Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Carol White | ... | Joy | |
John Bindon | ... | Tom | |
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Queenie Watts | ... | Aunt Emm |
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Kate Williams | ... | Beryl |
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Laurie Asprey | ||
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James Beckett | ... | Tom's mate |
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Ray Barron | ... | Customer in Pub |
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Hilda Barry | ... | Customer in Pub |
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Ken Campbell | ... | Mr. Jacks (as Kenneth Campbell) |
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Ronald Clarke | ... | (as Ron Clarke) |
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Ellis Dale | ... | Solicitor |
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Gladys Dawson | ... | Bet |
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Terry Duggan | ... | 2nd Prisoner |
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Winnie Holman | ... | Woman in Park |
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Rose Hiller | ... | Customer in Hairdresser's |
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. Left alone she takes up with his mate (another thief) who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up in the nick. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure. Her son goes missing and she briefly comes to grips with what is most important to her. Written by Fred Cabral <ftcabral@hotmail.com>
As mentioned elsewhere, I've been getting into the 'kitchen sink' dramas of Britain in the 1960s. Previously I've watched a handful of the early black and white ones, but POOR COW, the first film from long-time director Ken Loach, offered in a new wave of all-colour pictures that eventually heralded the way for the miserable likes of EASTENDERS and other soaps that came later. POOR COW is a product of its era and it shows, and that's what makes it interesting.
The film is in essence the story of a young mother and her kid and their attempts to get by in a cruel and often harsh world. Carol White achieves level of naturalness in her performance that you don't often see, which means that she's utterly convincing. The male characters are presented as brutes, philanderers, or simply bland, cold men who don't care about the impact they make on people's lives. There's plenty of talent in the supporting cast, a lot of faces who would go on to become familiar on TV and in film, which makes this a fun watch despite the gruelling subject matter.
The thing I found about POOR COW is that it kept me watching. I was always interested in finding out the outcome of the story, although any viewer will immediately realise that it's not going to be a happy ending. I was interested to note that the interlude in which White gets involved with a group of dodgy glamour photographers seemed to inspire a whole sub-genre of films directed by the likes of Norman J. Warren and Pete Walker. Apparently many of the scenes in the film were ad-libbed, which accounts for the slice-of-life realism of the piece.