This Sporting Life (1963)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writers:

David Storey (novel)
David Storey (screenplay)

Release Date:

January 1963 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an...

Plot Keywords:

Rugby League | Coal Miner | Tough Guy | Self Destruction | Kitchen Sink Realism

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Richard Harris	...	Frank Machin
Rachel Roberts	...	Mrs. Margaret Hammond
Alan Badel	...	Gerald Weaver
William Hartnell	...	'Dad' Johnson
Colin Blakely	...	Maurice Braithwaite
Vanda Godsell	...	Mrs. Anne Weaver
Anne Cunningham	...	Judith
Jack Watson	...	Len Miller
Arthur Lowe	...	Charles Slomer
Harry Markham	...	Wade
George Sewell	...	Jeff
Leonard Rossiter	...	Phillips, Sports writer
Katherine Parr	...	Mrs. Farrer
Bernadette Benson	...	Lynda Hammond
Andrew Nolan	...	Ian Hammond

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (re-rating) (1970) | UK:X (original rating) | UK:12A (2009) | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Bolton Priory, Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

Independent Artists

Trivia:

It was William Hartnell's appearance in this film that brought him to the attention of Verity Lambert, producer of "Doctor Who" (1963).

Quotes:

Frank Machin: [to scantily clad nightclub singer] Eh love, show us your personality!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Here In My Heart

Brilliant, Memorable; Yet ....

I saw this at a theater years ago. It had sunk into what appears to be obscurity -- highly undeservedly. Tonight I saw it on the small screen. And as powerful and, oddly, as shockingly intimate as it is, it doesn't work as well this way.

Why? The reason is the structure. The straightforward scenes are searing.. But there are hallucinations that have Richard Harris now in one situation, then in another, then lying back in the dentist's chair. Call me a Philistine but on a 20-inch screen this Resnais-like "Is it or isn't it?" is hard to follow.

That said, it is a beautiful movie overall. The lead performances have rarely been equaled. Richard Harris, as a headstrong rugby player, is convincing 100%. Rachel Roberts plays the rather dour, confused and grieving widow from whom he lets a room and whom he loves. She was not conventionally beautiful but she had extraordinary screen presence. Their every scene together is chilling and poignant.

The structure is there. The movie is finished and could never be properly well made. It is a sort of angry young man meets French New Wave. Anyone reading this who might be put off by my confession about finding it a bit rough to follow on a TV screen: Please do not be put off. This is a very serious, insightful movie, well performed all around. And you are unlikely to see Harris better in anything else and, sadly, unlikely to see Ms. Roberts in much else at all.