A rebellious youth, sentenced to Ruxton Towers, a boy’s reformatory, for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution through his prowess as a long distance runner.
During his solitary runs, reveries of his life and times before his incarceration lead him to re-evaluate his privileged status as the Governor’s prize runner.
There are great performances by Tom Courtenay (pictured at right) and James Bolam as the two borstal boys.
Colin (Courtenay in his debut performance) is an embittered delinquent with nihilistically rejects everything around him, much like Arthur Seaton in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning(1961).
The story of Colin’s refusal to fit into the pattern of ‘model prisoner’ or ‘consumer’ is well conveyed by director Tony Richardson and the scenes which follow Colin’s runs through the woods are beautifully shot.
While the film represents class through the use of stereotypes (such as the ‘progressive’ prison governor and the patronising employer) it remains as powerful and relevant today as it ever was.
Colin Smith Tom Courtenay
Mrs Smith
Avis Bunnage
Gordon
Raymond Dyer
Governor
Michael Redgrave
Housemaster (Brown)
Alec McCowen
Mike
James Bolam
Roach
Joe Robinson
Audrey
Topsy Jane
Gladys
Julia Foster
Green
John Brooking
Ronalds
John Bull
Mr Jones
James Cairncross
Detective
Dervis Ward
Doctor
Peter Duguid
Gunthorpe
James Fox
Johnny Smith
William Ash Hammond
Scott
Peter Kriss
Mr Smith
Peter Madden
Stacy
Philip Martin
Craig
Arthur Mullard
Bill Smith
Christopher Parker
Fenton
Anthony Sagar
Bosworth
John Thaw
Tory Politician
Robert Percival
Director
Tony Richardson
Related Posts
Wild In The Country (1961) This drama about Glenn Tyler - a rebellious backwoods delinquent on parole, who ends up going to college to become…
Crooks Anonymous (1962) Playing a stripper was hardly the most auspicious start to Julie Christie's career, but she managed to cover herself in…
Legend (1985) Three years after delivering audiences a glimpse of Los Angeles AD2019 (in Blade Runner), director Ridley Scott turned his hand to…
Bird Man of Alcatraz, The (1962) Burt Lancaster played the famous 'Bird Man' Robert Stroud, a man serving a life sentence at Alcatraz who takes comfort…
Day The Fish Came Out, The (1967) Michael Cacoyannis's follow-up to his highly acclaimed Zorba the Greek (1964) couldn't have been more different, or more of a disappointment:…
Challenge for Robin Hood, A (1967) Young Norman nobleman Robin de Courtenay (Barrie Ingham) is falsely accused by his cousin of murdering another cousin. His accuser…
Life Begins at 17 (1958) Rich college fraternity boy Russ Lippincott (Mark Damon) tries to get small-town beauty contest winner Elaine Peck (Dorothy Johnson) to…
Otley (1969) Petty thief and wannabe antiques dealer Gerald Arthur Otley (Tom Courtenay) is evicted from his Portobello Road digs - despite…
