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Armstrong (Van Johnson), an American ex-GI comes to England again 40 years
after he was stationed there in World War II, & he visits the same bar
where he once met his one true love, Doris. The bar has meanwhile become
something of a tourist's spot, complete with artificial palmtrees & dancing
every night, where the locals, hungry for foreigners (& foreign cash)
mingle with the tourists. & what do you know, Armstorng visits the bar on
Nostalgia night (or Bring-Your-Granny-night, as barman Bill [Christopher
Fulford] remarks), & soon Armstorng finds company in elderly local Marge
(Margaret Courtenay), who tries to pick him up.
Armstrong though seems way more fascinated by the angelic 23-year old Lara
(Vanessa Paine), who reminds him of Doris. He manages to adress her, even dance
with her, before she - in tears about just having lost her lover - runs off,
leaving Armstrong somewhat heartbroken, as he seems to think the girl is Doris
reincarnated ... but to make things worse, nobody else seems to have noticed
the young & pretty girl - might she have been a ghost ?
When Armstrong, struck with grief, collapses on the dancefloor, the bar's
owner Lena (Anne Carroll) & waiter Sid (Geoffrey Bayldon) think it best to
send the American to his hotel via the side entrance. Coming back to his hotel
room, his old, bitter & bickering wife awaits him - it's Doris (Gabrielle
Hamilton), grown old of course, who tells him how much she hated that bar ...
On the surface, this story does not offer much but (mainly old) people
talking/remembering, & the direction stays rather flat throughout, yet,
thanks to a good storyline & fine acting, this episode of Tales of the
Unexpected holds a fascination throughout, up top the punchline, that -
rahter fittingly - is not ha ha-funny but rather offers some new
hindsight into the proceedings.
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