This Sporting Life (1963)

In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an immediate star in the rugby league team run by local employer Weaver. Machin lodges ... See full summary »

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writers:

David Storey (screenplay), David Storey (novel)

Stars:

Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.

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

Storyline

In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an immediate star in the rugby league team run by local employer Weaver. Machin lodges with Mrs Hammond, whose husband was killed in an accident at Weaver's, but his impulsive and angry nature stop him from being able to reach her as he would like. He becomes increasingly frustrated with his situation, and this is not helped by the more straightforward enticements of Mrs Weaver.

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Plot Keywords:

rugby league | death bed plea | dentist | coal miner | bentley | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1963 (UK)

Also Known As:

Lockender Lorbeer

Filming Locations:

St Paul's Church, Back Lane, Drighlington, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent Artists, Julian Wintle/Leslie Parkyn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a scene in a nightclub, a young woman sings the Helen Shapiro hit "Walking Back to Happiness". She was 21-year-old mill-girl, Kim Leslie, from Pudsey. Producer Karel Reisz needed a Yorkshire woman for a small singing part in the film and advertised in the local papers. Within a few hours of the adverts appearing, 200 women had applied, from which a shortlist of four was selected. When these four women performed at the Wakefield Trinity rugby ground, the loudness of the crowd's applause was measured and Kim Leslie's performance was chosen.

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Quotes

Frank Machin: We don't have stars in this game, Mrs Weaver, that's soccer.
Mrs. Anne Weaver: What *do* you have?
Frank Machin: People like me.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow"
Sung by the guests at the Christmas party

User Reviews

One of the Best of the "Kitchen Sink" Films

"This Sporting Life" is one of the most famous of the British "kitchen sink" dramas of the 1950s and 1960s ("kitchen sink" films were very gritty, social realist films which were very popular in Britain at one time).

Frank Machin (Richard Harris) is a brutal, young miner in a city in northern England. Hoping for fame and fortune, he becomes a successful Rugby League football player. He uses his fame and fortune, along with physical violence, to try to force his widowed landlady (Rachel Roberts) to fall for him.

Photographed in bleak black-and-white, the film's scenes of emotional and physical domestic violence are still shocking today. Also notable are the violent, stylishly-shot rugby matches.

The cast are brilliant without exception, especially Richard Harris who manages to invest even his totally unsympathetic character with some degree of humanity.