Poor Cow (1967)

A young woman lives a life filled with bad choices, she has a child with an abusive thief at a young age who quickly ends up in prison. One day, her son goes missing and she briefly comes to grips with what is most important to her.

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 & 1 nomination.

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:

british new wave | female protagonist | domestic violence | working class | mother son relationship | 

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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

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,709

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

The film debut of Malcolm McDowell, although the only scene he appears in was cut out.

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Goofs

The apostrophe is missing from the caption "At Aunt Emms.".

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Quotes

Joy: Yeah, don't forget to get me some nice sovereigns, gold ones.
Dave: Oh, I'll try love. You know, not always made to order.

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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 Film Review: Backs British Films (1968)

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Soundtracks

He's the One
(uncredited)
Written by Charles Blackwell

User Reviews

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.