Themes: Twentysomething Life, Class Differences, Infidelity
Main Cast: Albert Finney, Shirley Ann Field, Rachel Roberts, Hylda Baker, Norman Rossington
Release Year: 1961
Country: UK
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
"All I want is a good time. The rest is propaganda." That's the philosophy of archetypal British "angry young man" Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney). A middle-class working stiff in a dead-end job, Arthur's principal goal in life is to survive the work week, then spend the weekend raising as much hell and drinking as much beer and other liquor as possible. Since pleasure is all that Arthur lives for, he thinks nothing of starting up an affair with the wife (Rachel Roberts) of one of his co-workers (Bryan Pringle). His efforts to secure her an abortion when he gets her pregnant stem not out of concern for her but out of his own selfishness: why should he be tied down with a squalling brat? Despite his carousing and his ongoing desire to escape the dull routine of his weekday existence, Arthur is doomed to perpetuate that routine via his marriage to a complacent "nice" girl (Shirley Ann Field) from his own neighborhood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
While it was hardly the first of the British "Angry Young Man" dramas of the late 1950s/early 1960s (Look Back In Anger beat it to the screen by nearly two years), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was one of the best, thanks largely to a superb performance by Albert Finney in his first leading film role. Finney's turn as Arthur Seaton practically defined the archetypal working-class yob who is just smart enough to know that his life is going nowhere, but not sharp enough to do anything about it; dozens more like him would follow, but few were able to give him the street smarts and fine edge of bitter wit that Finney brought to the character's charming amorality. The film made him a star overnight. Director Karel Reisz knew enough to keep Finney front and center throughout, but he also created an appropriately dingy atmosphere for his star; the film's sense of grubby detail is so keen that one can almost smell the smoke and stale beer in the pubs, and feel the heat in the factory where Arthur spends his weekdays. If time has dated Alan Sillitoe's screenplay, its spirit remains true to any post-adolescent would-be rebel either searching for a cause or not bothering to look for one. While Rachel Roberts doesn't get nearly as showy a role as Finney, her performance as Brenda, the unhappy housewife having an affair with Arthur, is every bit as strong, and she's perhaps the only actor in this movie who doesn't seem intimidated in her scenes with the leading man. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning can't escape being a product of its time, but its intelligence and rich store of talent make it powerful and relevant for any generation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Bryan Pringle - Jack; Robert Cawdron - Robboe; Edna Morris - Mrs. Bull; Elsie Wagstaffe - Mrs. Seaton; Frank Pettitt - Mr. Seaton; Avis Bunnage - Blowsy Woman; Colin Blakely - Loudmouth; Irene Richmond - Doreen's Mother; Louise Dunn - Betty; Anne Blake - Civil Defense Officer; Peter Madden - Drunk; Cameron Hall - Mr. Bull; Alister Williamson - Police Constable
Credit
Ted Marshall - Art Director, Sophie Devine - Costume Designer, Barbara Gillett - Costume Designer, Karel Reisz - Director, Seth Holt - Editor, Johnny Dankworth - Composer (Music Score), Johnny Dankworth - Musical Direction/Supervision, Johnny Dankworth - Songwriter, Freddie Francis - Cinematographer, Tony Richardson - Producer, Harry Saltzman - Producer, Peter Handford - Sound/Sound Designer, Alan Sillitoe - Screenwriter, Alan Sillitoe - Book Author
Arthur Seaton, a young machinist at a Nottingham factory, is having an affair with Brenda, the wife of an older co-worker. He also has a relationship with Doreen, a woman closer to his own age. When Brenda gets pregnant, Arthur asks his aunt for advice on aborting the child. Brenda's husband discovers the affair, and his brother (a burly soldier) and a fellow soldier give Arthur a vicious beating. After recovering, Arthur returns to work, and the film ends on an ambiguous note, with Arthur and Doreen discussing marriage and the prospect of a new home.
Much of the exterior filming was done on location in Nottingham, but some scenes were not. The night scene with a pub named "The British Flag" in the background was filmed along Culvert Road in Battersea, London, the pub being at the junction of Culvert Road and Sheepcote Lane (now Rowditch Lane).
The closing scenes show the lead characters on a grassy slope overlooking a housing estate with new construction going on. According to an article in the Nottingham Evening News on 30 March1960, this was filmed in Wembley with the assistance of Nottingham builders Simms Sons & Cooke who set up a staged "building site" on location.
"Tales from Soho" (1956) •Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Television
Othello (1955) •It Should Happen to a Dog (1955) •"BBC Sunday Night Theatre" (1955) •"ITV Play of the Week" (1956) •"The Sunday-Night Play" (1960) •A Death in Canaan (1978) •The Penalty Phase (1986) •Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988) •Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) (with Frederic Raphael and Ken Russell) •The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
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