Look Back in Anger (1959)

Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson.

It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison), and her snooty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace.

The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the original play, is here brought to life by Edith Evans as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of the British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism.

Synopsis

The black-and-white film opens with a close-up on Jimmy Porter performing on trumpet in a crowded, smoky jazz club (titles over). Having finished to a round of applause, he goes over to his friend Cliff, sitting at a front row table, but his friend waves him off in dumb-show, being more intent on winning the affections of a woman. (The real Chris Barber jazz band is visible in the background). Scenes of Jimmy walking home through the depressing streets of a Midlands industrial town (Derby) serve to give the film its overall visual context.

Actors