Rent All the Right Noises (1969)

Difficult not to like. - All the Right Noises review by NP

This is a fairly uneventful ‘kitchen sink’ drama in which a married man has an affair with a 15-year-old girl. Very much of its time, it is still a surprise to see how his relationship with the young girl is treated so wholesomely as a romance between two very likeable people, while the unsuspecting (?) wife is equally appealing. Personable, funny, charming and generous - even the two young children are lovely – and as a viewer, you don’t want anyone to get hurt, which is inevitable considering the man’s pretty shocking behaviour.

The affair comes close to being discovered from time to time – whether it does or not, I’m not telling – but there’s no huge drama here as every eventuality occurs gently, which is rare for such a usually gritty ’70s genre.

The acting is what shines mostly here. Tom Bell is Len, the most flawed character, alongside his dad (Robert Keegan); Judy Carne is Len’s wife Joy, a happy and charming actress, and Olivia Hussey plays young Val, whose clear-skinned, wide-eyed appeal is far from the wanton temptress you may expect.

With no real villains to hiss, things could get a little dull from time to time were it not for the characters, but I enjoyed this. My score is 7 out of 10.