Poor Cow (1967)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ken Loach

Writers:

Nell Dunn (novel)
Nell Dunn (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 January 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A love story about a girl, the man she is living for, and the man she is living with.

Plot:

A young woman lives a life filled with bad choices. She marries and has a child with an abusive thief at a young age who quickly ends up in prison...

Plot Keywords:

Homelessness | Sequel | Kitchen Sink Realism | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Carol White	...	Joy
John Bindon	...	Tom
Queenie Watts	...	Aunt Emm
Kate Williams	...	Beryl
Laurie Asprey
James Beckett	...	Tom's mate
Ray Barron	...	Customer in Pub
Hilda Barry	...	Customer in Pub
Ken Campbell		(as Kenneth Campbell)
Ron Clarke
Ellis Dale	...	Solicitor
Gladys Dawson	...	Bet
Terry Duggan	...	2nd Prisoner
Winnie Holman	...	Woman in Park
Rose Hiller	...	Customer in Hairdresser's

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Fenchurch

Trivia:

First film of John Bindon.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Limey (1999)

Soundtrack:

Poor Love

There's no film in his camera.

Recently released on British DVD, this is a good movie (as long as you have an attention span and IQ of more than a fruit fly). Not as depressing as it could have been, this is kitchen-sink at its most dirty. Terrance Stamp is great in it, the music is sweet, Carol White is very believeable as the single mum tart who can't stop loving criminals.

My favourite scene is where Carol and her friend who works in the pub with her (the one with the enormous beehive hairdo which comes down over one eye) sit outisde and gossip about all the men who walk past.

The only thing that marred this was the shakey acting of Carol's first husband, but if you can get past that, you're OK. And Donovan provides some of the most languid, mellow, bittersweet lyrics to come out of the 60s.