The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Alan Sillitoe (screenplay)
Alan Sillitoe (short story)

Release Date:

8 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy's reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of...

Plot Keywords:

Running | Bakery | Money | Tower | Runner

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Redgrave	...	Ruxton Towers Reformatory Governor
Tom Courtenay	...	Colin Smith
Avis Bunnage	...	Mrs. Smith
Alec McCowen	...	Brown
James Bolam	...	Mike
Joe Robinson	...	Roach
Dervis Ward	...	Detective
Topsy Jane	...	Audrey
Julia Foster	...	Gladys
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Austin	...	Craig (uncredited)
John Brooking	...	Green (uncredited)
John Bull	...	Ronalds (uncredited)
James Cairncross	...	Mr. Jones (uncredited)
Dallas Cavell	...	Lord Jaspers (uncredited)
Peter Duguid	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Raymond Dyer	...	Gordon (uncredited)
Frank Finlay	...	Booking Office Clerk (uncredited)
Edward Fox	...	Extra (uncredited)
James Fox	...	Willy Gunthorpe - Ranley School Runner (uncredited)
Brian Hammond	...	Johnny Smith (uncredited)
William Ash Hammond	...	Johnny Smith (uncredited)
Peter Kriss	...	Scott (uncredited)
Peter Madden	...	Mr. Smith (uncredited)
Philip Martin	...	Stacy (uncredited)
Arthur Mullard	...	Chief Borstal Officer (uncredited)
Anita Oliver	...	Alice Smith (uncredited)
Christopher Parker	...	Bill Smith (uncredited)
Robert Percival	...	Tory Politician (uncredited)
Doug Robinson	...	Prison Warder (uncredited)
Anthony Sagar	...	Fenton (uncredited)
John Thaw	...	Bosworth (uncredited)
Chris Williams	...	Public School Boy (uncredited)

Directed by
Tony Richardson

Writing credits
Alan Sillitoe		(screenplay)
Alan Sillitoe		(short story)

Produced by
Michael Holden	....	associate producer
Tony Richardson	....	producer

Original Music by
John Addison

Cinematography by
Walter Lassally		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Antony Gibbs

Production Design by
Ralph W. Brinton		(as Ralph Brinton)

Art Direction by
Ted Marshall

Costume Design by
Sophie Devine		(as Motley)

Makeup Department
Jimmy Evans	....	makeup artist
Bobbie Smith	....	hair stylist (as Bobby Smith)

Production Management
Leigh Aman	....	production supervisor
Robert Sterne	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Basil Rayburn	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Norman Bolland	....	sound recordist
Don Challis	....	sound editor
Stephen Dalby	....	sound director

Stunts
Dave Tracey	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robin Webb	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Desmond Davis	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brenda Dabbs	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Brian Smedley-Aston	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John Addison	....	conductor
John Addison	....	music arranger

Other crew
Rita Davison	....	continuity
Alan Kaplan	....	production executive

Production Companies

• Woodfall Film Productions

Distributors

• British Lion-Columbia Distributors (BLC) (1962) (UK) (theatrical)
• Continental Distributing (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Castle Pictures (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• PolyGram Video (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2001) (UK) (VHS)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2002) (UK) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2010) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (re-rating) (2002) | UK:15 (video rating) (1990) | UK:X (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Camber Sands, Camber, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

First film of Julia Foster.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the boys are doing gardening work one character calls another "you mug" (meaning gullible idiot). This is incorrectly recorded in the subtitles as "you muppet" but the word "muppet" - meaning an idiot - was not in use when the film was made.

Quotes:

Colin Smith:Share and share alike. All for one and one for all, united we stand, divided we fall.
Mike:You're a bloody poet, aren't you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best Man (2005)

Soundtrack:

Guitar Music in Dormitory

A magnificent unappreciated film

I recently watched this movie again on TV. The wonderful performances by Tom

Courtenay and Michael Redgrave have not diminished with time. The movie is

also full of technical innovations at the time. One of these is common today, a fast switching between the two time frames of the story. The life of the hero in a quasi-prison and the family life that led to his capture and conviction. The movie also predates the current of "Angry Young Men" that was to be so prolific in

British Cinema. Others have remarked on the wondrous scenes of Courtenay

running in open countryside as he trains for a long distance competition. The accompaniment of a jazz trumpet also fit well. But to me the core of the movie is the rage of the hero towards the "establishment" beautifully symbolized by

Michael Redgrave's Headmaster. Don't miss this movie if you have a chance.