This Sporting Life

This Sporting Life (Criterion #417).
1963 Janus Films and The Rank Organisation
Starring: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely, Vanda Godsell
Produced by Karel Reisz
Director: Lindsay Anderson
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Lindsay Anderson's feature length debut is an outstanding example of the kitchen sink realism (the "British New Wave") that British cinema was producing between the late 1950s and early '60s. Richard Harris made his film debut here, and he won the Best Actor Award at the 1963 Cannes Film festival for his portrayal as the angry Yorkshire miner Frank Machin, who is recruited into a local rugby club after the team's manager witnesses a drunken fight between Machin and several of his players. Frank takes time to mature into a decent player, but he is signed to the premier team when the owner, Gerald Weaver (Badel) is impressed by Machin's aggressive play. In due time, Frank Machin has wealth and fame, but he finds that it's not enough to win the affections of his landlady, Mrs. Margaret Hammond (Roberts).

Margaret is the struggling mother of two young children, and her husband is recently deceased after an accident at Weaver's engineering firm which was ruled a suicide. At first, she rejects Frank's advances, but does begin a relationship with him that seems doomed from the start. Machin uses Margaret for sex, and she is still grief-stricken enough that she cannot return affection. Margaret, meanwhile, is upset at Frank's lack of social graces during a dinner date at a fancy restaurant. The affair ends, but a reconciliation is not in the cards. Margaret dies following a brain hemorrhage, and Frank finally realizes that his rugby career is probably no better than working all of his life operating machinery in a mine: both choices ultimately feels like an inescapable prison.

This Sporting Life also features William Hartnell as "Dad" Johnson, a rugby scout who is devoted to Frank to an uncomfortable degree even after Machin abandons him after his first taste of success. Hartnell's appearance here gained the attention of the first Doctor Who producer, Verity Lambert, and he would become the first Doctor that same year.

Get this DVD! Highly, highly recommended film.