Saturday Night And Sunday Morning Details

At a time when angry young men railed against the injustices of life, Arthur Seaton was the only “kitchen sink” hero to accept that, while life was nasty, brutish and short, you had to make the best of it. And there was no one better to convey that complex mix of cynicism, laddishness and resignation than Albert Finney. The fact that this was only his second film makes it an even more astonishing performance. Both he and Rachel Roberts won Bafta awards, while the film itself took the best British picture honour. Adapting his own novel, Alan Sillitoe draws on his own experiences of factory life, which are given a truly authentic ring by director Karel Reisz, who was making his feature debut after several pioneering Free Cinema documentaries. British films would never be the same again. For the first time, the working classes were treated with respect, not condescension. Finney's belligerence towards authority is as convincing as his touching tenderness towards the married woman (Roberts) he seduces, and, while he may not always live by his words — “What I want is a good time. The rest is all propaganda” — as he conforms to marriage with Shirley Anne Field, the film's affirmation that he can never really be beaten survives. This ground-breaker has lost none of its power.

Startling when it emerged, this raw working-class melodrama, with its sharp detail and strong comedy asides, delighted the mass audience chiefly because of its strong central character thumbing his nose at authority. Matching the mood of the times, and di