review – AMG:
A precisely cut social commentary, Dance with a Stranger captures the twin woes of austerity and repression that characterized 1950s Britain. Director Mike Newell keeps polemics to a minimum, treating his subject as a carefully observed study of class tension and sexual obsession. He dissects the Ellis-Blakely affair in the measured, diligent manner that one might employ to reconstruct a catastrophic train wreck; since the outcome is a foregone conclusion, Newell finds drama in the forces leading to that conclusion. The film works best as a grim character study, in which character is seen (by society) as an outgrowth of class. Read More »