The Romantic Englishwoman

The Romantic Englishwoman
Original film poster
Directed byJoseph Losey
Written byTom Stoppard
Thomas Wiseman
Based on
The Romantic Englishwoman
(1971 novel)
by Thomas Wiseman
Produced byDaniel M. Angel
StarringMichael Caine
Glenda Jackson
Helmut Berger
CinematographyGerry Fisher
Edited byReginald Beck
Music byRichard Hartley
Production
companies
Dial Films
Les Productions Meric-Matalon
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 19 May 1975 (1975-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 11 June 1975 (1975-06-11) (France)
  • October 1975 (1975-10) (UK)
Running time
115 minutes
Country
LanguageEnglish
Budget£784,476[3]
Box office£844,198[3]

The Romantic Englishwoman (French: Une Anglaise romantique, lit. 'A Romantic Englishwoman') is a 1975 crime drama film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, Helmut Berger, Michael Lonsdale, and Kate Nelligan in her feature-length screen debut. The screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman, based on the latter's 1971 novel.

Caine plays a successful English novelist whose discontented wife, played by Jackson, decides to take a holiday to Germany in order to "find herself". There she meets a mysterious young man, played by Berger, in an elevator, which initiates an often bizarre, but extremely mature examination of desire, responsibility and the nature of love.

A British and French co-production,[2] the film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but not entered into the main competition.[4] It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Elizabeth, bored wife of successful English pulp writer Lewis Fielding, leaves husband and child and runs away to the German spa town of Baden-Baden. There she meets a man named Thomas, who claims to be a poet but whom viewers know to be a petty thief, conman, drug courier, and gigolo. Though the two are briefly attracted to each other, she returns home. He, hunted by gangsters for a drug consignment he has lost, follows her to England.

Lewis, highly suspicious of his wife, invites the young man to stay with them and act as his secretary. Initially resenting the presence of the handsome stranger, Elizabeth one night starts an affair and, after being caught together in the conservatory by Lewis, the two run away with no money to the south of France. Lewis follows them, he in turn being followed by the gangsters looking for Thomas.

At the end the gangsters reclaim Thomas, presumably for execution, while Lewis reclaims Elizabeth.

Cast

Production

Brenners Park-Hotel in Baden-Baden.

The film was shot in London, Baden-Baden, and on the Côte d'Azur. Production costs were estimated at US$1.2 million.[5] Finance came partly from Rank.[6]

Losey again collaborated with cinematographer Gerry Fisher, with whom he had shot a total of seven films. Reginald Beck had been involved as editor on all of Losey's films since 1966. For Richard Hartley, this was the first film for which he wrote the score.

Losey regular Dirk Bogarde declined the role of Lewis.

Helmut Berger wore suits from Yves Saint-Laurent.

Release

The film premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 1975[7] and was released in France on 11 June of the same year. Its TV premiere in West Germany was on 14 November 1976.

In the United States, the film was distributed by Roger Corman's New World Pictures.[8]

Home media

The Romantic Englishwoman was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America by Kino Lorber on June 21, 2011.[9]

In 2021, the Pidax label released a DVD in German and English as part of its Film Classics series. "The Cocaine Trap" was chosen as the alternative title.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10.[10] AllMovie gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "UNE ANGLAISE ROMANTIQUE". Visas et Classification | CNC (in French). Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Romantic Englishwoman". Lumiere. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press. p. 357. ISBN 978-1399500777. Income is distributor's receipts, combined domestic and international, as at 31 Dec 1978.
  4. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: The Romantic Englishwoman". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  5. ↑ Box office / business for The Romantic Englishwoman, accessed September 9, 2008.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (22 August 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation 1968-1977". Filmink. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  7. ↑ The Romantic Englishwomen, Cannes Film Festival, Out of Competition
  8. ↑ Davidson, Bill (28 December 1975). "King of Schlock". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Romantic Englishwoman". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "The Romantic Englishwoman". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Erickson, Hal. "The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
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