The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

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 | Told In Flashback | Flashback | Rebellion | Family Relationships

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:

Ruxton Towers Reformatory governor: It was that new lad Smith who scored that goal, wasn't it?
Mr. Jones: Right sir.
Ruxton Towers Reformatory governor: He can run.
Mr. Jones: He's not bad sir.
Ruxton Towers Reformatory governor: He might be useful to us, we better keep an eye on him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best Man (2005)

A British also-ran (spoilers throughout)

All the good performances and technical flourishes can't hide the fact that Colin Smith is a bit of an idiot. Sure he has a right to be angry, living as he does in a less than loving family and as he faces a life with limited opportunities, but rather than struggle to make something of himself he seems content to be a loser. He truly is the rebel without a clue.

The thing that gets on my nerves most about 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' is the way that it revels in every-day criminality. Just take the bakery robbery. I can appreciate the desperation that leads people to commit such acts, and I can certainly sympathise with it, but when it's just a bit of a lark – as the speeded up film suggests – I can't help but be glad when they get caught. Colin Smith got what he deserved.

Now perhaps I take things too seriously, but I really do find it hard to give much of a damn about a character that is quite rightly locked away and one who squanders the opportunities that are given to him. After all, the warder gives him a chance to make something of himself. He has a chance to find a direction. But instead he gives everyone a big 'up yours'.

I must say though that if the system was incredibly oppressive it would be a great ending, but instead it has me shrugging my shoulders. Sure the warder is using him for his own ends and sure life in borstal is far from fun, but he's a thief and a criminal after all and the regime as portrayed in the film is nowhere near as bad as it could be – it's a million miles away from the infinitely superior 'Scum'. Instead all it comes down to is petty working class pride. After all, his best friend is appalled at how favoured he's become and isn't shy about voicing his disgust. But rather than rebel against the people that are truly keeping him down – his friends who reinforce his low expectations – he rebels against the one man that might help him become something. Yet because it's a working class lad against an upper class man we're supposed to cheer. Well, perhaps forty years ago I may have done that very thing, but now I can't help but look at Colin Smith and see him as an idiot. He's a man who squanders his chances. He's a man who'll never amount to anything. He's a loser.