Alfie - Film - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)
Genre
Released
Stars
Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin, Julia Foster, Jane Asher, Shirley Anne Field, Vivien Merchant, Eleanor Bron and more
Writer
Director
Producers
Lewis Gilbert and John Gilbert
Company
An incorrigible flirt and philanderer, young Cockney chauffeur Alfie Elkins has taken London's sexual revolution less as a matter of fact and more as a personal challenge.
Afforded both the means and the flexibility by his job, we see - over the course of around two years - the care-free life he leads, cavorting with married women, picking up a heart-broken Sheffield run away, and spending six months convalescing in a country sanatorium for shadows on his lungs.
Explaining his cynical view of women and relationships direct to the camera, we hear of Alfie's strong desire to stay free and unentangled: something that proves increasingly difficult as his co-habiting casual girlfriend grows increasingly attached to him and eventually falls pregnant. The arrival of their son, Malcolm, opens up his emotions further, but seemingly not enough to entice him to commit.
Further dalliances with the wife of a friend and an older, much wealthier, buxom American businesswoman - with a sexual appetite as voracious as his - lead only to their own sorry ends, with a back-street abortion and Alfie's own dumping on the cards.
Still single, Alfie begins to wonder, just what's it all about?
Stream and download
Additional details
Tagline
Is every man an Alfie? Ask any girl!
UK certificate
X
Duration
114 minutes
UK premiere
March 1966
Distributors
Production
Studio
Camera set-up
Single camera
Picture
Colour
Website links
Broadcast details
All previous repeats
- Sunday 4th January 2015 at 11:35pm on Film4
- Thursday 17th July 2014 at 1:20am on C4
Recording details
- London - Locations predominantly in London
- Twickenham Film Studios - Studios