Up the Junction

Up the Junction is a 1968 British "kitchen sink" drama film, directed by Peter Collinson and starring Dennis Waterman, Suzy Kendall, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman and Liz Fraser. It is based on the 1963 book of the same name by Nell Dunn and was adapted by Roger Smith. The film's soundtrack was by Manfred Mann. The film followed Ken Loach's BBC TV adaptation of 1965, but returned to the original book. It generated less controversy and impact than the Loach version. Plot The film is set in London in the 1960s and it begins with wealthy young heiress Polly Dean (Suzy Kendall) leaving a large house in privileged Chelsea in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce then moves across the Thames near Battersea Power Station, where Polly gets out of the car and walks away alone with the opening credits following. She moves to a working-class community in Battersea, where she takes a job in Macrindles confectionery factory in an attempt to distance herself from her moneyed upbringing and make her own living. On the factory floor everyone is singing and all are friendly, but perhaps somewhat unhygienic - smoking as they work on the sweets. The other girls mainly discuss men and sex. She meets two working-class sisters, Sylvie (Maureen Lipman) and Rube (Adrienne Posta). She is asked to join the two sisters and a few other girls in the factory in the pub, The Pavilion. They get the local boys to buy them drinks. She declines a lift home on a motorbike. Some are heading "up the junction". But Polly walks home. The next day Polly arrives at Clapham Junction railway station with a suitcase. She is finding a flat of her own. The agent thinks the flat is not good enough for her. She takes it anyway. She goes to the local market and buys a single banana, and eats it on a chair outside a junk shop. The assistant Pete (Dennis Waterman) tells her it is not a cafe but when the owner (Alfie Bass) comes out she says she needs furniture so he becomes more friendly. She buys an armchair and a sofa... and also finds a kitten. Pete gives her a lift back to her flat and unloads the furniture. He asks her on a date. He presumes she wants to go to the West End but she says she wants to walk around the streets of Battersea. Polly and Pete then kiss and begin their relationship. Rube becomes pregnant from her boyfriend Terry (Michael Gothard) and has a traumatic illegal abortion from a slightly senile old woman called Winnie (Hylda Baker).