Bitter Harvest (1963 film)
| Bitter Harvest | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Peter Graham Scott |
| Produced by | Albert Fennell |
| Written by |
Patrick Hamilton (novel) Ted Willis |
| Starring |
Janet Munro John Stride Anne Cunningham Alan Badel |
| Music by | Laurie Johnson |
| Cinematography | Ernest Steward |
| Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
| Distributed by |
J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors Continental Distributing |
Release dates | 1963 |
Running time | 96 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Bitter Harvest is a 1963 British dramatic film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Janet Munro and John Stride, about a young girl who rejects marriage to become a kept woman and high-priced prostitute. The film is based on the book 20,000 Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton.
Plot
A beautiful but intoxicated woman, Jennie Jones (Janet Munro), returns to her London apartment late one night and begins to destroy its contents in a rage, throwing her purse, keys and many of her expensive gowns out into the street. Her story is then told in flashback.
As a young girl, Jennie lives in an economically depressed former mining town in Wales, where she works in her father's shabby general store and dreams of a more glamorous life. The store is doing poorly, and Jennie is horrified to discover that her father wants her to move to Cardiff and live with her elderly aunts as a companion and caregiver. While walking through Cardiff, Jennie and her friend Violet meet two well-off older men, Andy and Rex. The men take the girls to a posh bar and club for drinks and dancing, and Jennie gets drunk and passes out in Andy's car. She wakes up naked in bed in the men's apartment in London, having lost her virginity while drunk and estranged herself from her father by staying out all night. She goes to meet Andy at a London pub but when he fails to show, she is befriended by the kindly barman, Bob Williams (John Stride), to the chagrin of the barmaid Ella who is attracted to Bob.
Not wanting to return to her home, Jennie tells Bob she is pregnant and accepts his offer of help. Bob moves her into his flat and supports them both on his wages, planning to soon marry her. However, Jennie quickly becomes bored, and accepts an invitation from Bob's actor neighbor to attend a party in honor of a well-known producer, Karl Denny (Alan Badel). Jennie tells Bob she is attending the party to get work as a model or actress, and convinces him to give her a large sum of money to buy a proper party dress. Denny notices Jennie at the party and asks her to see him the following night, ostensibly about an acting role. After the party, a drunken Jennie creates a disturbance when she goes home to Bob's apartment. The next night, when Jennie fails to return from her appointment with Denny, Bob goes to Denny's apartment to find her and they argue, with Jennie revealing that she is not pregnant, does not love Bob and does not want to marry him. Heartbroken, Bob leaves and Jennie becomes Denny's mistress.
The film then moves forward to the scene shown at the start of the movie. The morning after Jennie's drunken rampage, she is found dead amidst the wreckage of her apartment (including a smashed framed photograph of Denny), having overdosed on pills. The police find her address book full of men's numbers, suggesting she had been working as a prostitute. The ambulance carrying Jennie's body crosses paths with Bob and Ella, now a happy couple oblivious to Jennie's tragic fate.
Cast
- Janet Munro.....Jennie Jones
- John Stride.....Bob Williams
- Anne Cunningham.....Ella
- Alan Badel.....Karl Denny
- Vanda Godsell.....Mrs. Pitt
- Norman Bird.....Mr. Pitt
- Terence Alexander.....Andy
- Richard Thorp.....Rex
- Barbara Ferris.....Violet
- William Lucas.....David Medwin
- Daphne Anderson.....Nancy Medwin
- Derek Francis.....Mr. Jones
- Mary Merrall.....Aunt Louise
- May Hallatt.....Aunt Sarah
- Colin Gordon.....Charles