Having broken into Disney films in the late 1950s, Janet Munro suffered from typecasting for much of her tragically brief career (she died of Ischaemic heart disease at just 38).
Consequently, she was too rarely offered gutsier assignments like this adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s novel Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky.
Munro stars here as Jennie Jones, a beautiful young innocent who hates living in the drab Welsh mining village of Llangelly.
Visiting Cardiff, she strolls the streets with her friend, Violet (Barbara Ferris), savouring the city’s cosmopolitan life (accompanied by an Acker Bilk soundtrack!).
The girls are picked up by older men Andy (Terence Alexander) and Rex (Richard Thorp) and taken to a fashionable club for drinks and dancing.
Jennie gets drunk and passes out in Andy’s car. When she awakes, she is naked in bed in an apartment in London, having lost her virginity while drunk.
She is befriended by a kindly barman, Bob Williams (John Stride), and – not wanting to return home to Wales – she tells him she is pregnant and exploits his offer of help. He moves her into his flat and supports them both on his wages, planning to marry her.
But Jennie quickly becomes bored and accepts an invitation from Bob’s actor neighbour to attend a party in honour of a well-known producer, Karl Denny (Alan Badel). Denny takes a fancy to Jennie at the party and arranges to see her the following night.
When she fails to return from her appointment, Bob visits Denny’s apartment to find her. Je and Jennie argue, and she reveals that she is not pregnant, does not love Bob, and does not want to marry him.
Heartbroken, Bob leaves, and Jennie becomes Denny’s mistress, ultimately with tragic consequences.
Scripted by Ted Willis, this lacks the bite of contemporary examples of social realism, but it’s solidly made.
Not to be confused with the 1993 erotic thriller of the same name featuring Patsy Kensit.
Jennie Jones
Janet Munro Bob Williams
John Stride Karl Denny
Alan Badel Violet
Barbara Ferris Ella
Anne Cunningham Andy
Terence Alexander Rex
Richard Thorp Mrs Pitt
Vanda Godsell Mr Pitt
Norman Bird Mr Jones
Derek Francis Aunt Louise
Mary Merrall Aunt Sarah
May Hallatt
Visiting Cardiff, she strolls the streets with her friend, Violet (Barbara Ferris), savouring the city’s cosmopolitan life (accompanied by an Acker Bilk soundtrack!).
When she fails to return from her appointment, Bob visits Denny’s apartment to find her. Je and Jennie argue, and she reveals that she is not pregnant, does not love Bob, and does not want to marry him.
