alexanderdavies-99382 "Look Back in Anger" marked the beginning of what would become known as the "Kitchen Sink" drama. In addition, John Osborne's play signalled the beginning of a new breed of actor in the British acting industry. There would be actors who would make plays and films which would reflect life in Britain as it really was. If Richard Burton had made more films like the above, then his film career would have been infinitely more satisfying. He is a tower of strength as the original angry young man, Jimmy Porter. Suffering from having an inferiority complex and also a chip on his shoulder, he voices his anger and unhappiness upon his long- suffering wife (well played by Mary Ure). Claire Bloom scored a triumph as Porter's lover. Richard Burton's highly distinctive Welsh voice is put to full use and exercises a wide range of emotions as a result. The film is an excellent adaptation of the play and it highlights the struggles of one man who feels he doesn't belong anywhere except where he is - running a market stall 5 days a week. He was actually a university student and is reduced to wasting his potential. His bitterness is aimed at his in-laws, his mother- in-law in particular. The way he describes her in a tone of mockery and being smarmy, sums up the situation pretty well. You never quite know when the next verbal assault will happen and you brace yourself for when it does. Underneath the anger, there lays a sadness and vulnerability about Porter. His affair with Claire Bloom reveals a more calm and sensitive side to his personality. The scene at the beginning which takes place on a Sunday morning, shows Jimmy Porter staring out the window at the nearby church. The church bells are ringing and Porter screams at the top of his voice, wanting the ringing to cease. Such fiery passion is produced by Burton's voice, I have rarely witnessed such a vocal display. The only other exceptions I can immediately think of, are Robert Shaw, Rod Steiger, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman and Patrick McGoohan. This is a landmark film and it is just as powerful now as it was back in the 1950s.

kijii This film was based on John Osborne's very successful autobiographical play. When a press release of Osborne's 1956 play called him an 'angry young man,' this coined the phrase and started the movement.As the movie begins, we see Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) with his trumpet jamming at a jazz club. This may be one of Jimmy's freeist and happiest moments in the whole movie, because here he is free to be rebellious, and the audience in the jazz club loves it and appreciates it. When he gets home to his cramped attic apartment, he must face his demons---life with his wife, Alison (Mary Ure) and their friend, Cliff (Gary Raymond), who cohabits the apartment with them and serves as sort of a peacemaker between them, just by his presence. As Jimmy rants, we realize that he is from the lower class and Alison is from the upper- middle class. Before they were married, Jimmy had to campaign hard against her family's disapproval in order to marry her. Jimmy's anger is not so much against Alison as it is against what she stands for by continuing to write letters to her mother. He hates to compete against Alison's family for her love. He wants her to make a decision between him or them, and Alison is unable to do it: reference in continually made to her as a fence sitter—unable to commit to one side or the other.For income, Jimmy and Cliff operate a sweet stall in a public market that is owned by Jimmy's friend, 'Ma' Tanner (Edith Evans). Ma makes an appearance to see how her investment is going. But, the symbol of evil petty middle-class values is best shown by the constant badgering from the market's inspector, Hurst (Donald Pleasence), who is always threatening to have them closed down for one violation or another. Next, we find out that Alison is pregnant and, temporarily, wants to abort the baby. She first tells Cliff about the pregnancy; Cliff urges her to tell Jimmy about the baby as soon as possible. But, before she can tell Jimmy, he learns that Alison's friend, Helena (Claire Bloom), is going to stay with them for a week while acting in a local play. Jimmy openly despises Helena. As tensions grow, Alison returns to live with her parents after Helena sends them a telegram to come and rescue her. When Cliff learns of this, he leaves Helena behind to give Jimmy the news about Alison's departure. Jimmy is angry because he is informed by a note that Alison left behind with Helena rather than in person. As far as Alison having a baby is concerned, he 'could care less' because he has been busy looking after Ma Tanner while she is dying. When Ma Tanner dies, he is angry because Alison doesn't think to send a letter of condolence or flowers to the grave site.After Alison leaves, Helena stays with Jimmy and Cliff for a while longer. Unlike Alison, Helena is up to Jimmy's anger; when he slaps her, she slaps back and the two of them fall in love. The chemistry between Burton and Bloom in this film--neither of which was in the original stage play—is electric. As Cliff notices their closeness, he tells Jimmy that he wants to strike out on his own and leave the business. As Helena and Jimmy are at the train station to say good bye to Cliff, Alison reappears and tells Helena she had lost the child. Feeling guilty, Helena leaves Jimmy, and Jimmy and Alison make up. In their happier moments in the movie, the two had compared themselves to a bear and squirrel. As the movie ends, they again use this comparison. Somehow, the loss of the child seems important in bringing them back together again. Now, Alison had learned the pain and uncertainty of life and death. Now. Alison is no longer sitting on the fence. And now, Jimmy knows that Alison understands his rage and its cause.

classicsoncall Relentlessly depressing, "Look Back in Anger" offers Richard Burton somewhat miscast as a twenty five year old university graduate who spends virtually all of his time railing against his wife, his surroundings and his place as a member of Britain's working class of the 1950's. It would be a misnomer to classify this picture as entertainment; it's harsh and dreary, and except for Mom Tanner (Edith Evans), there aren't any genuinely likable characters here. One could make a case for Alison Porter (Mary Ure), lovely to look at most of the time, but completely subjugated to the tyrannical rants of her husband. The shocker of course was how easily Helena (Claire Bloom) replaced her in the squalid scheme of things, and one never gets a sense of what attracts her to the lout that she had no use for in the first place. It seemed like a plot device to make us hate Jimmy (Burton) even more, as if he wasn't doing a pretty good job of having us hate him all by himself.

ianlouisiana "Look back in Anger" was not an instant hit as a play.It took the transmission by ITV of a truncated version starring Richard Pascoe as Jimmy Porter to bring it to a wider less theatrically sophisticated audience and,by extension,popularise it.This action was also incidentally the intention of John Osbourne who,along with the others in the so - called "Kitchen Sink" movement was to reclaim the theatre for ordinary working people by writing about lives and situations that had some relevance to their own. The play was to some extent autobiographical as far as it reflected Osbourne's first marriage,but Osbourne himself was no Jimmy Porter , rather he invented Porter as a character to give himself a platform on which to articulate those views that no one would listen to if he personally was to express them. Once Porter was accepted as a "voice",Osbourne could happily say whatever he liked(and frequently did) without necessarily believing in any or all of it. The form of the play was reassuringly traditional - nothing of the Beckett or Brecht about it - but the content was viciously "anti - theatre". With Osbourne's known admiration for Music Hall and Variety it is tempting to see parallels between Porter and the great Tony Hancock. Both inveterate snobs,prone to stream of consciousness dialogue,world class ranters living in seedy digs with subordinate pals.Both these great creations talk the talk but ultimately fail to walk the walk. In using Richard Burton for the movie version Tony Richardson made a fatal - if understandable - error.Too physically beautiful,too "Actorish",paradoxically too well - known,too recognisably not an embittered University Man running a market stall in order to remain true to his principles and prejudices.And once your lead has been compromised everything else around it begins collapsing. Taking Porter away from his soapbox and out onto the street further weakens the film.The efficacy of the play is to a large extent dependent on the claustrophobic gloomy set. Mr Osbourne was not a poet of the working - class,he was a poet for the working - class,not the same thing at all.He may have had hated all that he believed England had become,but like Jimmy,he chose to do nothing about it.Instead,through his mouthpiece,he chose to bellow clever words that appealed to the Armchair Revolutionaries of half a century ago and still appeal to their counterparts today. The trouble is the same snouts are still deep in the trough and the same people are still out in the cold.And it's still deeds,not words,that count.