A Kind Of Loving Details

Unlike the majority of other “grim up North” dramas that found critical favour during the social realist or “kitchen sink” phase of British film-making, John Schlesinger's debut feature is about making the most of life rather than carping on about the colour of the grass on the other side of the fence. Crisply adapted by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall from Stan Barstow's novel, the film is like a scrapbook of typical human experience, with Schlesinger's eye for detail and his persuasive storytelling style creating characters who could have lived next door to you. Alan Bates and June Ritchie are excellent, but Thora Hird is exceptional.

Blunt melodrama with strong kinship to Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, strikingly directed and photographed amid urban grime and suburban conformity.