Lunch hour

Lunch Hour is a 1961 film based on a one-act play by John Mortimer. It is about a man and a woman who attempt to have an affair during their lunch hour, but are continually interrupted. Shirley Ann Field described it as perhaps "the most enjoyable film I'd ever done" because the cast and crew all worked so closely together.

A recently graduated art school designer (Shirley Anne Field) joins a wallpaper making company and catches the eye of a married middle manager (Robert Stephens). They begin an illicit workplace affair during their lunchtime breaks but their attempts to find some privacy are continually thwarted.

The man eventually locates a small hotel where he books a room, telling the hotel manager (Kay Walsh) he needs to discuss important matters with his wife who is travelling down via to London from Scarborough. His 'wife' will join him at the hotel after dropping their two imaginary children off with an auntie.

The hotel manageress continues to interrupt the couple and the woman starts to believe the whole fantasy. She sees herself as a stay-at-home wife, ironing the man's shirts and starts to have sympathy with the life of the real unseen betrayed wife. The couple argue over the woman's imagined life thus wasting their hour in the hotel. Ultimately the affair between the couple ends and they return to their normal work roles.

The cast in the original stage production included Wendy Craig with whom Mortimer had an affair and conceived a son.

The movie was issued on DVD in 2011 via the BFI Flipside release scheme.