Picture above: Ian Hendry – B+W still from the film, This Is My Street [1964]

Thanks to Tim S. for sending me this picture. It’s one that I’d not seen before. There are not too many from the film in circulation.

It’s a timely find as the film receives its premiere on Talking Pictures TV on August 3rd 2019 at 8 pm.

Picture: Original artwork poster by Tom Chantrell. Further discussion of his work in this article.

From Wikipedia:

This Is My Street is a 1964 British drama film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Ian Hendry, June Ritchie, Avice Landone, John Hurt and Meredith Edwards. The screenplay is by Bill MacIlwraith from a novel by Nan Maynard. It concerns a bored housewife living in a run-down inner-city London house who begins an affair with the lodger, a salesman.

The pictures below are from the same film,  found a couple of years ago and added to the collection.

Video Trailer – This Is My Street [1964]

The DVD is available from Network. This is from their Youtube Channel.

Stills From The DVD Gallery

Cameo Appearance By Janet Munro

If you look closely, you can see Janet Munro making an uncredited guest appearance in the film – sitting in the rollercoaster car immediately behind Ian Hendry and June Ritchie.

Chris Williams – Personal Reflections On ‘This Is My Street’

From the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page:

“Remembered to record This is my Street when it was shown the second time, and I watched it yesterday.

These social dramas were very popular in the sixties with films like Saturday night Sunday morning, A taste of Honey, and Cathy Come Home. They were a genre sometimes referred to as ‘Kitchen sink realism’. I think you could also say they were films designed to promote good moral behaviour and show that a promiscuous life is fraught with problems and danger.

What an interesting cast! A very young John Hurt, Mike Pratt and Annette Andre who would go on to work together in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Tom Adams who was a potential James Bond at one point, and Patrick Cargill who became a very successful sit-com actor, but also played No2 in an episode of The Prisoner called Hammer into Anvil (which is arguably one of the best in the series) showing a much darker side to his acting. June Ritchie of course who had made her name two years earlier in A Kind of Loving alongside Alan Bates. It’s a smorgasbord of 60’s talent, not to mention Ian Hendry in the starring role.

I think Ian was at his peak around this time having had the starring role in Live now pay later, The Girl in the Headlines, and with The Beauty Jungle, Repulsion, and The Hill yet to come. He was clearly held in high regard and was in high demand for these sort of roles, and why not. He is as good in this film as anything I’ve ever seen him in. Understated, but effective in a minimalist sort of way with tremendous impact and charisma. A great film. Thanks again for the heads up on this.”

Ian Hendry – Live Now, Pay Later [1962]

The still below is also from the Tim S. collection. A classic pose by the side of a shiny new black car, taken at around the same time it is understood that Ian also had an audition for the part of James Bond – for the first film in the franchise, Dr, No. That part, of course, went to Sean Connery and the rest is history, but it’s not hard to see a glimpse of 007 in this picture.

Ian did, however, still go on to star as James Bond [as 006] in the spoof version of Casino Royale in 1967. Sadly, most of his scene ended up on the cutting room floor which is a real shame as, by all accounts, it sounds like it could have been one of the funniest bits in what was otherwise a bizarre, chaotic and surreal project.

If you haven’t listened to it already, I can highly recommend the in-depth interview with Joseph McGrath, one of several directors to work on the film, where he also discusses Ian’s scene with Ursula Andress.

Interview – Joseph McGrath

Ian did ‘appear’ fleetingly in Casino Royale, as a corpse covered with a blanket as it was dispatched unceremoniously down a disposal shute! We don’t see his entrance, but we do see his exit. More details included in the article with the McGrath interview.

Thanks again to Tim for his contributions and help with this article.

Until next time,

Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry

Further Reading

A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:

Read: ‘Send in the Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’ by Gabriel Hershman