant study. The other two principals are more phonily drawn characters. Edward Judd seems strangely uneasy in his role and Ritchie, despite many firstrate moments, sometimes appears as if she is simply jumping through paper hoops."[6]
TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, concluding, "this is a somewhat stylized film, but the story is too depressing to make it work in the long run."[7]
The BFI praised Sym's "moving, melancholic performance."[3]
Filmink said some viewers have "read this as a lesbian love story – maybe it is, but it’s definitely a female friendship story, very feminist for its time."[8]
