Room at the Top [1959] Part 1/12

[Calburtonreid]

Saw this at the cinema when it was re-released this year , so depressing , good film but no way near the standards of Saturday night and Sunday morning or Look back in Anger

[donkiddick08]

@Calburtonreid i think this is the best kitchen sink of all and the burton look back in anger, the worst. saturday night is good, i agree.

[emilebradford]

@donkiddick08 You're right about 'Look Back In Anger'. It was terrible. A Shakespearean barrow-boy just doesn't work.

[garryentropy]

joe lamptons accent is a joke, more welsh than yorkshire, maybe its just me but I think he is a terrible actor.

[nobovrilformethanks]

@garryentropy

if you think he's bad in this, check out "the long, the short and the tall" (1961) -OUCH!

[mockerlancs]

The Church where the wedding took place, at the end of the film is All Souls, Haley Hill Halifax.. The greyhound track was off Legrams Lane, Bradford. Greyhound Drive, Bradford now runs across what was the top end of the now demolished track. The scene where Lampton jumps off the bus and follows Susan into a shop is Ivegate, Bradford. Buses never ran up Ivegate.

[womeruk]

@mockerlancs Thanks for that, was that dog track called City Dog Track ?

[emilebradford]

@womeruk Yes, I think it was called City Dog Track. When I was a child I lived about half a mile away from it but I don't remember it, my father used to go occasionally and bet and he used to give me the betting slips when he came home. If you put '1 Kirkgate Bradford' in to Google maps and go onto street views. Kirkgate is the street scene showing Lampton in the Cafe and Alice walking past to her flat.

[womeruk]

@emilebradford Thanks for that Emile, funnily enough my grandad used to go to the City Track all the time

[mockerlancs]

Shame about the Bradford accents. The only genuine accent is that of Bradford born (uncle) Wilfred Laughton who was born in Harris Street, Bradford (which runs off Barkerend Road). The scene where they run out of the house to catch the bus is 161 Undercliffe Street, Bradford, they then run down New Bank, Halifax on to Godley Road, The railings in the scene are still there. New Bank is demolished without a trace. All can be checked on Google street views. Anyone know any more locations?

[windstorm1000]

@mockerlancs I'm very glad that we have some Brits watching this good film offering comments on accents. Most Americans have a very rudimentary knowledge of all the different English accents. I know Cockney, Mayfair, and Yorkshire and that's about it. Thank you--added to my enjoyment of the film. Harvey beyond handsome and a good actor as well.

[emilebradford]

@windstorm1000 Thanks for your comments. All the places I mention are on Google Street Views. Quite an enjoyable trip.

[kevinastraw]

Harvey's wrong for this part - too handsome and smart.

[Grifiki]

"I thought that store that the sport's is parked next to was Bains'e. But it's not. It's Carters the toy-shop. When I came back home in 1961. The store wasn't there anymore, neither were many others. Whole buildings had been demolished!"

[abegg8000]

Super authentic film. from the 50s, "where theres muck, theres money" ........ Alan  from Bolton

[itkapatanka]

anyone know which town this was filmed in? like a different planet to look at this now...after only 50 years

[womeruk]

@itkapatanka

The opening titles were filmed in Halifax, Yorkshire, (that's Halifax Old Station {Warnley Town}, and the shot with the Brown's mill chimney.

Most of the rest of the film was shot in Bradford, the shots in the narrow street, are by the side of the Boy And Barrel pub just off Westgate (put jamesgate BD1 into google maps),

The end scene was filmed in Wapping, Bradford, (long gone)

Hope it helps

John

[windstorm1000]

@womeruk I believe Bradford is where Frederick Delius, the composer is from. Wool weaving area?

[womeruk]

@windstorm1000 Yes, quite right, Delius was indeed from Bradford, from the days when it was THE wool capital of The British Empire.

As of 2012, there isn't one single mill left open, The last one "Dawsons" who made Pringle sweaters, shut two years ago, as did "Drummonds" and the one I used to work at, "Whitehead's"

[windstorm1000]

@womeruk Thank you for you informative response! I bet you could teach us all a thing or two of the woolen mill industry! I believe D.H. Lawrence wrote about one of the Midlands areas, if not the wool industry in his novels.

[womeruk]

@windstorm1000 I certainly could !!!.

FYI try on here "T|-|IS SP0RTI/\/G |_IFE 1 1963", most of that was shot in Wakefield & Halifax. (the main ground is Belle Vue, Wakefield Trinity's Rugby League Ground, the other being when Grandad is called a little poodle is Thrum Hall (Halifax), which now has a ASDA supermarket on it !

Also Try "Billy Liar 1963" on here, nearly all that is shot in Bradford, with odd shots of Manchester Town Hall for some reason

Happy Viewing, John

[miltsar]

Such nonsense about Sinatra and his death of cancer...Angela Lansberry is still with us and Janet Leigh died in 2004, 40 years or so after the film. ...This is such crap !

[rouens]

sorry i did not see what was below!

[rouens]

lord the women at the counter at the start looks like wendy craig is it her?

[Grifiki]

"Sounds like Terry?  Yes I also write now."

[Rico8458]

or dont change horses in mid stream. lol

[bradominus]

I just got this on DVD... Very competent Angry Young Man film; I also bought "This Sporting Life" - another from the same subgenre - just gems from the British Free Cinema...

[Grifiki]

@bradominus "You should have also bought 'Life at the Top' They were both nade in Bradford/Keigthley Yorkshire . Both. written by John Brain."

[MrROG2]

ones of the best British films made

[Grifiki]

"This was me 5oyrs ago. arrived in Bradford just like he did."

[pix042]

@Grifiki

well, if this film were you 50 year ago ya might 'ave risen a bit higher than hoylake b' now. but not much higher, lad. and if, b' chance, ya did ya might 'ave sold your soul, our kid.

[vodka4everandalways]

@pix042 I can't believe you mentioned Hoylake, as a child, I visited there many, many times. Where are you from? I was born in Liverpool, Northeren England. I also visited Southport many times too. I do like this movie though. I have watched it many, many times. Last night, I watched A Kind Of Loving with Alan Bates, I loved it. I have also watched that many times too. These movies remind me of when I was dating my husband. He was 19 and I was 16. We married in 1959,

[Rico8458]

excellent film. no talent but plenty of ambition. his trick backfired on him when he fell for the older woman. what is the moral of the story?

[pix042]

@Rico8458

the moral of the story is t' know ya place, lad

[Grifiki]

"But there was a sequel to this movie> I saw a small part I saw being made in Bradford "Life at the Top' in 1965/6 ..."

[jasonlevar]

Did he call her a "constipated bitch?" 1959, we hardly knew ye....

[Grifiki]

"What a writer John Brain was!"

[nogorino]

This has got to be one of my all time favorite movies. I saw it once many mnay years ago, and couldn't find it till now. I love all the black and whites you've uploaded. I also love the Thin Man Series, but that's neither here not there. Brilliant taste in moviess! Thanks for sharing :)

[Torontogirl49]

Lots of smoking, sign of the times. I just adore Laurance Harvey. He was taken too soon. I also love her, Simone, she is so attractive and you just feel her pain and hurt. Been there.

Thanks

[Grifiki]

"This was where I lived as a kid. I used to frequent these area's. Most of the building are torn down now."

[PeterFirthFan]

The amount of smoking in this film was unbelievable.

[mokacode]

have you ever seen some of Claude Sautet's films?ah,ah....

[josealonsoleon]

No!

[jferkfjkj]

Harvey was hated by his peers and critics and I can see why, not that he's a terrible actor, but a marginally talented one

[norristerse]

@jferkfjkj

you should see him in "the long, the short and the tall"

...OUCH!!!

[nocount1]

Great to see this film again. Simone Signoret''s scene alone in the booth of a bar is one of the most vividly imprinted in my memory. She does so much in 100 seconds of film without saying a word.

Thanks for posting. You've got good taste.

[JoeWPratt]

He was too bloody polite, too bloody polite!

[deltasigmatheta4life]

I love this movie. It was on TCM this morning and I set my clock for 4 a.m. on my day off to watch this.

[gnsback]

Laurence Harvey was a tremendous actor, I think he was much better received than some of the critics gave him credit for. There are comments on some of the sites that he fell out of style as he got a bit older, but I don't buy that.  Seems he would have been just more distinguished with age, but he died too early from, I think, stomach cancer. spent much of his last years in seclusion looking at movies

He was excellent in Of Human Bondage, Kim Novak, Butterfield 8, Liz Taylor, and others.

[elena2402]

I loved him in The wonderful world of the brothers Grimm. He was simply amazing!

[ScarletSinn]

He also did a brilliant job with the Manchurian Candidate.

[gnsback]

Yes he did, and I was recently reminded that his early ''sudden cancer" was only one of others who dies too soon who were associated with The Manchurian Candidate. It was like, when Sinatra, who had rights to the film, pulled it from syndication, someone may have wanted these persons to pass on, along with the subject matter and information on it. So that's a possible explanation as to why he got ill and died too soon. Went like Jack Ruby, Dorothy Killgallen, etc..

[huskyjerk]

Those are pretty strong suggestions.

[gnsback]

The possibility of Harvey's cancer being related to the film role was suggested to me by someone here on YouTube. Until then, I did not lump him in the ballpark of those other deceased persons, and yes, those are pretty strong suggestions. For me it is remotely possible, at least I wouldn't discount it.

[MisAnnThorpe]

@gnsback As someone else has mentioned, the amount of smoking going on in this film, indicative of the times, could, one might well imagine, have been a contributory factor to Harvey's death. However, discount nothing, particularly where Sinatra's concerned!

[gnsback]

@MisAnnThorpe Yes, I knew Sinatra was in Manchurian Candidate, but didn't think he had anything to do with this one. In fact, a chief competitor of Sinatra, Matt Monro with the golden voice, developed rather early liver cancer and ended his career while Sinatra's went on. I always wondered about that due to alleged mob connections since CIA connects to mob, and researcher-writers discuss the 'quick cancers' they reportedly have.

[Khamomil]

@gnsback Hey that's a strange coincidence, a few hours ago I checked out French actor's Gérard Philipe's death in 1959 and he, too, died of a very fast acting liver cancer at age 37 or so.

[3aries03]

Many thanks for uploading this unique film. I have fallen in love with it again! I cannot imagine another actor other than Lawrence Harvey playing this role, so convincingly.

[leonlover4ever]

One of my all time favourite films. Thank you so much!

[037016]

Thanks for uploading this classic jewel!