"Play for Today" Who's Who (1979)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh (writer)

TV Series:

"Play for Today" (1970)

Original Air Date:

6 February 1979 (Season 9, Episode 15)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Slice-of-life look at class divisions among employees at a brokerage house.

Plot Keywords:

Slice Of Life | Class | Cat | Risque | Wealthy

Cast

Lavinia Bertram	...	Nanny
Joolia Cappleman	...	April
Richenda Carey	...	Lady Crouchurst
Simon Chandler	...	Nigel
Angela Curran	...	Woman in window
Philip Davis	...	Kevin
Felicity Dean	...	Caroline
Souad Faress	...	Samya
Catherine Hall	...	Samantha
Roger Hammond	...	Man in window
Geraldine James	...	Miss Hunt
Richard Kane	...	Alan
Sam Kelly	...	Desmond Shakespeare
Francesca Martin	...	Selina
David Neville	...	Lord Crouchurst
Adam Norton	...	Giles
Graham Seed	...	Anthony
Jeffrey Wickham	...	Francis

Directed by
Mike Leigh

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mike Leigh		writer

Produced by
Margaret Matheson	....	producer

Cinematography by
John Else

Film Editing by
Chris Lovett

Production Design by
Austen Spriggs

Costume Design by
Robin Stubbs

Sound Department
John Pritchard	....	sound
Anthony Wornum	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Back to Class

Avoiding the trappings of protagonist plots and overt controversy, Leigh instead opens a curtain to British life and lets the camera roll. In "Who's Who", we get a glimpse into the lives of three classes, all connected by their workplace at a brokerage house. At the top is a wealthy partner who busies himself cleaning up the messes of his idle rich clients. Then there's the educated middle class, too young to be given the reins yet ready to assume the mantle with their Received Pronunciation and distaste for their working class peers. At the bottom is the middle-aged codger who ironically worships the ground trodden by the peerage. His banal wife raises cats and bores everyone within earshot.

Like all Leigh films, the performances are almost wholesale improvisation. His talented coterie of actors are brilliant. You feel you are watching a documentary rather than a play. This film may prove trite or boring to those unfamiliar with Leigh, so I'd recommend watching "Naked", "Secrets and Lies" or "Career Girls" prior to more subtle bits like "Who's Who".