Mrs Henderson Presents

It’s London, 1937 and Mrs. Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) has just buried her husband. With a sudden void she’s extremely bored and it’s far too early for this bundle of energy to fade into slumbered widowhood. Her friends suggest different hobbies but what she does surprises everyone – she buys the Windmill theatre in the heart of Soho. Completely inexperienced she hires showbizzy Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) to run the theatre, and even he is shocked by her eccentric behaviour. Fed up of her interfering she is banned from performances, sparking the beginning of a love-hate relationship, which inadvertently brings about a revolution in British theatre. When other theatres begin copying the Windmill, Mrs. Henderson comes up with a fantastic idea – naked girls! They turn out to be a sensation, but more than that they are escapism for the troops about to go off and fight. When the bombs being to rain down on London, the theatre is threatened with closure and Mrs. Henderson’s fighting spirit surfaces…as does the secret of why she was drawn to the theatre in the first place.

Stephen Frears’ (High Fidelity, My Beautiful Laundrette) film is every bit the sensation the nakedness caused. It is quite simply a magnificent heartfelt gem of a film. The cast are resoundingly brilliant; not that you would expect anything less of the likes of Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. It is lovely to see Kelly Reilly and Will Young put in spot-on performances as well as all the girls. The images of London in the Blitz are at once impressive and tragic and form the perfect backdrop for a story of British spirit and resilience, warmth and humour. The story of the Windmill has such an innocence at heart that doesn’t really exist anymore, this is a perfect peak into a bygone age. This film may slip under the radar with so many massive Christmas hits but it is an absolute must-see.

Jean Rostron