Dance with a Stranger

Starring:Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett, Ian Holm, Stratford Johns, Joanne Whalley, Tom Chadbon, Jane Bertish, David Troughton, Matthew Carroll, Derek Lyons, Nicholas McArdle, David Beale, Martin Murphy, Charon Bourke, Susan Kyd, Lesley Manville, Colin Rix, Alan Thompson (II), Tracy-Louise Ward, Michael Jenn
Director: Mike Newell
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

On July 13, 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in England. With a smart, tough little script by Shelagh Delaney, Mike Newell's noir-ish film is a dissection of the human frustration and complex class issues surrounding her crime. Miranda Richardson, looking like some delicious, chilled confection, plays Ellis, the hostess to a "glorified brothel" who plans for a better life with her young son until she meets David Blakely (a young, gorgeous Rupert Everett), the wealthy ne'er-do-well whose fitful attentions chip away her armor. Their vicious attraction and its constant tug-of-war lose some dramatic pull as the story heads toward its inevitable climax, but Richardson's performance holds your attention. She plays the entire film in a kind of stunned ardor, a feisty little animal caught in the headlights of Everett's sullen magnetism. By the time she's plugging bullets into his body, she's already hit you a few time with her heated, fatal despair. --Steve Wiecking

Description

"Densely packed with social and psychological nuances" (Variety), Dance With A Stranger is based on the true story of the last woman hanged in England. Starring Miranda Richardson in her "spectacular movie debut" (Vogue), along with Rupert Everett and Ian Holm, Dance With A Stranger is the "stunning, powerful [and] fascinating"(Vogue) winner of the 1985 Cannes Best Picture Award. Ruth Ellis (Richardson) is a private dancer with a tough exterior. But her armor begins to crack when she meets wealthy racecar driver David Blakely (Everett). And despite warnings against the affair by her friend and would-be lover Desmond Cussen (Ian Holm), Ellis is quickly seduced by Blakely's charms. But when his passions turn cold, she is caught in a dark dance of obsession that gives way to desperation and finally culminates in a deadly confrontation that shatters the stillness one fateful night with a shocking act'that may ultimately destroy them both.

Customer Reviews:

great depiction of a real life tragedy.......2007-05-11

this film has stayed with me because of miranda richardson's showy performance as ruth ellis. she is a woman that is barely in control of her life, then relationships with the wrong men at the same time destroys her. the script by shelagh delaney works the facts into a tight dramatic collection of scenes and moments peppered through with taut dialogue. the stylings and visuals evoke an inky, foggy london that was still struggling to get back on its feet after world war ii. and richardson is supported ably by pretty boy rupert everett as david blakely and ian holm as desmond cussen, the two men in ellis' short and trauma-filled life. perhaps, the most tragic element of the story though, is not ellis' destruction of herself but her unknowing destruction of her son.

"I've brought us to a den of vice.".......2007-03-22

Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. The film "Dance With a Stranger" explores the background of the infamous crime and offers a fascinating--although at times grim--glimpse into the lives of Ruth Ellis and David Blakeley.

It's the 1950s in Britain, and Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson in an amazing performance) works at a small London club. In essence it's a "glorified brothel" with a handful of dance hostesses and a large male clientele. Ruth manages the club and lives in a flat upstairs with her son, Andy (Matthew Carroll). She's in her twenties and has several broken relationships in her past when racecar driver, David Blakeley (Rupert Everett) drifts into the club one evening. Ruth's long time admirer Desmond Coussen (Ian Holm) who nurses a hopeless crush on the brittle, hard club hostess watches with despair as Blakeley worms his way into Ruth's life. Desmond is one of those decent types who sit patiently on the sidelines hoping that they'll be noticed for their stellar qualities. His character--responsible, dependable, and solid is in direct contrast to the petulant, volatile David. At first, Ruth assesses Blakeley as an obnoxious upper-class troublemaker, but there's a chemistry between them, and soon they begin a relationship.

The film plots the course of this ill-starred affair through its violent history of power struggles and inter-dependency. The class divisions are well illustrated with some wonderful scenes as Ruth tries to enter David's world, and the film shows that friends on both sides saw the relationship as destructive and dangerous. But there's a horrible fascination between Ruth and Blakeley, and attempts to break up just seem to bind them together.

The film does an excellent job of sticking to the facts of the case while also hinting at issues that emerged long after the case was 'closed.' As a film based on a true story, director Mike Newell effectively recreates the pathology of this doomed relationship. If you're interested in reading more about the story of Ruth Ellis, there are several books available (including one written by her daughter), and the crime library site also contains a great deal of information. Watch for one scene that foreshadows Ruth's fate as she ascends a staircase. The use of shadow here is absolutely perfect--displacedhuman

A Disturbing Movie With Extraordinary Acting.......2005-07-06

Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson) was a night club hostess in one of London's private clubs. It was a Spring evening in 1954 when David Blakely (Rupert Everett) walked in with some friends. Little more than a year later, Ruth Ellis was hanged for the murder of Blakely. The movie tells the compelling, tawdry, almost inevitable story of what happened.

Ellis was divorced and living with her young son above the club she helped manage. She bleached her hair, knew how to keep men laughing and buying, and was definitely not part of the upper class system. Blakely was a race car driver, wealthy, young, selfish, had the right friends, and had never had to face any real responsibility in his life. With some mixture of lust and need, the two of them instantly became entangled in each others' lives. "Where do you live?" he asks her. "Over the shop," she says. "Can I take you home tonight?" "Yes." Their affair follows a pattern. First lust, then tears, abuse, his forgetting her for a while, her desperation, and lust again. She has one friend, Desmond Cussen (Ian Holm). Cussen loves her but is the type of man who can't quite get up the nerve to kiss her, much less invite her to bed. He trails after her and tries to pick up the pieces. Cussen knows the kind of man Blakely is. "Why can't you leave him alone," he once shouts at Ellis. "He's so involved with himself he can't think of anything else." The results are predictable. Ellis slides further into misery and fixation the more Blakely takes her for granted and forgets about her at times. One night she takes a pistol, follows him to a pub, and when he leaves she carefully puts two bullets in his chest.

The trial was a great event in Britain. It had everything: sex, the class system, a tawdry affair. The legal system couldn't deal with her fast enough. The trial started June 20, 1955. She was hanged July 13. Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged by the British.

The movie is excellent and the performances are extraordinary. Rupert Everett was 26 when he made the film. He's perfect as the product of a privileged system, so selfish as to be cowardly, so self involved that he misses entirely what he is doing to Ellis, or even care if he did realize. Miranda Richardson at 27 carries the movie. Her performance made her a star. I can't describe what she does except that every word she says and every step she takes just rings true. She is utterly mesmerizing.

This is, in my view, one of the movies that can probably be called great. You'll be thinking about it for some time. The DVD picture looks fine. The only extra is an alternate ending, which is disposable.

A sensitive treatment of a sad sad story........2005-03-24

This film was Richardson's first outing as a movie actress and she is outstanding, Everett is also good as the callous playboy, though he has never quite managed to build on his first performance in the way Richardson did. Holme is aslo excellent as the doting "Father" figure.
This is the sad telling of the true story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in England, in the mid 1950's.
Ellis was essentially a loving and caring woman with a chequered past and little options for making a living, a woman who would have been highly frowned upon in such conservative times. She met and fell in love with, a rich boy rogue, David Blakely and the film chronicles their destructive and doomed relationship. Not an easy story, Richardson is amazing as the increasingly unhinged Ruth and Everett is the perfect "Bastard".
A worthy watch and an excellent introduction to the talents of Richardson (in my opinoin, she is one of the finest contemparary actresses and could only be rivalled by the likes of Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon).
This film is a very sad tale and to this day the British Judicial system debates whether or not Ellis should have been executed, the majority thinking amongst the British public both then and now is that it was a gross miscarraige of justice.
I have to also say that I cannot understand negative reviews of this film, I can only conclude that such people find the content hard to tolerate which is vaguely understandable, or they just don't have the intellilect to work through the story.

A Suspicious Woman Pulls The Trigger.......2005-02-08

Ruth Ellis was put to death because she was a resentful woman with a gun. She was a girl that had a baby by an American soldier who she claimed was killed the same year her son was born in 1944. In 1950, she married a dentist and had a girl, but that marriage was dissolved in 1953. During that time, she meets gorgeous David Blakey, a racing motorist, and a son of a doctor aged 29.
Ruth being from rocky background begins an ardent love affair with the David who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Love and hate became the core of their relationship, and their affair gave birth to nothing but jealousy. She began dating him while she was still married to the dentist, and David was engaged to another girl. Ruth at first refused to take the affair seriously since he had another woman.
When David suspects or finds out that she sleeps with other men, he becomes outraged and begs her to marry him. She becomes more affectionate, but does not trust him and accuses him of cheating. They have dramatic scenarios such as her throwing him out of her flat in anger and him coming back begging on his knees to marry her. She spies on him while he is with other women, and he brings her flowers at the hospital after he beats her. Eventually the relationship worsens and escalates, and Ruth ends-up supporting much of her rich boyfriend's habits.
Well this goes on with the dark and lustful tension that keeps building up throughout the whole film. Miranda Richardson's performance is just excellent, and it is based on the true story of the last woman to be put to death in England 1954.
It is a very interesting British film noir, so I will not give the whole story away.

Average customer rating:

great depiction of a real life tragedy
"I've brought us to a den of vice."
A Disturbing Movie With Extraordinary Acting
A sensitive treatment of a sad sad story.
A Suspicious Woman Pulls The Trigger

Dance with a Stranger [Region 2]
Starring: Miranda Richardson , Rupert Everett , Ian Holm , Stratford Johns , and Joanne Whalley
Director: Mike Newell
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004RYK3