Room at the Top (1959)

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

Director:

Jack Clayton

Writers:

Neil Paterson (screenplay), John Braine (novel),

Stars:

Simone Signoret, Laurence Harvey, Heather Sears

Won 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simone Signoret	...	Alice Aisgill
Laurence Harvey	...	Joe Lampton
Heather Sears	...	Susan Brown
Donald Wolfit	...	Mr. Brown
Donald Houston	...	Charles Soames
Hermione Baddeley	...	Elspeth
Allan Cuthbertson	...	George Aisgill
Raymond Huntley	...	Mr. Hoylake
John Westbrook	...	Jack Wales
Ambrosine Phillpotts	...	Mrs. Brown
Richard Pasco	...	Teddy
Beatrice Varley	...	Aunt
Delena Kidd	...	Eva
Ian Hendry	...	Cyril
April Olrich	...	Mavis

Storyline

The English factory town is dreary but Joe Lampton has landed a job with a future. To have something to do at night he joins a theatrical group. His boss's daughter Susan is playing ingenue roles on stage and in real life. She is attracted to Joe and Joe thinks about how much faster he will get ahead if he is the boss's son-in-law. This plan is complicated by his strong desire to be with an older woman who also belongs to the theatrical group. She is French and unhappily married. Joe believes he can get away with seeing both women.

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Plot Keywords:

accountant | kitchen sink realism | racetrack | cheating on girlfriend | extramarital affair | 

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Taglines:

A Savage Story of lust and ambition

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1959 (UK)

Also Known As:

Der Weg nach oben

Filming Locations:

Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Romulus Films, Remus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film of Ian Hendry.

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Goofs

When Joe drives past the Browns' house for the first time the cars parked in front are obviously cardboard cutouts

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Quotes

[last lines]
Susan Brown: Joe, wasn't it absolutely the most wonderful wedding? Now we really belong to each other, till death us do part. Darling, you're crying! I believe you really are sentimental after all.

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Connections

Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Az angol free cinema (1990)

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Soundtracks

"The Wedding March"
(uncredited)
Music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Arranged by Lambert Williamson

User Reviews

Outstanding angry young man film.

Although "Room at the Top" is set in Britain just after WWII, Americans of today will recognize in Joe Lambton the prototype of a yuppie – an offensively pushy, horny and self-obsessed social climber with no concern for the feelings of others, but a winning charm that pushes him all the way to the top.

An orphaned working class veteran who has studied bookkeeping, Joe leaves his bombed out home for another dismal industrial town where he goes to work at a dead end civil service job, while trying to promote himself into the ranks of the wealthy by romancing the young daughter of the richest man in town. In the mean time, he commences a tawdry affair with a wealthy woman who may be a prostitute.

At almost every turn, Lambton runs afoul of the husband or lover who got there first, but he won't be deterred from his goal of climbing higher up the social ladder, no matter who it hurts and even if it means having to commit adultery or marry for money.

For all of that, he is by turns a sympathetic character, as ably portrayed by Laurence Harvey, in spite of the fact that his lust for the older rich woman, matter of factly played by Simone Signoret, has consequences that should make him seem thoroughly detestable. Seeing the world from his point of view, we can't help but feel that his upper class foils deserve the trouble he visits upon them, even if we feel that he is wrong to corrupt himself and betray his working class origins.

The first rate production is trimmed down to essentials, yet has a balletic quality of movement when it comes to even the smallest gestures that is an unusually effective combination of masterful montage, choreography and camera movement. It is a great example of how technique and subject matter can come together to achieve a flawlessly artful yet modest effect. One of the best of the British angry young man genre.