Say Hello to Yesterday (1971)

An affluent, middle-aged housewife in a failing marriage (Jean Simmons) is romantically pursued by a young man (Leonard Whiting) while running errands in London.

He is a feckless young dreamer, trapped in a working-class existence and living in a council house with his father (Jack Woolgar).

She is married (unhappily) to a stockbroker (John Lee) and lives in a leafy Surrey house with her husband and two children where she is weighed down by cooking, mortgages and domestic chores.

He follows her around various shops and before long she’s putting on a fashion show for him and he’s picking out clothes for her to try on.

They end up at the home of her mother (Evelyn Laye) and then at the apartment of one of his acquaintances, where things explode into passion and later anger.

There’s no message to the film, save for the one given to her by her perceptive mother: “If you have an affair with that boy, you’ll regret it. On the other hand, if you don’t have an affair with him, you’ll also regret it”.

Rudolph Walker, John Challis, Susan Penhaligon, John Savident and Ronald Lacey also appear in small roles.

The terrific 1970s London locations are quite stunning.

Woman
Jean Simmons
Boy
Leonard Whiting
Woman’s mother
Evelyn Laye
Park Keeper
Derek Francis
Estate Agent
Geoffrey Bayldon
Policeman
James Cossins
Porter
Edward Atienza
Station Master
Frank Middlemass
Char at Labour Exchange
Gwen Nelson
Woman’s husband
John Lee
Boy’s mother
Constance Chapman
Boy’s father
Jack Woolgar

Director
Alvin Rakoff

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