This Sporting Life (1963)

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:

First cinema film of George Sewell.

Quotes:

Frank Machin: We don't have stars in this game, Mrs Weaver, that's soccer.
Mrs. Anne Weaver: What *do* you have?
Frank Machin: People like me.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Walking Back to Happiness

Stark and uncompromising

Set in the working class environs of Northern England (Yorkshire), this is a stark and uncompromising film. Richard Harris gives a performance of a lifetime as a rugby player who, both on and off the field of play, seems able to express himself only through violence.

Lindsay Anderson directs wonderfully, insisting on gritty realism, and stripping everything of any hint of cinematic glamour. Unlike the French "nouvelle vague", Anderson wasn't interested in technique for its own sake: he was more concerned with actual substance. Here, he explores the depths of the characters, and their relationships with each other; and, in particular, their emotions, which are volcanic. Never have such naked passions been portrayed on screen with such power. One feels somewhat drained by the end.

Something was happening in the British cinema in the 60s. Where did it all disappear?