Look Back in Anger: A Review

LOOK BACK IN ANGER

Angry young men don't come any angrier than working-class British young men. From Albert Finney in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning to Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top and Tom Courtney in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, disaffected British men were the cream of the crop for misery and moroseness. Welshman Richard Burton gets into the act with one of the original kitchen sink dramas, Look Back in Anger. Mostly well-acted, this story of the working-class man as antihero is surprisingly universal.

Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) has a small stand which he runs with his friend Cliff Lewis (Gary Raymond) selling sweets. The legality of their stand is perpetually in question by local cop Hurst (Donald Pleasance). Jimmy yearns to move up in life, but he feels that society is against his dreams of upward mobility.

That anger extends to his upper-middle-class wife Allison (Mary Ure). Jimmy loves her, but he also harbors resentments about her posh upbringing versus his hardscrabble early years. Things come to a head when Allison's friend Helena Charles (Claire Bloom) comes to stay with the three of them, Cliff being friends with the Porters. Allison is pregnant and though unspoken, unsure what to do given Jimmy's eternal battle with the world. Helena convinces Allison to leave Jimmy and return to her parents. Despite their mutual loathing, Jimmy and Helena begin an affair.

Cliff, who also wants to move up in the world, finally has the strength to do so. For her part, Allison finds the pregnancy hard physically. Our stories come together when Helena and Jimmy see Cliff off at the railway station. Here, they encounter Allison, grief-stricken over her miscarriage.  Will Jimmy and Helena stay together, or will he find himself with his still-wife?

"You're hurt because everything has changed, and Jimmy's hurt because everything is the same", Helena tells Allison. Many a true word is spoken in that line. Look Back in Anger is a fitting title, for Jimmy is the embodiment of the angry young man. He has endless rage: at the world, at his loving wife, at his best friend, at his mistress, at the injustice of his life. 

This sense of an eternal railing against the dying of the light is brilliantly captured by Richard Burton. One can forgive that, at age 33, he was probably too old for the part. However, right from the opening scene, where Jimmy is belting it all out on his trumpet, you can see that rage within him. This is a man who wants to claw his way out onto the world yet cannot break through. 

In his tirades, his metaphorical shouting at the wind, Burton holds your attention throughout. Yet, something within him still can feel. We see this at the end, when he sees that the rage he has hurled at others does hurt those that he does love.

Mary Ure, who recreated her role of Allison from the original West End production, brings a delicacy and almost despairing manner to the role. This is a woman who truly loved deeply, though not well. She is conflicted about Jimmy, about her past, her present and future. She yearns for Jimmy but also knows that he has placed barriers that keep them apart. Gary Raymond's Cliff is pretty easygoing and pleasant, a likeable fellow who also knows deep inside that things should be better.

In his small role, Donald Pleasance was almost amusing as Hurst, the stall market inspector who delighted in what little power he had. He was strict, but he was also fair. 

Claire Bloom does wonders with the role of Helena, Allison's friend who ends up betraying her. While her performance was excellent, she is what troubles me about the film. I never once believed that Helena would end up having an affair with Jimmy. Until they were lips aflame, Helena and Jimmy were at perpetual loggerheads. As such, their affair once Allison up and left for shelter and comfort at her parents' home never seemed believable to me. 

I suppose that it had to happen to move the story forward. For myself though, I never accepted that these two would fall for each other. I found that aspect of the film implausible. 

Despite that, Look Back in Anger works very well. It is a surprise that this was Tony Richardson's film directorial debut. He had directed the original stage production, but Richardson proved himself adept to bring the stage production to film. Look Back in Anger flows well. For a film that runs 98 minutes, Look Back in Anger never feels either rushed or short. 

Look Back in Anger makes for a fine film adaptation of the stage play. I do not think that it is so sacrosanct that it could not do with a remake. I wonder though, if the same themes of alienation, frustration and painful acceptance would resonate now as they did when the play premiered. However, you do have some strong performances and an interesting story which should both entertain and move an audience. 

DECISION: B-