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Bookmark this pageAn Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1981)
Director: Christopher Petit
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Toss a girl down a disused well, and watch her struggle to get out: a scene which deserves a corner in cinema history. Based on the novel by PD James, this is a stinging film noir played out in the long, russet shadows of an English summer: the story of a young woman (Guard) who, after the quiet suicide of her partner, takes control of the private detective agency he has bequeathed to her, and is asked (by Whitelaw) to investigate another suicide - the son of a prominent businessman - found hanged in a rented cottage. The plot is spare, bitter, and buried in the past. All the more credit to director and co-writer Petit (in his second film) for not resorting to the easy recourse of flashback; it's a restraint that contributes to the film's special, uneasy quality of the here-and-now.Author: JS
Cast & crew
Director: Christopher Petit
Producer: Michael Relph, Peter McKay
Cast: Billie Whitelaw, Pippa Guard, Paul Freeman, Dominic Guard, Elizabeth Spriggs, David Horovitch full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 94 mins
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