Shirley Valentine Details

This is the movie that gladdened a generation of women's hearts and brought cinema stardom to Pauline Collins at an age when actresses are often resigned to sitcom suburbia. Collins's performance as the long-suffering housewife who decamps to a Greek island and Tom Conti is quite sublime and carefully crafted. Director Lewis Gilbert manages to retain the best of Willy Russell's theatrical devices — Collins talking to the kitchen wall, for instance — while opening out the action to embrace a big-screen atmosphere. The supporting cast, particularly Bernard Hill as Collins's Neanderthal husband, is equally convincing, with only the hammy Conti (glistening teeth and appalling accent) striking a momentary false note.

Willy Russell transforms his one-hander into a superior kitchenette adventure which roams from Liverpool to Mykonos,... read more on Time Out