''Look Back in Anger'' is a 1959 British kitchen sink drama film starring

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles on stage and screen and has received two BAFTA Awards and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award an ...

and

Mary Ure Eileen Mary Ure (18 February 1933 – 3 April 1975) was a British actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress (after Deborah Kerr) to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film '' Sons and Lovers''. Early life Born i ...

and directed by

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...

. The film is based on

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected working-class young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison) and her haughty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace. The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the play, is brought to life in the film by

Edith Evans Dame Edith Mary Evans (8 February 1888 – 14 October 1976) was an English actress. She was best known for Edith Evans – stage and film roles, her work on the West End theatre, West End stage, but also appeared in films at the beginning and t ...

as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of the British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism.

Plot

Jimmy and Alison Porter, a young married couple, live in a Midlands industrial town (

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

) in a shabby attic flat, which they share with Jimmy's best friend and business partner, Cliff. Despite graduating from university, Jimmy and Cliff make a meagre living running a

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

-stall in the local market. Jimmy's inability to climb the socioeconomic ladder, coupled with other injustices he sees around him make him angry at society, particularly to those in authority. He takes out his frustrations on his wife Alison, a submissive girl from an upper-middle-class family. Jimmy's love for Alison is mixed with contempt, as he feels she never had to experience want, pain, or suffering. He verbally abuses her telling her, in temper, that he wishes she would have a child that would die. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, Alison is pregnant, and having mixed feelings about the pregnancy and her marriage. Tensions heighten between the couple when Alison invites her assertive friend, Helena, whom Jimmy loathes, to temporarily stay with them. After witnessing Jimmy's treatment of Alison, Helena persuades Alison to leave Jimmy on the same day that Ma Tanner, who lent Jimmy the money to set up his stall, has a fatal stroke. Eventually, Alison moves out and departs with her kindly father, Colonel Redfern, who has come to collect her. A grieving Jimmy returns to the flat to find Alison gone, and learns for the first time that she is pregnant. He starts an emotional tirade with Helena, who first slaps him but then kisses him passionately, and the two begin an affair. Months later, Jimmy and Helena have settled into a comfortable relationship, but Jimmy is still hurt at Alison's departure. She, living in her parents' tranquil home, is having a precarious pregnancy, and fears that Jimmy's wish for her to suffer tragedy might come true. Cliff decides to strike out on his own, and Jimmy and Helena see him off at the railway station. After Cliff's train departs, Jimmy and Helena see Alison sitting disconsolately in the station. Alison explains to Helena that she has lost the baby and Helena, realizing that she was wrong to break up their marriage, informs Jimmy that she is leaving him. Jimmy and Alison reconcile.

Cast

as Jimmy Porter *

as Helena Charles *

as Alison Porter *

as Ma Tanner * Gary Raymond as Cliff Lewis * Glen Byam Shaw as Colonel Redfern * Phyllis Neilson-Terry as Mrs. Redfern *

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

as Hurst, the market inspector *

George Devine George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

as Doctor * Walter Hudd as Actor *

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and ''Chariots of Fir ...

as 1st Commercial Traveller * Alfred Lynch as 2nd Commercial Traveller * Toke Townley as Spectacled Man * S. P. Kapoor as himself

Production

''Look Back in Anger'' was produced by the Canadian impresario

Harry Saltzman Herschel "Harry" Saltzman (; – ) was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. Apart from a ten-year stint living in St. Petersbu ...

, who was seen an obvious choice as he was a fan of the play and it was he who had urged Osborne and Richardson to set up Woodfall Film Productions. The film was to be Woodfall's first production. Osborne insisted, against resistance from Saltzman, that Richardson was the right man to direct the film. Richardson had directed the original theatrical production but had no track record in feature films. The original backer, J. Arthur Rank, pulled out of the deal because of the choice of director.

Casting

Saltzman and Richardson persuaded

to take on the title role, at a much lower fee than his accustomed Hollywood payoff. (His fee for the film was $125,000.) It is not known what Kenneth Haigh, who had created the role, thought of this. The idea of recruiting Nigel Kneale to extend the play into a screenplay is credited to the influential theatre critic

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...

(who had been in large part responsible for the incredible success of the play). Osborne was relieved at not having to do the job and handed over story rights for a mere £2,000. The part of the doctor was specially created for

, the artistic director of the English Stage Company and the man to whom Osborne most owed his success. Glen Byam Shaw, Devine's longtime collaborator (they created the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

Company), was handed the role of Colonel Redfern. Two other members of the English Stage Company,

and Alfred Lynch, were given small roles as commercial salesmen who try to pick up Alison and Helena in the railway station bar. The

Chris Barber Donald Christopher Barber (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and Trombone, trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur ...

jazz band appears in the opening scenes set at a jazz club.

Filming locations

Interiors were shot at Elstree Studios in September 1958. Some establishing shots were shot in Derby but the market scenes were shot in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

market; the railway station was Dalston Junction. Deptford and Dalston are in fact in the London area. The first market scenes were shot in the centre of Romford Market,

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Essex (now in the east

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

). The scenes showing the street outside Jimmy and Alison Porter's flat were filmed in Harvist Road, London N7. The road was later demolished by Islington Borough Council and rebuilt as the Harvist Estate.

Release

Box office

The film was not successful at first. Westminster Council gave it an X certificate, and it opened on 29 May 1959 during one of London's rare heatwaves. Tim Adler wrote that Richardson never found out whether the film made a profit. Burton was widely felt to be too old and mature-looking for the young character he played. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959.

Awards

The film was nominated in four categories for the 1959

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

: Best British Actor (Richard Burton), Best British Film, Best British Screenplay (Nigel Kneale) and Best Film from any Source. However, it won none, the winners being respectively

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

('' I'm All Right Jack''), ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

,'' Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney for '' I'm All Right Jack'' and ''

Ben-Hur Ben-Hur or Ben Hur may refer to: Fiction *'' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', an 1880 novel by American general and author Lew Wallace ** ''Ben-Hur'' (play), a play that debuted on Broadway in 1899 ** ''Ben Hur'' (1907 film), a one-reel silent ...

''. Burton was also nominated as Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama for the 1959 Golden Globes, but the award went to

Anthony Franciosa Anthony George Franciosa (né Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of t ...

in ''

Career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

''.

DVD release

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

was released in 2001 with the film's original

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

of 1.66:1. A

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

1080p version was released by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 2018 which includes several special features.

Sources

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Look Back Anger 1959 1959 films 1959 directorial debut films 1959 drama films British black-and-white films British drama films British films based on plays 1950s English-language films Films about dysfunctional families Films about social class Films based on works by John Osborne Films directed by Tony Richardson Films produced by Harry Saltzman Films set in Derbyshire Films shot at Associated British Studios 1950s pregnancy films Films about social realism British pregnancy films 1950s British films English-language drama films