The main character of this film is bleak dreariness on the verge of utter hopelessness, It is supposed to be one of those shabby northern English industrial cities, but the film was actually shot in Dublin. You never see any sunshine in this environment, and the only relief of the film is the class excursion to Paris, which constitutes the dramatic turn of the drama, when young Sarah Miles in her first great role introduces her serious advances to her poor middle-aged childless teacher, who never was able to defend himself, and least of all against a pretty girl, who seriously means business. His wife Simone Signoret, always superb, looks through the young wench at once but tolerates her all the way, until she falls on her own fallacy. The only villain is the young Terence Stamp in perhaps the nastiest role of his life as a young insolent delinquent and sexual maniac. The acting is superb, Hugh Griffith crowns the performance as an unforgettable lawyer, and the only objection against the film would be against its dismal dreariness. They are all stuck in the trap of the humdrum desolation of their dreary city of second class discomfort and will never find a way out of it.
