Poor Cow (1967)

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 (... See full summary »

Director:

Ken Loach (as Kenneth Loach)

Writers:

Nell Dunn (screenplay), Ken Loach (screenplay) (as Kenneth Loach)

Stars:

Terence Stamp, Carol White, John Bindon

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Mr. Jacks (as Kenneth Campbell)
Ronald Clarke	...	(as Ron Clarke)
Ellis Dale	...	Solicitor
Gladys Dawson	...	Bet
Terry Duggan	...	2nd Prisoner
Winnie Holman	...	Woman in Park
Rose Hiller	...	Customer in Hairdresser's

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

working class | mother son relationship | baby | single mother | mother searches for son | 

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Taglines:

The girl is Carol White. her name is easy to remember. Her motion picture will be hard to forget. The producer is Joseph Janni. He discovered Julie Christie. And made "Darling"

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Poor Cow - geküßt und geschlagen

Filming Locations:

Wales, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vic Films Productions,Fenchurch,The National Film Finance Corp.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First feature film directed by Ken Loach.

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Goofs

In the beach caption, the word bikini is spelt "bikin".

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Alternate Versions

The BBFC website states that the original version had some sex references that were cut before its release in the 1960s. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/education-resources/student-guide/bbfc-history/1960s

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Connections

Featured in Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016)

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Soundtracks

Children
(uncredited)
Written by Philip May, Richard Taylor and Alan Waller

User Reviews

A fine introduction to Ken Loach

Back in the 60's, this grim study of Joy, a young proletarian wife, was the introduction to the career of Ken Loach, who became one of the most distinguished and respected British filmmakers of all time. By then I knew very little about Brecht, politics or the reality of the under-privileged, and I was quite impressed by the aesthetics of the film, its free style, its austere color cinematography, and Joy's monologues in front of the camera. I was also much surprised to find that Terence Stamp (who had become a celebrity, thanks to "Billy Budd", "The Collector" and "Modesty Blaise") had so little screen time. Although 20th Century Fox distributed "Poor Cow" in Panama, Loach did not join mainstream cinema (which this film hardly is) and I lost contact with his films. I just heard of his successes, "Kes", "Family Life", "Black Jack". until I caught up in the 80's. The beautiful title song by Donovan, by the way, is available in his anthology "Troubadour".