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Look Back in Anger (film)
Encyclopedia
Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton
, Claire Bloom
and Mary Ure
and directed by Tony Richardson
.
It is based on John Osborne
's play of the same name
about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison), and her snooty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh
lodger, attempts to keep the peace.
The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the original play, is here brought to life by Edith Evans
as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of the British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism
.
in a crowded, smoky jazz
club (titles over). Having finished to a round of applause, he goes over to his friend Cliff, sitting at a front row table, but his friend waves him off in dumb-show, being more intent on winning the affections of a woman. (The real Chris Barber
jazz band is visible in the background). Scenes of Jimmy walking home through the depressing streets of a Midlands industrial town (Derby
) serve to give the film its overall visual context.
Arriving home at their attic flat, he surreptitiously goes through his sleeping wife's handbag
before getting into bed with her. It is not until seven minutes into the film that the first lines of dialogue are spoken. The next morning, with a train
rattling past the open window, Jimmy wakes up and walks into Cliff's room. He complains that Alison is writing secret letters to her mother — conspiring against him, as he sees it.
The next scene is set on Sunday morning and is a shortened version of Act I of the play, with Alison at the ironing board and Jimmy and Cliff reading the newspapers. Much of Jimmy's tirade against Alison is cut; but his derision of her family is still very evident. Jimmy and Cliff
start the 'where's nobody?' Music Hall
sketch from Act III of the play, but Alison doesn't play along and the scene ends in horseplay, with Alison getting a burn as the ironing board is overturned.
Cliff and Alison play a tender scene as he puts soap on her burned arm, establishing that their relationship is affectionate, but not sexual. The scene ends on Alison's line "I'm frightened".
On Monday morning, we see Jimmy and Cliff setting up their sweet stall in the market place. The character of a vindictive market inspector, Hurst, played by Donald Pleasence
, is introduced.
Alison, meanwhile, visits her doctor. She tells him her own carelessness caused the burn. The doctor asks whether her husband knows that she is pregnant. She asks if it is "too late to do anything about it", and the doctor replies "I didn't hear that question" (any kind of abortion
would have been illegal in Britain at the time).
Back at the market, Ma Tanner turns up, in town to take care of her dead husband's grave. Almost a caricature of a cheerful working-class elderly woman, it's obvious that Jimmy has lots of affection and admiration for her. She was once his landlady, and lent him the capital to start the sweet-stall business. They go into a pub for a drink, and Alison comes in. Jimmy does not fail to notice Alison recoiling from Ma Tanner's affectionate hug; the gulf in social class between the two women is enormous and, in the context of the time, it's very plausible that Alison would react that way. Alison is trying to tell Jimmy about her pregnancy but cannot get his attention. Instead she tells Cliff (this scene, originally a continuation of the ironing board scene, is here played at the market).
A brief scene by Ma Tanner's husband's grave continues the theme of Jimmy and Ma Tanner's affection for each other. She asks him what he wants in life and he replies "Everything. Nothing".
Back at the flat, Alison is taking a phone call from her friend Helena, an actress who's in town for an audition and looking for somewhere to crash. Alison invites her to take over Cliff's room, and warns Cliff that Jimmy really hates Helena and all she stands for. The conflict to come is made very obvious.
Jimmy returns, apologises for the burn, and plays one of the only two loving scenes between him and Alison. They play out a game pretending to be stuffed-toy bears and squirrels,
and seem to be on the point of behaving like a normal married couple, when in walks Helena. Jimmy immediately attacks her verbally, but she shrugs it off as though it's just an act.
In several scenes at the flat and back at the jazz club, the expository dialogue from Act II of the play is played out. Alison describes Jimmy as a knight in shining armour, and Helena says "You've got to fight him". Over an afternoon meal, Jimmy's most cruel and vituperative
attacks on both women take place.
At the market, a sub-plot is introduced that was never even referred to in the play. A new stall-owner, an Indian immigrant called Kapoor (played by an actor of the same name) sets up a stall selling cut-price clothing. Kapoor is victimised by everyone except Jimmy and
Cliff and, in a later scene, the market inspector Hurst revokes his licence. Kapoor is literally forced out of business by the prejudice of 'respectable' English people — a not improbable plot device in a portrayal of 1950s England.
Alison goes to a theatre where Helena is rehearsing a particularly nauseating play. Jimmy and Cliff crash in and disrupt the rehearsal, taking over the stage and improvising their silly music-hall act.
At another Sunday tea-table scene, Alison announces that she's going to church with Helena, and Jimmy's scorn and anger reach a new peak. When Jimmy leaves to take a phone call, Helena says "I'm going to call your father and get him to take you home". Alison agrees that she will go. Coming downstairs on the way to church, the women run into Jimmy. The phone call brought the news that Ma Tanner is in hospital after a stroke, and not expected to live. Jimmy says that of course he will go to her, and begs Alison to go with him. Instead, she marches out with Helena.
A brief scene follows of Jimmy with Ma Tanner on her deathbed, in the public ward of a hospital.
Back at the attic, we see Alison's father, Colonel Redfern, who has come to collect her to take her back to her family home. The Colonel is quite a sympathetic character, albeit totally out of touch with the modern world (as he himself admits). "You're hurt because everything's changed," Alison tells him, "and Jimmy's hurt because everything's stayed the same."
Helena arrives to say goodbye, intending to leave very soon herself but obliged to stay another day by the run of her play. Alison leaves, giving Cliff a note for Jimmy. Cliff in turn hands it to Helena and leaves himself, saying "I hope he stuffs it up your
nostrils". Almost immediately, Jimmy bursts in. His contempt at finding a "goodbye" note makes him turn on Helena again, warning her to keep out of his way until she leaves. He now learns for the first time that Alison is expecting a baby, and although he proclaims
that he doesn't care it's clear that he's taken aback. However, his tirade continues. Helena slaps him, and he collapses on the bed almost in tears, and as the scene ends, Jimmy and Helena are kissing passionately and falling on the bed (the dramatic Act II curtain in the original play).
Two external scenes follow before we get to the Act III material. First, a scene of Jimmy in the graveyard at Ma Tanner's burial, searching in vain for any token of sympathy from Alison. Then a scene in Helena's dressing room at the theatre, as Jimmy complains of Alison's callousness and protests the unjust ways of the world in general.
Now comes the scene that repeats the opening scene of the play — a dismal Sunday morning but this time it's Helena at the ironing board. Months have passed. Jimmy is notably more pleasant to Helena than he was to Alison in Act 1. She actually laughs at his jokes, and the men get into another music hall
comedy routine. This time the horseplay reveals a half-written letter from Helena to Alison, referring to an ongoing correspondence between them. Helena tears it up.
A scene is inserted in the garden of the Redfern family home. Alison is very pregnant, and
some remarks indicate that the pregnancy may be precarious. Alison's mother passes by and has one line of dialogue.
At the market, Cliff announces that he's decided to strike out on his own. Jimmy is visibly disappointed but doesn't try to stop him, only later advising him to "try washing your socks". Jimmy and Helena go to the railway station to see Cliff off — an interesting period scene complete with an authentic steam locomotive of the era. Jimmy reveals his affection for Cliff and tells him he is worth "ten Helenas" to him. When Jimmy and Helena go into the station bar for a drink, they discover Alison sitting disconsolately there. Jimmy snaps over his shoulder "Friend of yours to see you" and abruptly leaves.
The remaining scenes, originally set in the claustrophobic attic flat, are played out at the train station amidst atmospheric steam, smoke, and condensation from the actors' breath in the cold. Helena realises that what she's done is immoral and she in turn decides to leave.
The screenplay ends with a major surprise—a highly sentimental reconciliation between Jimmy and Alison. They revive the old game of bears and squirrels, and we are left to assume that they live, if not happily, at least in a state of truce in the class warfare, ever after.
(I'm All Right Jack
); Sapphire
; Frank Harvey
, John Boulting and Alan Hackney
for I'm All Right Jack; Ben-Hur
.
Burton was also nominated as Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama in the 1959 Golden Globes. The eventual winner was Anthony Franciosa
in Career.
in September 1958. Some establishing shots were shot in Derby
, but the market scenes were shot in Deptford
market, and the railway station was Dalston
junction. Both Deptford and Dalston are in fact in the London area.
— an obvious choice since he was a fanatic enthusiast of the play and it was he who urged Osborne and Richardson to set up Woodfall Films. Look Back was to be Woodfall's first production.
Osborne insisted, against resistance from Saltzman, that Richardson was the right man to direct the film. He had directed the original theatrical production but had no track record in feature films at all at that time. In fact, the original backers, J. Arthur Rank
, pulled out of the deal because of the choice of director.
Saltzman and Richardson between them persuaded Richard Burton
to take on the title role, at a much lower fee than his accustomed Hollywood payoff. History does not record what Kenneth Haigh
, who had created the role, thought of this. The idea of getting Nigel Kneale
to extend the play into a screenplay is credited to the influential theatre critic Kenneth Tynan
(who was in large part responsible for the incredible success of the play). Osborne was relieved not to have to do the job and handed over story rights for a mere ₤2,000.
Some of the minor casting is of historical interest. The part of the doctor was specially created for George Devine
, the artistic director of the English Stage Company and the one man to whom Osborne most owed his success. Glen Byam Shaw
, a long-time collaborator of Devine's (they created the Young Vic Company together) was handed the role of Colonel Redfern. Two other members of the English Stage Company, Nigel Davenport
and Alfred Lynch
, were given tiny roles as barflies who attempt to pick up Alison and Helena in the railway station bar. Both went on to have brilliant careers.
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
and Mary Ure
Mary Ure
Eileen Mary Ure was a Scottish actress of stage and film.-Early life:Born in Glasgow where she studied at the school of drama, Ure was the daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and Edith Swinburne. She went to the independent Mount School in York and trained for the stage at the Central...
and directed by Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
.
It is based on John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
's play of the same name
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison), and her snooty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
lodger, attempts to keep the peace.
The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the original play, is here brought to life by Edith Evans
Edith Evans
Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of the British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men...
.
Synopsis
The black-and-white film opens with a close-up on Jimmy Porter performing on trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
in a crowded, smoky jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
club (titles over). Having finished to a round of applause, he goes over to his friend Cliff, sitting at a front row table, but his friend waves him off in dumb-show, being more intent on winning the affections of a woman. (The real Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
jazz band is visible in the background). Scenes of Jimmy walking home through the depressing streets of a Midlands industrial town (Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
) serve to give the film its overall visual context.
Arriving home at their attic flat, he surreptitiously goes through his sleeping wife's handbag
Handbag
A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc....
before getting into bed with her. It is not until seven minutes into the film that the first lines of dialogue are spoken. The next morning, with a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
rattling past the open window, Jimmy wakes up and walks into Cliff's room. He complains that Alison is writing secret letters to her mother — conspiring against him, as he sees it.
The next scene is set on Sunday morning and is a shortened version of Act I of the play, with Alison at the ironing board and Jimmy and Cliff reading the newspapers. Much of Jimmy's tirade against Alison is cut; but his derision of her family is still very evident. Jimmy and Cliff
start the 'where's nobody?' Music Hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
sketch from Act III of the play, but Alison doesn't play along and the scene ends in horseplay, with Alison getting a burn as the ironing board is overturned.
Cliff and Alison play a tender scene as he puts soap on her burned arm, establishing that their relationship is affectionate, but not sexual. The scene ends on Alison's line "I'm frightened".
On Monday morning, we see Jimmy and Cliff setting up their sweet stall in the market place. The character of a vindictive market inspector, Hurst, played by Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
, is introduced.
Alison, meanwhile, visits her doctor. She tells him her own carelessness caused the burn. The doctor asks whether her husband knows that she is pregnant. She asks if it is "too late to do anything about it", and the doctor replies "I didn't hear that question" (any kind of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
would have been illegal in Britain at the time).
Back at the market, Ma Tanner turns up, in town to take care of her dead husband's grave. Almost a caricature of a cheerful working-class elderly woman, it's obvious that Jimmy has lots of affection and admiration for her. She was once his landlady, and lent him the capital to start the sweet-stall business. They go into a pub for a drink, and Alison comes in. Jimmy does not fail to notice Alison recoiling from Ma Tanner's affectionate hug; the gulf in social class between the two women is enormous and, in the context of the time, it's very plausible that Alison would react that way. Alison is trying to tell Jimmy about her pregnancy but cannot get his attention. Instead she tells Cliff (this scene, originally a continuation of the ironing board scene, is here played at the market).
A brief scene by Ma Tanner's husband's grave continues the theme of Jimmy and Ma Tanner's affection for each other. She asks him what he wants in life and he replies "Everything. Nothing".
Back at the flat, Alison is taking a phone call from her friend Helena, an actress who's in town for an audition and looking for somewhere to crash. Alison invites her to take over Cliff's room, and warns Cliff that Jimmy really hates Helena and all she stands for. The conflict to come is made very obvious.
Jimmy returns, apologises for the burn, and plays one of the only two loving scenes between him and Alison. They play out a game pretending to be stuffed-toy bears and squirrels,
and seem to be on the point of behaving like a normal married couple, when in walks Helena. Jimmy immediately attacks her verbally, but she shrugs it off as though it's just an act.
In several scenes at the flat and back at the jazz club, the expository dialogue from Act II of the play is played out. Alison describes Jimmy as a knight in shining armour, and Helena says "You've got to fight him". Over an afternoon meal, Jimmy's most cruel and vituperative
attacks on both women take place.
At the market, a sub-plot is introduced that was never even referred to in the play. A new stall-owner, an Indian immigrant called Kapoor (played by an actor of the same name) sets up a stall selling cut-price clothing. Kapoor is victimised by everyone except Jimmy and
Cliff and, in a later scene, the market inspector Hurst revokes his licence. Kapoor is literally forced out of business by the prejudice of 'respectable' English people — a not improbable plot device in a portrayal of 1950s England.
Alison goes to a theatre where Helena is rehearsing a particularly nauseating play. Jimmy and Cliff crash in and disrupt the rehearsal, taking over the stage and improvising their silly music-hall act.
At another Sunday tea-table scene, Alison announces that she's going to church with Helena, and Jimmy's scorn and anger reach a new peak. When Jimmy leaves to take a phone call, Helena says "I'm going to call your father and get him to take you home". Alison agrees that she will go. Coming downstairs on the way to church, the women run into Jimmy. The phone call brought the news that Ma Tanner is in hospital after a stroke, and not expected to live. Jimmy says that of course he will go to her, and begs Alison to go with him. Instead, she marches out with Helena.
A brief scene follows of Jimmy with Ma Tanner on her deathbed, in the public ward of a hospital.
Back at the attic, we see Alison's father, Colonel Redfern, who has come to collect her to take her back to her family home. The Colonel is quite a sympathetic character, albeit totally out of touch with the modern world (as he himself admits). "You're hurt because everything's changed," Alison tells him, "and Jimmy's hurt because everything's stayed the same."
Helena arrives to say goodbye, intending to leave very soon herself but obliged to stay another day by the run of her play. Alison leaves, giving Cliff a note for Jimmy. Cliff in turn hands it to Helena and leaves himself, saying "I hope he stuffs it up your
nostrils". Almost immediately, Jimmy bursts in. His contempt at finding a "goodbye" note makes him turn on Helena again, warning her to keep out of his way until she leaves. He now learns for the first time that Alison is expecting a baby, and although he proclaims
that he doesn't care it's clear that he's taken aback. However, his tirade continues. Helena slaps him, and he collapses on the bed almost in tears, and as the scene ends, Jimmy and Helena are kissing passionately and falling on the bed (the dramatic Act II curtain in the original play).
Two external scenes follow before we get to the Act III material. First, a scene of Jimmy in the graveyard at Ma Tanner's burial, searching in vain for any token of sympathy from Alison. Then a scene in Helena's dressing room at the theatre, as Jimmy complains of Alison's callousness and protests the unjust ways of the world in general.
Now comes the scene that repeats the opening scene of the play — a dismal Sunday morning but this time it's Helena at the ironing board. Months have passed. Jimmy is notably more pleasant to Helena than he was to Alison in Act 1. She actually laughs at his jokes, and the men get into another music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
comedy routine. This time the horseplay reveals a half-written letter from Helena to Alison, referring to an ongoing correspondence between them. Helena tears it up.
A scene is inserted in the garden of the Redfern family home. Alison is very pregnant, and
some remarks indicate that the pregnancy may be precarious. Alison's mother passes by and has one line of dialogue.
At the market, Cliff announces that he's decided to strike out on his own. Jimmy is visibly disappointed but doesn't try to stop him, only later advising him to "try washing your socks". Jimmy and Helena go to the railway station to see Cliff off — an interesting period scene complete with an authentic steam locomotive of the era. Jimmy reveals his affection for Cliff and tells him he is worth "ten Helenas" to him. When Jimmy and Helena go into the station bar for a drink, they discover Alison sitting disconsolately there. Jimmy snaps over his shoulder "Friend of yours to see you" and abruptly leaves.
The remaining scenes, originally set in the claustrophobic attic flat, are played out at the train station amidst atmospheric steam, smoke, and condensation from the actors' breath in the cold. Helena realises that what she's done is immoral and she in turn decides to leave.
The screenplay ends with a major surprise—a highly sentimental reconciliation between Jimmy and Alison. They revive the old game of bears and squirrels, and we are left to assume that they live, if not happily, at least in a state of truce in the class warfare, ever after.
Awards
The film was nominated in 4 categories in the 1959 BAFTA Awards. Best British Actor (Richard Burton); Best British Film; Best British Screenplay (Nigel Kneale); Best Film from any Source. The eventual winners in these categories were Peter SellersPeter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
(I'm All Right Jack
I'm All Right Jack
I'm All Right Jack is a 1959 British comedy film directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting from a script by Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney, based on the novel Private Life by Hackney...
); Sapphire
Sapphire (film)
Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. It focused on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was directed by Basil Dearden, and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar...
; Frank Harvey
Frank Harvey
Frank Harvey was an English screenwriter who jointly won a BAFTA Award with John Boulting and Alan Hackney for I'm All Right Jack in 1960. He was born 11 August 1912 in Manchester. During his career he was nominated for a second BAFTA for Private's Progress. He died 6 November 1981 in Ottery St...
, John Boulting and Alan Hackney
Alan Hackney
Alan Charles Langley Hackney was an English novelist and screenwriter.. He was educated at Thornleigh College, Bolton, and while at Manchester University was called up to the army...
for I'm All Right Jack; Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
.
Burton was also nominated as Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama in the 1959 Golden Globes. The eventual winner was Anthony Franciosa
Anthony Franciosa
Anthony Franciosa was an American actor, usually billed as Tony Franciosa during the height of his career.-Early life:...
in Career.
Locations
Interiors were shot at Elstree StudiosElstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
in September 1958. Some establishing shots were shot in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, but the market scenes were shot in Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
market, and the railway station was Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
junction. Both Deptford and Dalston are in fact in the London area.
Cast
- Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
as Jimmy Porter - Claire BloomClaire BloomClaire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
as Helena Charles - Mary UreMary UreEileen Mary Ure was a Scottish actress of stage and film.-Early life:Born in Glasgow where she studied at the school of drama, Ure was the daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and Edith Swinburne. She went to the independent Mount School in York and trained for the stage at the Central...
as Alison Porter - Edith EvansEdith EvansDame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
as Ma Tanner - Gary RaymondGary RaymondGary Raymond is an English actor.He made his film debut as Cliff Lewis in Tony Richardson's film adaptation of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger , opposite Richard Burton and Claire Bloom...
as Cliff Lewis - Glen Byam ShawGlen Byam ShawGlen Byam Shaw was an English actor and theatre director, known for his dramatic productions in the 1950s and his operatic productions in the 1960s and later....
as Colonel Redfern - Phyllis Neilson-TerryPhyllis Neilson-TerryPhyllis Neilson-Terry was an English actress. She was born in London, daughter of Julia Neilson and Fred Terry; her younger brother was actor Dennis Neilson-Terry. She made her first stage appearance in Henry of Navarre , and played Viola in Twelfth Night at the Haymarket in 1910...
as Mrs. Redfern - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as Hurst, the market inspector - George DevineGeorge DevineGeorge Alexander Cassady Devine CBE was an extremely influential theatrical manager, director, teacher and actor in London from the late 1940s until his death. He also worked in the media of TV and film.-Biography:...
as Doctor - Walter HuddWalter HuddWalter Hudd was a British actor.According to the Filmgoer's Companion by Leslie Halliwell, in 1936 Hudd was cast as T.E...
as Actor - Nigel DavenportNigel DavenportNigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
as 1st Commercial Traveller - Alfred LynchAlfred LynchAlfred Cornelius Lynch was a British actor on stage, film and television.Lynch was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Roman Catholic school, he worked in a draughtsman's office before entering national service...
as 2nd Commercial Traveller
Production
The producer was the Canadian impressario Harry SaltzmanHarry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman was a Canadian theatre and film producer best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R...
— an obvious choice since he was a fanatic enthusiast of the play and it was he who urged Osborne and Richardson to set up Woodfall Films. Look Back was to be Woodfall's first production.
Osborne insisted, against resistance from Saltzman, that Richardson was the right man to direct the film. He had directed the original theatrical production but had no track record in feature films at all at that time. In fact, the original backers, J. Arthur Rank
J. Arthur Rank
Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank was a British industrialist and film producer, and founder of the Rank Organisation, now known as The Rank Group Plc.- Family business :...
, pulled out of the deal because of the choice of director.
Saltzman and Richardson between them persuaded Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
to take on the title role, at a much lower fee than his accustomed Hollywood payoff. History does not record what Kenneth Haigh
Kenneth Haigh
Kenneth Haigh is a British actor. He played the central role of Jimmy Porter in the very first production of John Osborne's seminal play Look Back in Anger in 1956. His performance in a 1958 Broadway theatre production of that play so moved one young woman in the audience that she mounted the...
, who had created the role, thought of this. The idea of getting Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
to extend the play into a screenplay is credited to the influential theatre critic Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
(who was in large part responsible for the incredible success of the play). Osborne was relieved not to have to do the job and handed over story rights for a mere ₤2,000.
Some of the minor casting is of historical interest. The part of the doctor was specially created for George Devine
George Devine
George Alexander Cassady Devine CBE was an extremely influential theatrical manager, director, teacher and actor in London from the late 1940s until his death. He also worked in the media of TV and film.-Biography:...
, the artistic director of the English Stage Company and the one man to whom Osborne most owed his success. Glen Byam Shaw
Glen Byam Shaw
Glen Byam Shaw was an English actor and theatre director, known for his dramatic productions in the 1950s and his operatic productions in the 1960s and later....
, a long-time collaborator of Devine's (they created the Young Vic Company together) was handed the role of Colonel Redfern. Two other members of the English Stage Company, Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
and Alfred Lynch
Alfred Lynch
Alfred Cornelius Lynch was a British actor on stage, film and television.Lynch was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Roman Catholic school, he worked in a draughtsman's office before entering national service...
, were given tiny roles as barflies who attempt to pick up Alison and Helena in the railway station bar. Both went on to have brilliant careers.