1960 Oscar Best Adapted Screen Play
Sometime in the fifties John Braine in hospital being treated for tuberculosis gave birth to his novel "Room At The Top" and at its publication in 1957 Braine was placed in that very loose grouping of "angry young men".
This film made in 1959 is an accurate rendition of the novel. Although the novel was set just after the second world war the film is placed firmly in the 1950s. The clothes, the cars, even the office furniture are fascinatingly evocative of the time.
The look may have changed considerably but have attitudes? Wealth breeds wealth, success is achieved by the exploitation of others. Men gawp at women lustfully provided they conform to certain stereotypes. Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) has a degrading grading system.
Harvey's performance is spot on, you can see the avarice in his face in the opening shots on the train. The film belongs, however, to Oscar winning Simone Signoret, she doesn't conform to the stereotype, her beauty comes from within and the way she portrays Alice's love for Joe is movingly sincere.
Most of the other performances are caricature , the boozy mates, the self made man of brass, the upper class twits. Some actors don't get a mention on the cast list. It's good to spot Richard Caldicot, Wendy Craig, Miriam Karlin, Wilfrid Lawson and Prunella Scales
Loved this film...a morality tale of "be careful what you wish for" but also a complex story about class, love and wanting to achieve.
The relationship of Joe Lampton and Alice were compelling and Simone Signoret's character was beautifully played. Alice's death helped Joe to realise that he did truly love her and that money isn't everything. I also felt more sympathetic Joe once he realised the loss of Alice as his relationship with Susan was so cold and calculating.
This is Jack Clayton's masterpiece, a groundbreaking work of social realism which broke British cinema's prohibition on sex. The story begins just after the war, in a time of austerity. The son of a Yorkshire miner (Laurence Harvey) seeks wealth, not by raising his own class, but by getting a rich girl pregnant and marrying into money.
How revolutionary this film was in the late '50s is indicated by how difficult it was to cast. There was no one really suitable for these roles. The male lead was played badly by the inflexible Lithuanian born Laurence Harvey. Legendary French actor Simone Signoret was brought in to portray the damaged married woman who loses out to Heather Sears' virginal milltown debutante.
Signoret's consuming-Oscar winning- portrayal is a landmark. She a mature woman well into middle age for whom love and life has mainly brought disappointment; sexually, emotionally and socially. And yet, her sensuality, and her unreachable loneliness makes her painfully sympathetic.
It's hard to believe that any of the Rank school of leading ladies could have contributed something comparable. It's is one of the most powerful performances in any UK film. The supporting cast is exceptional with Hermione Baddeley particularly memorable. Clayton never got due recognition. This is the best film of the British new wave.