The Singer and the Dancer is a 1977 film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Ruth Cracknell and Elizabeth Crosby.

[2] Mrs Bilson is treated as a simple minded invalid by her family and periodically escapes to sit by the river and listen to the races.

The film was the first long narrative movie from Gillian Armstrong, although she had made several shorts and a documentary.

Armstrong liked the central part of the story and the character of the woman, but she wanted to do something contemporary because her early short films, Gretel and One Hundred a Day had been set in the past.

[3]Neva Carr Glynn was originally cast as the old lady but she died prior to production and Ruth Cracknell was given the role instead.