I found out about this film from Piers Morgan's Life Stories I think, his co-star is a good actress, I was interested in the subject matter, and it was rated well, so I looked forward to it, directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Based on the true story, set in the 1950s, Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson) is a former nude model and prostitute, she is manageress of a London drinking club, and a single mother living in a flat above the club with her ten-year old son Andy (Matthew Carroll). One night in the club, she meets immature young man David Blakely (Rupert Everett), who comes from a well-off family who has ambitions to become a successful motor racing driver but suffers from low income and alcoholism. Ruth falls for his looks and charm, and they start a love affair. But the relationship is doomed because of David with his upper-class background, he has no job, he cannot afford to marry her, and his family would never accept her. One night, David makes a drunken scene in the club, resulting in Ruth being discharged from her job, and she becomes homeless. She is helped by wealthy admirer Desmond Cussen (Ian Holm) who secures a flat for her and her son, but she continues to see David. When Ruth tells David she is pregnant, he does nothing about it, and she miscarries. He breaks up with her and being obsessed by him she reacts very badly to this. Distraught, she goes looking for him in Hampstead, believing he is at a party. Ruth sees David coming out of the pub and approaching his car with a girl. Before he gets in his car, Ruth steps out, firing four shots and kills David. Ruth Ellis is arrested, found guilty in court of murder, and was sentenced to death, she was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom in 1955. Also starring Tom Chadbon as Anthony Findlater, Jane Bertish as Carole Findlater, David Troughton (Patrick's son) as Cliff Davis, Joanne Whalley as Christine, and Lesley Manville as Maryanne. Richardson proves herself a terrific serious actress (before becoming known as the childish Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder II) as the infamous Soho nightclub hostess, and Everett is equally good as her aristocratic lover. By the way, the meaning of the title is because "Would You Dance with a Stranger" by Mari Wilson is performed in it. The story of Ruth Ellis leading up her hanging, ten years before capital punishment was abolished, is interesting to find out about, with social class and gender roles being most prominent, and the period detail is well done, a worthwhile biographical drama. Good!
Review of Dance with a Stranger
