Steaming

Losey was 73 and dying of cancer when he returned from France to make this modest adaptation of Nell Dunn's stage success about the Ladies' Night regulars at a London Turkish baths. Here middle-class Miles and Redgrave rub shoulders with the likes of working-class Love to unfold secrets and reveal their true feelings about their varied relationships, while the threat of demolition creates a new-found sense of solidarity. Virtually confined to a single location, it's claustrophobic, talky and rather too full of stereotypes, magnifying all the faults usually encountered when unsuitable theatrical material has been given the big screen treatment. The cast, however, retain their dignity while measuring up to the screenplay's dramatic demands in various stages of undress. Dors' final film, and Losey himself didn't live to see it released.