The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Alan Sillitoe (screenplay)
Alan Sillitoe (short story)

Release Date:

8 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy's reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of...

Plot Keywords:

Runner | Running | Juvenile Delinquent | Teenage Boy | Athlete

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win

Cast

Michael Redgrave	...	Ruxton Towers Reformatory governor
Tom Courtenay	...	Colin Smith
Avis Bunnage	...	Mrs. Smith
Alec McCowen	...	Brown, House Master
James Bolam	...	Mike
Joe Robinson	...	Roach
Dervis Ward	...	Detective
Topsy Jane	...	Audrey
Julia Foster	...	Gladys
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Austin	...	Craig
John Brooking	...	Green
John Bull	...	Ronalds
James Cairncross	...	Mr. Jones
Peter Duguid	...	Doctor
Raymond Dyer	...	Gordon, Mrs. Smith's Boyfriend
Frank Finlay	...	Booking Office Clerk
James Fox	...	Willy Gunthorpe - Ranley School Runner
William Ash Hammond	...	Johnny Smith
Peter Kriss	...	Scott
Peter Madden	...	Mr. Smith
Philip Martin	...	Stacy, Drake House Leader
Arthur Mullard	...	Craig
Christopher Parker	...	Bill Smith
Robert Percival	...	Tory Politician
Anthony Sagar	...	Fenton
John Thaw	...	Bosworth
Chris Williams	...	Public School Boy

Also Known As:

Rebel with a Cause
A hosszútávfutó magányossága (Hungary) [hu]
Die Einsamkeit des Langstreckenläufers (West Germany) [de]
Gioventù amore e rabbia (Italy) [it]
Kaikista kapinallisin (Finland) [fi]
Långdistanslöparen (Sweden) [sv]
La soledad del corredor de fondo (Spain) [es]
La solitude du coureur de fond (France) [fr]
O epanastatis (Greece) [el]
Sejr eller nederlag? (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (re-rating) (2002) | UK:15 (video rating) (1990) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Camber Sands, Camber, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

First film of Julia Foster.

Quotes:

Brown, House Master: Just describe the action to me in your own words, put me in the picture.
Colin Smith: Got over the wall of this baker's yard, broke into his office.
Brown, House Master: Hmm, I think you can do a bit better than this, Smith, um, surely your nerves were on edge weren't they, you felt afraid?
Colin Smith: If I felt afraid I wouldn't have broken in, would I?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Dead Talk Back (#7.3)" (1994)

Between the 50s and 60s...

I caught this film late at night on cable, and it is the first movie I've seen with Tom Courtenay in it, who is excellent (Either by coincidence or design, King Rat was on only a few nights later).

I'd never heard of this film before, but I was immediately transfixed by its look; something here is remarkable about the way black and white is used to further the overall feel and design of the film.

Having never been to the UK, I don't have a really good sense of how time passes there; to an American, England appears to age barely at all as seen through the cinema. But the themes here and the use of silence and the overall look of the film convey a society in the midst of change; as much as there is here that reminds one of the 1950s, there is an overwhelming 60s theme here about conformity and authority and society which is inescapable. I found myself cheering a bit at the end in the same way I cheered for Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke; here, as in that film, is the story of an individual who refused to be "broken."

I'd definitely rate this film as a key 1960s film, black and white, and yet thoroughly modern and not at all dated. A lot of care was put into this film from the performances to the camerawork, and while it is not something that would keep you on the edge of your seat, it is certainly a compelling story, compellingly told.