This Sporting Life

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This Sporting Life ★★★ 1963

A gritty, depressing portrait of former coal miner Frank Machin (Harris), who breaks into the violent world of professional rugby, and whose inability to handle social differences causes problems. He begins an affair with widow Mrs. Hammond (Roberts), from whom he rents a room, but finds they are capable of only a physical attachment. One of the best of the British early ‘60s workingclass angry young man melodramas. 134m/B VHS, DVD . GB Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely, Vanda Godsell, Arthur Lowe; D: Lindsay Anderson; W: David Storey; C: Denys Coop; M: Roberto Gerhard. British Acad. ‘63: Actress (Roberts); Cannes ‘63: Actor (Harris).