This film is part of Rentals
Pink String and Sealing Wax
Gordon Jackson stars in a seething tale of family conflict, murder and blackmail in Victorian Brighton.
Director: Robert Hamer
Overview
Two worlds collide in this melodrama set in Victorian Brighton: a repressive household, run by a tyrannical chemist, and a sleazy tavern, presided over by a passionate landlady. The chemist’s son (Gordon Jackson) finds himself, understandably enough, in thrall to the landlady (Googie Withers). His naïve passion and rebellious feelings against his father lead him into a sordid murder plot.
This unusual, fascinating slice of Ealing melodrama takes great pleasure in its stark juxtapositions of contrasting milieux, which are cleverly weaved together by director Robert Hamer, who progressed to further Ealing greats with It Always Rains on Sunday (1947, again with Withers) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).
Related
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall
Crime 2023 152 mins Director: Justine Triet
Justine Triet's gripping, Palme d'Or-winning psycho-thriller is deeply intelligent with a spellbinding performance from Sandra Hüller.
Mean Streets Mean Streets
Crime 1973 112 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel excel in Scorsese’s seminal tale of the conflict between Catholicism and crime in New York’s Little Italy.
Crown v. Stevens Crown v. Stevens
Crime 1936 67 mins Director: Michael Powell
Patric Knowles stars as a naïve young man who becomes embroiled in the murderous, money-hungry scheming of his boss’s wife, in Michael Powell’s stylish proto-film noir.
Waterfront Waterfront
Drama 1950 80 mins Director: Michael Anderson
A tough and gritty drama detailing the turbulent life of hard-drinking Liverpudlian seamen, with Richard Burton in only his third film role.
Blue Scar Blue Scar
Drama 1949 97 mins Director: Jill Craigie
A stirring tale of love, music, and coalmining in Abergwynfi, South Wales.
Bronco Bullfrog Bronco Bullfrog
Drama 1970 87 mins Director: Barney Platts-Mills
A fascinating record of 1960s suedehead youth culture which is largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from east London
Trainspotting Trainspotting
Drama 1996 90 mins Director: Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle's exhilarating, narcotic trip follows a group of heroin-addicted friends as they navigate their way through Glasgow's seedy 1990s drug culture.
Ali & Ava Ali & Ava
Drama 2020 94 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard’s latest film is a tremendously warm and tenderly written love story.
Luzzu Luzzu
Drama 2021 95 mins Director: Alex Camilleri
Writer-director Alex Camilleri’s powerful neorealist drama is a rare home-grown Maltese production.
Whisky Galore! Whisky Galore!
Comedy 1949 83 mins Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Ealing's thirstiest comedy: "the longest unsponsored advertisement ever to reach cinema screens"?
Millions Like Us Millions Like Us
War 1943 103 mins Director: Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat
The finest example of British wartime fictional propaganda follows a group of women who take on factory work to support the war effort.
The Captive Heart The Captive Heart
War 1946 100 mins Director: Basil Dearden
A realistic recreation of life as a prisoner of war in Germany lends credence to this moving account of wartime survival against the odds.
Floodtide Floodtide
Drama 1949 90 mins Director: Frederick Wilson
The son of a Scottish farmer get a job in a shipyard and shows an unexpected flair for design, conceiving a revolutionary ship.
Thursday's Child Thursday's Child
Drama 1943 79 mins Director: Rodney Ackland
Sally Ann Howes plays the 12-year-old spotted by a casting director, setting her on the way to stardom.
It Always Rains on Sunday It Always Rains on Sunday
Drama 1947 88 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Austerity noir: Ealing's downbeat but compelling East End thriller.
Dead of Night Dead of Night
Anthology 1945 99 mins Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer
A group of guests assembled at a country house swap uncanny and supernatural stories in this classic Ealing chiller from 1945.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.