The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Grade: 70
British writer Alan Silltoe achieved critical success with "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", a novel about a troubled young man from a working class family. After writing the screenplay as well, his next effort was "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", which he also adapted for the screen. As in his earlier film, the anti-hero youth, his romances, and his confrontations with (and submissions to) authority are the dominant themes.
Producer/Director Tony Richardson would have his greatest success the following year with "Tom Jones" (which starred Albert Finney, who also was the lead in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning"). But while "Tom Jones" was a boisterous comedy, "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is a grim drama.
Tom Courtenay makes his screen debut as Colin Smith, a young man who is sentenced to a juvenile prison after committing a burglary. Although his attitude remains antisocial, he becomes a favorite of the governor (the prison administrator, played by Michael Redgrave) due to his athletic ability. Colin is trained as a cross country runner, in the hopes that he win a cup when in competition with athletes from a well-to-do boarding school. But Courtenay still resents the system, and has revenge on his mind.
Silltoe places the blame for Colin's behavioral problems on his family life. Colin's day laborer father (Peter Madden) recently died after a grueling illness, and Colin was the first to see him dead. His mother (Avis Bunnage) is relieved, and is prompt to take a lover (Raymond Dyer) who views Colin as a good-for-nothing. Colin gets a girlfriend (Topsy Jane) who presses him to get a job. But Colin is too much the rebel to work for the man, turning to robbery instead.
Richardson makes heavy use of flashback, especially when Colin is running miles by himself in the woods. Richardson and Silltoe clearly sympathize with Colin, and not with the governor, whose eagerness to win the cup has overcome his common sense. Courtenay, who was several years older than his teenaged character, is effective in the lead role. Bunnage is also very good. She gives her character a practical, hard edge appropriate for surviving the hard knocks of life.
briankoller@usa.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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