{"id":78660,"date":"2021-12-12T10:29:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T17:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78660"},"modified":"2021-12-26T12:52:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T19:52:15","slug":"bed-sitting-room-the-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78660","title":{"rendered":"Bed Sitting Room, The (1969)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Do I <em>look<\/em> like a bed sitting room?!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-78661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster-671x1024.png 671w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster-177x270.png 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Poster.png 721w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn post-apocalyptic England, survivors of a nuclear blast &#8212; including a pregnant young woman (Rita Tushingham) and her boyfriend (Richard Warwick), Tushingham&#8217;s parents (Mona Washbourne and Arthur Lowe), a police sergeant (Dudley Moore) and inspector (Peter Cook), a captain (Michael Hordern), a dress-wearing male nurse (Marty Feldman), an eccentric man living in a shelter (Roy Kinnear), a wandering fireguard (Spike Milligan), and a lord (Ralph Richardson) slowly turning into a bed-sitting room &#8212; interact and wander the desolate landscape.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Dudley Moore Films<\/li>\n<li>Nuclear Holocaust<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Ralph Richardson Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Lester Films<\/li>\n<li>Rita Tushingham Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68324\/the-bed-sitting-room#articles-reviews\">Described by TCM<\/a> as director Richard &#8220;Lester&#8217;s most challenging film,&#8221; this bizarrely fantastical black comedy &#8212; based on a play by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spike_Milligan\">Spike Milligan<\/a>, who also has a participating role &#8212; imagines what life might look and feel like for survivors of a nuclear blast. Given that the characters here are Britons, we see a rigid adherence to ritual and routine, with many seemingly unfazed by the drastic change around them and simply willing to adapt. When Washbourne is handed a death certificate, for instance, she&#8217;s sad but accepts it. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-1536x847.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate-489x270.png 489w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Death-Certificate.png 1655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Richardson&#8217;s stuffy Lord Fortnum tries to protest the changes he feels happening to him:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-1024x554.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-1024x554.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-768x415.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-1536x831.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson-499x270.png 499w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Richardson.png 1655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; but is ultimately powerless, and turns into a lower-class <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bedsit\">&#8220;bedsit&#8221;<\/a> room (he&#8217;s shown below in his new form, being given a &#8220;wellness check&#8221; by Hordern): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-1024x557.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-1024x557.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-768x418.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-1536x835.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness-496x270.png 496w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Wellness.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Other absurdities abound, including Tushingham being pregnant for 18 months with a monstrous creature, and being coerced into marrying lecherous Hordern in a cobbled ceremony: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-1024x552.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"345\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-1024x552.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-1536x828.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage-501x270.png 501w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Marriage.png 1645w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; (though she simply continues her relationship with Warwick anyway). There are many more peripheral characters floating around the set (filmed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68324\/the-bed-sitting-room#articles-reviews?articleId=87377\">&#8220;on location at a refuse dump in West Drayton, England&#8221;<\/a>), but since none of them do anything particularly sensical, it&#8217;s challenging to provide a meaningful analysis of the storyline they exist in. Yes, a nuclear holocaust will surely wreak unimaginable havoc on our psyches, and many individuals may try to simply &#8220;carry on&#8221; as a way of coping &#8212; but I&#8217;m hard-pressed to see what other point there is to this rambling tale of post-apocalyptic absurdity.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>David Watkin&#8217;s innovative cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-1024x573.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78662\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-1536x859.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set-483x270.png 483w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-Set.png 1647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some truly surreal imagery<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-1024x548.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-1024x548.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-768x411.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-1536x822.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC-504x270.png 504w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Bed-Sitting-Room-BBC.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; you can skip this one unless you&#8217;re curious. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0064074\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68324\/the-bed-sitting-room#articles-reviews?articleId=87377\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=4058\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-bed-sitting-room\/review\/2030121857\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Do I look like a bed sitting room?!&#8221; Synopsis: In post-apocalyptic England, survivors of a nuclear blast &#8212; including a pregnant young woman (Rita Tushingham) and her boyfriend (Richard Warwick), Tushingham&#8217;s parents (Mona Washbourne and Arthur Lowe), a police sergeant (Dudley Moore) and inspector (Peter Cook), a captain (Michael Hordern), a dress-wearing male nurse (Marty Feldman), an eccentric man living in a shelter (Roy Kinnear), a wandering fireguard (Spike Milligan), and a lord (Ralph Richardson) slowly turning into a bed-sitting&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78660\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78660"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79294,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78660\/revisions\/79294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}