The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story

An exceptional documentary driven at a fast consistent pace which nevertheless was thorough, probing and with prime interviewees. Even the novel short illustrative clips from various B&W crime films blended seamlessly. It managed to respect the subject, grieve for the injustice to Ruth Ellis yet be entertaining

The only criticism was the the film-makers imposition of a mistaken notion of '50s British morality as 19th C and Ruth Ellis as a "modern woman"..For obvious reasons men in general had a less judgemental view of night-club hostesses..It was wives who for understandable valid reasons saw such women (available willing and sexually skilled) as a real threat to marriages.(As happened in India when young English women went there as wives and promptly ended the previous regime of racial boundary-free relationships) However equally the murder was a crime of passion - Ruth Ellis shot the man who done her wrong and many women felt sympathetic.to her.

Apart from this it is an exceptional documentary which did justice to the story in a way neither earlier documentaries or the film had done. A rare thing - a documentary worth repeated viewings.