(Some Spoilers) Leaving her well to do family in France 27 year-old Jane Fosset, Leslie Caron, is trying to get away from her past.
Having gotten involved with a young Englishman, Terry played by Mark Edan, while on a trip to Cornwall England Jean soon found that she was pregnant. Not knowing what to do Jean went to the downtrodden section of London's Notting Hill to find a place to stay as well as what to do with her giving, or not giving, birth to Terry's child. Should she go full term or have the child aborted. The problem with having an abortion back then in 1962 England is that abortions were illegal!
Renting a top-floor apartment and this Notting Hill boarding house Jean soon became friendly with a number of her neighbors. One of them Toby, Tom Bell, a struggling 28 year-old writer took a liking to the sweet and insecure Jean as soon as he saw her giving her a hand with her luggage up the six flight of stairs. There's also former stage actress Mavis, Cicely Courtneidge, who lives on the ground floor with her pet black cat Benji. Marvis senses that Jean, in how she carries herself, is not exactly the kind of person who would live in a place like that, the boarding house, and wonders what was the reason for her moving there! Is Jane running away from something or someone?
There's also Jane's next door neighbor Johnny, Brock Peters, a Black West Indian trumpet player. Johnny is about as kind and friendly as you, or Jane, would want for a neighbor making Jane feel at ease and wanted in the boarding house almost as soon as she moved in. It's later when Johnny first senses that Jane is pregnant and is at the same time romantically involved with his good friend Toby that he completely changes.
Being either very religious minded or feeling that Jane is taking his friend, or possible lover, Toby away from him Johnny informs Toby that Jane is, in Johnny's words, a whore who's been having illicit affairs with other man and has also been put in the "family way" by one of them. All this stunned Toby who's suspicions about Jane, he had earlier seen Jane and her ex-lover Terry together, were confirmed by Johnny! There and then Toby feeling a deep sense of betrayal has nothing at all to do with a heart-broken Jane who's very much in love with him.
Jane who, against everyone's advice, was willing to go full term with her pregnancy now-in the very depressed state that's she in-wan't to terminate it. Swallowing a number of pills that Marvis gave her Jane soon goes into convulsions and ends up in a local hospital. To Jane's surprise and delight she finds out that her baby wasn't aborted which if it was would have very well lead to her to kill herself.
While all these emotional events were being played out both Johnny and Toby begin to realized how both shabby and unfeeling they were to Jane. Johnny depressed over spreading the rumor that Jane was a whore pleaded for Jane's forgiveness, which she gladly gave him, but Toby just couldn't bring himself to love, he still remained her good friend, Jane anymore. The fact that Jane was carrying another man's-Terry-child was something that Toby couldn't come to grips with.
***SPOILER ALERT*** Extremely touching ending with Toby coming to visit Jane, after she gave birth to a baby girl, in the hospital with a manuscript of his, after five tries, soon to be published novel "The L-Shaped Room". A novel inspired by his relationship with Jane as well as his fellow neighbors at his boarding house.
After a heart-felt conversation with Jane Toby as he's leaving the maternity ward is approached by one of the nurses who asks him innocently "when will you see her next time?". Thinking that's the nurse is talking about Jane Toby, after asking who, is pleasantly surprised to hear that the nurse was asking him about his "daughter"! "She's very pretty" the nurse tells him "just like her mother": Jane.
Having gotten involved with a young Englishman, Terry played by Mark Edan, while on a trip to Cornwall England Jean soon found that she was pregnant. Not knowing what to do Jean went to the downtrodden section of London's Notting Hill to find a place to stay as well as what to do with her giving, or not giving, birth to Terry's child. Should she go full term or have the child aborted. The problem with having an abortion back then in 1962 England is that abortions were illegal!
Renting a top-floor apartment and this Notting Hill boarding house Jean soon became friendly with a number of her neighbors. One of them Toby, Tom Bell, a struggling 28 year-old writer took a liking to the sweet and insecure Jean as soon as he saw her giving her a hand with her luggage up the six flight of stairs. There's also former stage actress Mavis, Cicely Courtneidge, who lives on the ground floor with her pet black cat Benji. Marvis senses that Jean, in how she carries herself, is not exactly the kind of person who would live in a place like that, the boarding house, and wonders what was the reason for her moving there! Is Jane running away from something or someone?
There's also Jane's next door neighbor Johnny, Brock Peters, a Black West Indian trumpet player. Johnny is about as kind and friendly as you, or Jane, would want for a neighbor making Jane feel at ease and wanted in the boarding house almost as soon as she moved in. It's later when Johnny first senses that Jane is pregnant and is at the same time romantically involved with his good friend Toby that he completely changes.
Being either very religious minded or feeling that Jane is taking his friend, or possible lover, Toby away from him Johnny informs Toby that Jane is, in Johnny's words, a whore who's been having illicit affairs with other man and has also been put in the "family way" by one of them. All this stunned Toby who's suspicions about Jane, he had earlier seen Jane and her ex-lover Terry together, were confirmed by Johnny! There and then Toby feeling a deep sense of betrayal has nothing at all to do with a heart-broken Jane who's very much in love with him.
Jane who, against everyone's advice, was willing to go full term with her pregnancy now-in the very depressed state that's she in-wan't to terminate it. Swallowing a number of pills that Marvis gave her Jane soon goes into convulsions and ends up in a local hospital. To Jane's surprise and delight she finds out that her baby wasn't aborted which if it was would have very well lead to her to kill herself.
While all these emotional events were being played out both Johnny and Toby begin to realized how both shabby and unfeeling they were to Jane. Johnny depressed over spreading the rumor that Jane was a whore pleaded for Jane's forgiveness, which she gladly gave him, but Toby just couldn't bring himself to love, he still remained her good friend, Jane anymore. The fact that Jane was carrying another man's-Terry-child was something that Toby couldn't come to grips with.
***SPOILER ALERT*** Extremely touching ending with Toby coming to visit Jane, after she gave birth to a baby girl, in the hospital with a manuscript of his, after five tries, soon to be published novel "The L-Shaped Room". A novel inspired by his relationship with Jane as well as his fellow neighbors at his boarding house.
After a heart-felt conversation with Jane Toby as he's leaving the maternity ward is approached by one of the nurses who asks him innocently "when will you see her next time?". Thinking that's the nurse is talking about Jane Toby, after asking who, is pleasantly surprised to hear that the nurse was asking him about his "daughter"! "She's very pretty" the nurse tells him "just like her mother": Jane.