Dance with a Stranger is a 1985 British drama film, directed by Mike Newell. Telling the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in the 1950s, this moving biographical British film won critical acclaim, and brought particular notice to the careers of both Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett. The screenplay was by Shelagh Delaney, author of A Taste of Honey, and her third major screenplay. The story of Ellis, which this film dramatises, has very considerable resonance in Britain since it provided part of the background to the longterm national debates which eventually led to the effective abolition of capital punishment in 1965.
Mike Newell won Award of the Youth at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival for Dance with a Stranger. Miranda Richardson won Best Actress at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, while Ian Holm won Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1985 for this and other films.
Source: Wikipedia