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Room at the Top (1959) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   1,519 votes
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Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Jack Clayton

Writers:

John Braine (novel)
Neil Paterson (writer)
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Release Date:

January 1959 (UK) more

Genre:

Drama more

Tagline:

A Savage Story of lust and ambition

Plot:

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

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 10 nominations more

NewsDesk:

Goodbye Toronto: Fish Tank and Le Refuge
 (From FilmExperience. 21 September 2009, 9:56 AM, PDT)

User Comments:

Simone Signoret Is Magnificent more (30 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:

USA:115 min | Argentina:115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Sweden:15

Company:

Remus more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

First film of Ian Hendry. more

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The story takes place in 1947, but all the women's fashions and hairstyles are strictly in the contemporary 1958 mode, when the film went before the cameras. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Charles in Charge: Room at the Bottom (#4.4)" (1989) more


FAQ

Midwest Premiere Happened When and Where?
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32 out of 32 people found the following comment useful.
Simone Signoret Is Magnificent, 20 May 2009
10/10
Author: drednm

This film hasn't lost any of its bitter bite since it debuted in 1959. Laurence Harvey plays an ambitious young man who leaves a squalid industrial town somewhere in England for a good job in a nicer city. He immediately makes friends in the office and joins an amateur theater group when he learns that a pretty rich girl (Heather Sears) is a member. He also meets an older French woman (Simone Signoret) who is also a member.

He starts an affair with the older woman while he blatantly pursues the rich girl, much to the dismay of her parents. Her father is a coarse but self-made man; the mother is a snooty society woman. The girl has a sort of boyfriend who constantly uses his wealthy upbringing and schooling to put Harvey "in his place." Even in post-World War II England, the "class system" is very evident. Harvey's attempts at being upwardly mobile are constantly shot down.

The girl is sent to France in an attempt to get her away from Harvey, and he falls into a torrid affair with Signoret. But he cannot get the girl (and her money) out of his head. Months go by before he runs into the girl and renews his pursuit. Of course she gets pregnant and the family relents, rushing her into marriage, an act that has bitter and surprising consequences for all involved.

Signoret won the best-actress Oscar (and just about every acting award that year) for her work here and she is magnificent. She is worldly and sad yet is not about to accept her fate. Harvey (Oscar nominated) gives his best performance as the blatant social climber. His "angry young man" is at once despicable and sympathetic. Sears scores as the naïve young woman who tries to balance her life and her parents' wishes.

Hermione Baddeley (also Oscar nominated) has a great scene toward the end of the film. She plays Signoret's friend, the one who enables their affair by lending them her apartment. Donald Wolfit is excellent as the girl's father. Ambrosine Phillpotts is good as the mother. Donald Houston, Raymond Huntley, Wilfrid Lawson, Beatrice Varley, and April Olrich are all good in smaller roles.

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similar films daleac
Worst movie I ever saw! stomaino
What year was Room at the Top released? 58 or 59? roryo-2
Kinks reference trickymutha
Early Deaths ohkay43
Not just this, the sequel is soon to be on DVD too! nowisthetimeforheroes
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