The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Directed by Tony Richardson and written by Alan Sillitoe that is based on the latter’s short story, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is the story of a young man who is sent to a reform school where he is seen as a gifted runner only to be exploited by a governor for selfish reasons. The film is the study of a young man who would be given all sorts of privileges where he later copes with the role he is playing. Starring Tom Courtenay, Michael Redgrave, Avis Bunnage, James Bolam, and Alec McCowen. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a riveting and mesmerizing film from Tony Richardson.

The film follows a young man who is sent to a reform school following an act of theft where he tries to serve his time until its governor notices his gift as a long-distance runner and hopes to have him win an annual cup against a nearby rival school. It’s a film that plays into the plight of this young man who isn’t just dealing with the loss of his father but also changes and frustrations that would lead to his incarceration. Alan Sillitoe’s screenplay has a back-and-forth narrative that is largely a reflective narrative that is told largely through the perspective of its protagonist Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay). The narrative is mainly set in this reform school where Smith has to deal with other students and the sense of authority yet his gift as a long-distance runner gets the attention of the school’s governor (Michael Redgrave). The governor sees Smith as someone he believes can make an example towards the other students at the school although Smith reflects on the events in his life before he got arrested.

The flashbacks show the struggle Smith had as it relates to the passing of his father and the money that his mother (Avis Bunnage) would spend that his father had earned as she also takes on a new lover. While Smith would gain a girlfriend in Audrey (Topsy Jane) during that time, he would struggle with his lack of direction and prospects where he engages in criminal activities. Upon his arrest and being sent to the reform school, he copes with not just what he’s been given from the governor but also a growing disillusionment with the ways of the world.

Tony Richardson’s direction is definitely engaging for the way he captures the life of a young man from a working-class environment as he is put into a world that is filled with a lot of rules as the freedom he’s given doesn’t make him feel free. Shot largely in Surrey with the reform school scenes shot at the nearby Ruxley Towers at the village of Claygate. Richardson aims for an intimate approach to the world of reform schools and the working class world that Smith is in with the usage of hand-held cameras where he would use close-ups and medium shots to play into the world that Smith is in. There are some wide shots that include these amazing dolly-tracking shots that capture Smith running through the woods as he’s training for the film’s climatic race against a rival school. Richardson would also play into the uncertainty of Smith’s life before his incarceration as he just wanders around aimlessly either stealing cars or do something with his friend Mike (James Bolam). There’s a looseness to the scenes in the city as well as the running while the scenes at Smith’s family home and at the school are tight in the presentation. The film’s climax which is this race against a rival school would play into everything Smith has endure as well as everything he’s been through at the school as he would make an act of defiance through his gift. Overall, Richardson creates a rapturous film about a young man dealing with his uncertainty and oppression at a reform school.

Cinematographer Walter Lassally does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography to capture some of the gray colors of the exteriors in the locations where Smith is running as well as the usage of lights for some of the film’s interiors at night. Editor Antony Gibbs does amazing work with the editing as its usage of jump-cuts, speed-cuts for some comedic moments, and montages help play into some of the emotional moments in the film including its climax. Production designer Ralph W. Brinton and art director Edward Marshall do fantastic work with the look of the interior at the home that Smith and his family live in as well as the school quarters.

Costume designer Sophie Devine does terrific work with the costumes from the uniforms and clothes that Smith and others had to wear at the school to the more posh look of the rival school during the film’s climax. The sound work of Stephen Dalby is excellent for the sound that play into the atmosphere of the locations including an eerie sound montage in a key scene for the film’s climax. The film’s music by John Addison is superb for its playful score for some of the humorous moments as well as the climatic moments before the race as it help add to the dramatic tension that looms throughout the film.

The casting by Maude Spector is wonderful as it include some notable small roles from Julia Foster as Mike’s girlfriend Gladys, Joe Robinson as a student named Roach, Dervis Ward as a detective who suspects Smith over theft, Topsy Jane as Smith’s girlfriend Audrey, James Fox as a runner for the rival school in Gunthorpe, James Bolam as Smith’s best friend Mike, and Alec McCowen as a school official named Brown. Avis Bunnage is excellent as Smith’s mother who cares more about living a lifestyle with a new lover and getting all sorts of things for herself and her younger children rather than be concerned with her eldest son’s well-being as well as not caring about her husband’s sudden passing. Michael Redgrave is brilliant as the school governor as a man who sees Smith’s gift as a runner in which he hopes to exploit for his own reasons as well as make offers to Smith that end up being very troubling. Finally, there’s Tom Courtenay in an incredible performance as Colin Smith as a young man who is troubled by his father’s death and lack of direction where is sent to a reform school as he deals with the privileges he’s been given as well as revelations about what is happening to others at the school as it is a breakthrough performance from Courtenay.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a tremendous film from Tony Richardson that features top-notch performances from Tom Courtenay and Michael Redgrave. Along with its striking visuals, fascinating study of character and environment, an offbeat music score, and intricate sound presentation. It’s a film that explores a man given the chance to make something of himself but also facing choices that are filled with compromises as well as guilt over his sense of loss and lack of direction that would ultimate force him to rebel. In the end, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a phenomenal film from Tony Richardson.

Tony Richardson Films: (Momma Don’t Allow) – (Look Back in Anger) – (The Entertainer) – (Sanctuary (1961 film)) – A Taste of Honey - (Tom Jones (1963 film)) – (The Loved One) – (Mademoiselle (1966 film)) – (The Sailor from Gibraltar) – (The Charge of the Light Brigade) – (Laughter in the Dark) – (Hamlet (1969 film)) – (Ned Kelly (1970 film)) – (A Delicate Balance) – (Dead Cert) – (Joseph Andrew) – (The Border (1982 film)) – (The Hotel New Hampshire) – (Penalty Phase) – (The Phantom of the Opera (1990 film)) – (Women & Men: Stories of Seduction) – (Blue Sky)

© thevoid99 2018

A Taste of Honey

Based on the play by Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey is the story of a 17-year old girl who tries to find herself in her dreary environment as she also deals with romantic entanglements and her indifferent mother. Directed by Tony Richardson and screenplay by Richardson and Delaney, the film is an exploration of a young girl in a working class world that offers little prospects as she also growing pains and the realism of her situation. Starring Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Paul Danquah, Murray Melvin, and Robert Stephens. A Taste of Honey is a riveting yet haunting film from Tony Richardson.

The film follows the journey of a young woman living in Manchester with her mother as she copes with the world she lives in as well as her need to be loved as the people she would meet would come and go throughout her journey. It’s a film that explores a 17-year old girl named Josephine “Jo” (Rita Tushingham) who arrives to Manchester with her 40-something mother Helen (Dora Bryan) after not paying their rent in another town. The film’s screenplay by Shelagh Delaney and Tony Richardson that is based on the play by the former follows Jo’s life as she is trying to juggle school as well as find work but also having to deal with her mother’s need to socialize and find a new husband. During this time, Jo would meet a young black sailor named Jimmy (Paul Danquah) who would be kind to her but their romance is brief as he had to leave for his job. With Helen’s love life going up as she meets a younger man named Peter Smith (Robert Stephens), Jo’s relationship with her mother becomes troubled as she later ventures on her own where she befriends a young textile design student named Geoffrey (Murray Melvin) who would help Jo in her own plight with life.

Richardson’s direction does provide a sense of theatricality into the dramatic elements of the film in the way characters talk to each other as well as the setting they’re in. Shot largely on location in Manchester with a scene set in Blackpool, the film does play into a world that is dreary yet also exciting in some respects as there is this uncertainty that looms throughout the film into what Jo wants. While Richardson makes no qualms into how dreary the city looked with its canals, bombed-out buildings, and other places that is in ruins with not much prospect. Even as someone like Jo would have a hard time finding a place of her own and a job but would eventually get both during the film’s second half as she adjust to the life of a working woman. While Richardson would use some wide shots to establish the locations as well as some key dramatic moments including scenes in Blackpool where Jo finds herself not liking Peter whom she feels is just wrong for her mother but is also cruel to Jo.

Richardson’s usage of the close-ups and medium shots help play into the interaction between the characters as it also showcase these intense moments in the drama as it help play into Jo’s anguish over her troubled relationship with her mother. There’s an innocence to the taboo relationship between Jo and Johnny during the film’s first act yet the revelations of that relationship would later haunt the former in its third act as she’s living with Geoffrey who is concerned about her well-being. Its sense of theatricality would heighten up in the third act where there’s a tug-of-war over Jo’s best interest between Geoffrey and Helen with the latter’s intention being unclear if she really cares about her daughter despite ignoring her feelings for much of the film’s first half. Even as Jo copes with the situation she’s in as well as the uncertainty of her future. Overall, Richardson crafts an engaging yet rapturous film about a 17-year old girl’s plight in Manchester.

Cinematographer Walter Lassally does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography to capture the dreary daytime exteriors of Manchester and the more playful world of Blackpool with some low-key lighting for some of the scenes at night. Editor Antony Gibbs does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some transitional dissolves to play into the drama. Art director Ralph W. Brinton does fantastic work with the look of the apartment homes that the Jo and Helen would live in as well as the more spacious apartment that Jo would share with Geoffrey. Sound editors Don Challis and Roy Hyde do superb work with the sound in capturing the air of realism for the scenes on location including the neighborhood children in the background. The film’s music by John Addison is terrific for its orchestral-based score that has some light-hearted moments in the strings while creating some somber themes for the dramatic moments in the film.

The film’s wonderful ensemble cast include a couple of small roles from Margo Cunningham as a landlady early in the film who wants rent money from Helen and Michael Bilton as a landlord who would give Jo a place to live as long as she paid her rent. Robert Stephens is superb as Peter as Helen’s new boyfriend whom she would marry as he’s a man that is cruel to Jo and seems to care more about appearances and being needed for selfish reasons than be generous. Paul Danquah is fantastic as Jimmy as a black sailor for ship that is intrigued by Jo as he would care for her and love her until he had to leave to go back to his ship for work. Murray Melvin is excellent as Geoffrey as a textile designer student who befriends Jo at a shoe store she worked at where he later lives with her and help her deal with the situation she’s in during the film’s third act.

Dora Bryan is brilliant as Jo’s mother Helen as a woman that is trying to hold on to her youth as she ignores her responsibilities as a mother in favor of going out and meeting a man who doesn’t treat her well as she later becomes anguished in being needed or to help Jo. Finally, there’s Rita Tushingham in an incredible debut performance as Jo as a 17-year old woman who deals with her dreary environment and sense of uncertainty as it’s a performance that has a lot of charm and energy into how she tries to be upbeat no matter how bad things are while coping with the realities of the world as it is a true breakthrough performance from one of Britain’s great actresses.

A Taste of Honey is a tremendous film from Tony Richardson that features a phenomenal performance from Rita Tushingham. Along with its ensemble cast, evocative look, and a mixture of dramatic realism and theatricality, the film is compelling story that follows a young woman trying to find herself as well as the need to be loved and cared for in a world that can be unforgiving. In the end, A Taste of Honey is a spectacular film from Tony Richardson.

Tony Richardson Films: (Momma Don’t Allow) – (Look Back in Anger) – (The Entertainer) – (Sanctuary (1961 film)) – The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – (Tom Jones (1963 film)) – (The Loved One) – (Mademoiselle (1966 film)) – (The Sailor from Gibraltar) – (The Charge of the Light Brigade) – (Laughter in the Dark) – (Hamlet (1969 film)) – (Ned Kelly (1970 film)) – (A Delicate Balance) – (Dead Cert) – (Joseph Andrew) – (The Border (1982 film)) – (The Hotel New Hampshire) – (Penalty Phase) – (The Phantom of the Opera (1990 film)) – (Women & Men: Stories of Seduction) – (Blue Sky)

© thevoid99 2018