The Kitchen (1961 film)

The Kitchen is a 1961 British drama film directed by James Hill and starring Carl Möhner, Mary Yeomans, Brian Phelan, Tom Bell, Eric Pohlmann and James Bolam. The film follows the dozen staff in a restaurant's kitchen during the course of one busy morning. The script is based on the 1957 stage play of the same name by Arnold Wesker. The film was produced by Sidney Cole for Act Films Ltd.

It features a musical interlude when all the staff dance to a song: "What's Cookin'" by Adam Faith.

There is no particular plot and it simply looks at the various relationships between different staff members. The kitchen staff is almost exclusively male and the waiting staff is exclusively female.

The presence of one new member of staff allows each person to be introduced in turn. The owner wanders around checking things. The story looks at the bickering between staff, petty thievery, and rather excessive drinking of more than one staff member.

Cast

 * Carl Möhner as Peter
 * Mary Yeomans as Monica
 * Brian Phelan as Kevin
 * Tom Bell as Paul
 * Howard Greene as Raymond
 * Eric Pohlmann as Mr Marango the owner
 * James Bolam as Michael
 * Scott Finch as Hans
 * Gertan Klauber as Gaston
 * Martin Boddey as Max
 * Sean Lynch as Dimitri
 * Josef Behrmann as Magi
 * George Eugeniou as Nick
 * Frank Pettitt as Frank
 * Charles Lloyd-Pack as Chef
 * Frank Atkinson as Alfred
 * Rosalind Knight as Waitress