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This Sporting Life
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This Sporting Life (1963) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 15 | slideshow) Videos
This Sporting Life (1963) -- Trailer: Richard Harris as the wild Frank Manchin

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   1,914 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 6% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Lindsay Anderson
Writers:
David Storey (novel)
David Storey (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for This Sporting Life on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
January 1963 (UK) more
Genre:
Drama | Sport more
Plot:
In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations more
User Comments:
A bleak and truthful portrait of Yorkshire in the early sixties more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Harris ... Frank Machin
Rachel Roberts ... Mrs. Margaret Hammond
Alan Badel ... Gerald Weaver
William Hartnell ... 'Dad' Johnson
Colin Blakely ... Maurice Braithwaite
Vanda Godsell ... Mrs. Anne Weaver
Anne Cunningham ... Judith
Jack Watson ... Len Miller
Arthur Lowe ... Charles Slomer
Harry Markham ... Wade
George Sewell ... Jeff
Leonard Rossiter ... Phillips, Sports writer
Katherine Parr ... Mrs. Farrer
Bernadette Benson ... Lynda Hammond
Andrew Nolan ... Ian Hammond
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Additional Details

Runtime:
134 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:M | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (re-rating) (1970) | UK:X (original rating) | UK:12A (2009) | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16 (bw)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Because the budget would not stretch to the thousands needed for the rugby league match scenes at Belle Vue, director Lindsay Anderson deployed hundreds of wooden dummies to stand amongst the human extras for the crowd scenes. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Walking Back to Happiness more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful:-
A bleak and truthful portrait of Yorkshire in the early sixties, 14 June 2000
10/10
Author: whisperingtree from Shropshire, England

Richard Harris and Lindsay Anderson spent sometime in the West Yorkshire coalfield prior to the filming of This Sporting Life. To call the film gritty and realistic is a truism measured up by the nature of the stark narrative. Harris is profoundly convincing as the miner turned Rugby League player who pursues the arctic charms of his widowed landlady played with sublime restraint by the late Rachel Roberts. For those of us familiar with the Northern man, Wakefield and with Rugby league the stories verisimilitude is almost painful. Watch particularly Harris's trial match (during which the actor broke his leg), his 'singing debut' in the nightclub and the interlude at Kirkstall Abbey. Note too the participation of Wakefield Trinity stars Ken Rollin and Neil Fox, men who were local legends in the 1960's.

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Before Dumbledore was headamaster of Hogwarts... chokolat_kake
Structure and Fantasy (Spoilers) ndhand
The spider grahamchris
Rugby League Phil_Gwilliam
SPOILER WARNING mtkane209
Flashback Structure Flawed? davidarnold
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