The Kitchen

The experiment of ACT films - movies made with the British Film Union as producer - was an honorable one but not all that likely to succeed.

This is one of their better ventures - an adaptation of the hit Arnold Wesker play which wowed audiences with the set piece rush hour in the cafe kitchen scene. This one doesn't register anywhere near as well though there are moments like Bolan's Broom dance.

The impulse to put British working class life on the screen is undermined by the artificiality of British film making of the day, itself under fire with films like ROOM AT THE TOP and KNAVE OF HEARTS. The excursion into London West End scenics only makes the rest seem false. A familiar face cast get some of their best opportunities and some take advantage of them.