Vera Day

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2008)

I want to know how Vera Day, the sexy blond of British films in the 1950's, who had not made a film since 1964, came to do such a wonderful cameo in this film. The moment she came on the screen, she was the epitome of the attractive, aging, hardboiled sports/pub owner, the kind where they stage boxing matches, and the kind of woman who knows how to keep her mouth shut.
There was a pub on Eel Pie Island, in the east Thames - London's dockland, which was run by a woman who staged boxing matches in the pub. Tanya reminded me of her and brought back many, many memories.
I loved the film, but Vera Day, as Tanya, is the character I remember most.