Running has always been big in my family. Especially running from the police.
Colin Smith's opening voiceover narrative, in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

So begins the musings of Colin Smith, a young working class Brit whose romances and rebellions, confrontations and compromises we will observe during the next 104 minutes. Of course, we'll also be sharing his loneliness as a long-distance runner.

Historical Background: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) was part of the British New Wave, also referred to as "Kitchen Sink Cinema," "Angry Young Men Films" or "Social Problem Films." Take your choice! The movement lasted mainly from 1959-1963, though a couple of the entries came a bit later. The films of the movement featured grim, social realism, working-class dialog and themes, angry, alienated heroes, and gritty cinematography. Jack Clayton's film Room at the Top (1959) launched the genre. Tony Richardson was one of the important voices of the movement, along with the likes of Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, and John Schlesinger. Richardson's contributions to the movement included Look Back in Anger (1959), A Taste of Honey (1961), and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). The directors involved in the movement came from backgrounds in theater, documentaries, and television. Although the films focused on working-class people, none of the directors involved came from working class backgrounds. These films were made my folks from privileged backgrounds who were merely touring the slums, so to speak. Despite that voyeuristic element, the films had a welcome freshness in dealing with such issues as rebellion vs. conformity.

Tony Richardson was born Cecil Antonio Richardson in 1928 in Shipley, England. When World War II broke out, his secondary school was relocated to the countryside. Thus separated from his parents during his formative adolescent years, Richardson developed something of an animosity toward authority that served him well in adapting Alan Sillitoe's novel about an anti-hero. After graduating from Oxford, Richardson joined BBC-TV and became part of the "Free Cinema Movement," which was a documentary-centered predecessor of the British New Wave. In 1956, Richardson directed a theater production of Look Back in Anger, helping to establish the tone that would soon become the characteristic style of the Angry Young Men. Richardson's first cinematic contribution to the movement was a film adaptation of that play, in 1959. Richardson then reached the pinnacle of his success as a director with A Taste of Honey (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) Tom Jones (1963), the last of which earned Richardson an Oscar.

The Story: Eighteen-year-old Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay) is at loose ends. When his ailing father (Peter Madden) dies, Colin is the first to see him dead. Then Colin observes the ignominy of his mother (Avis Bunnage) taking up with her boyfriend Gordon (Raymond Dyer) and spending the money from her deceased husband's insurance even before his father's body is cold in the grave. Colin has no idea what he wants to do with his life except that he'll be darned if he's going to take a factory job like his father's and work himself to death so his bosses can profit from his labor. While trying to sort things out, Colin hangs out with his pal Mike (James Bolam), scrounging opportunities for a good time. They heist a car for a joyride and pick up a couple of birds, Audrey (Topsy Jane) and Gladys (Julia Foster).

After Colin and Mike break into a bakery and find a tin box full of cash, Colin hides the stolen cash in a drainpipe. Though the local police detective (Dervis Ward) suspects Colin is behind the theft, he is unable to turn up any evidence even with a search warrant. Colin appears to be home free until a heavy rainstorm washed the bills out, as the detective is questioning Colin nearby. Soon, Colin is shipped off to the Borstal (juvenile prison) called Ruxton Towers Reformatory.

The Governor (Michael Redgrave) at Ruxton Towers believes in rehabilitation through sports and has little use for the new fangled psychological theories of the training school housemaster, Brown (Alex McCowen). The Governor is especially excited that one of the local schools has agreed to compete against Ruxton Towers in an athletics day and has pledged a challenge cup for the cross-country event. Ruxton Towers has a very good runner in the person of Stacy, one of the incarcerated lads. Colin is assigned to Drake House where Stacy is leader, a privilege that he acquired due to his athletic prowess. When Colin proves to be an even better long-distance runner than Stacy, Colin becomes the governor's favorite, at Stacy's expense. Stacy picks a fight with Colin in the shower room and later Stacy goes on the lam. Colin's privileges increase as his running times diminish and he is even allowed to practice on his own, outside the prison walls, without supervision. His fellow inmates, however, resent his preferential treatment and the extent to which he seems to be sucking up to the governor's desires. During Colin's lonely training sessions, his mind frequently wanders back to his previous life and the choices that led him to confinement at the reformatory. When the day of the competition finally comes, Colin has to choose between continuing to play the game to curry favor or retaining his sense of dignity and independence.

Themes: Back in the fifties and sixties, long-distance running was a big deal in England and a source of British pride. In 1954, for example, Englishman Roger Bannister had become the first person ever to run a mile in under four minutes. John Landy, an Australian, became the second man to do so, a month later, and the two milers ran a challenge match against one another later that year, with Bannister winning and both runners finishing in under four minutes. A mile may not precisely qualify as "long-distance" running but certainly the recollection of Bannister's feat was part of what British filmgoers thought about while watching this movie. Bannister was later knighted, which gives you an idea of how big a deal his accomplishment was for people in the U.K. From a symbolic point of view, a long-distance runner conjures up images of a loner and introvert – a man obsessed with individuality to an extent that he's prepared to put up with mental and physical anguish to stand apart. Thus, running is an activity ideally suited to exploring the issue of rebellion vs. conformity.

When is playing along with society's game just plain good sense and a healthy kind of cooperative mentality? Certainly it is typically a good thing when people pull together for common benefit. When, on the other hand, is playing the game tantamount to surrendering one's values or allowing oneself to be co-opted into an agenda for which one shares neither motivation nor benefits? If, for example, you are a poor, minority person living in a ghetto and your only options are (1) a menial job which doesn't even provide subsistence level income, or (2) some criminal activity that will pay off handsomely (unless you get caught), are you just a sucker if you take the menial work? What happens to your sense of dignity and self-esteem is you just play along for a very meager cut of society's rewards? There are no simple answers to those kinds of questions. In general, however, the percentage of people who will refuse to invest in a social system increases as opportunity decreases. In the fifties and early sixties, working class British citizens often felt alienated from the society because of the grotesque class disparities. The wealthy have no sympathy for such feelings, however, and, predictably, some British authorities thought Colin Smith's disregard for authority subversive and called the film "Communist propaganda." Reviewers sometimes claim that this film has lost relevance because the class disparities in the U.K. are less blatant today than they once were (as the middle class continues to expand). My response is that this film will always be relevant, at least for the foreseeable future, as long as there are people in poverty or near-poverty in any of the wealthy countries.

There's another lesser theme in this film relating to the influence of American-style consumerism. Viewers observe, for example, Smith's disgust at the advertisements for the latest fashions and gadgets on the new television brought home by his mother's boyfriend.

Production Values: The screenplay for this film was written by Alan Sillitoe, based on his own novella by the same name. Sillitoe had previously scored big as both author and screenwriter with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). It's clear that both Sillitoe and Richardson are sympathetic to Colin Smith's rebellious stance, as most viewers will also be. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks, mostly occurring while the already imprisoned protagonist is engaged in his training regimen. One of the loveliest things about this film is its ability to combine social poetry with gritty documentary realism.

Richardson insisted on location shooting for this film and utilized mostly natural lighting. Walter Lassally's black-and-white photography is highly effective, boasting a wide range in contrast and detail. At times, the photography is mesmerizing. As Colin Smith trots through the damp glens, viewers recognize the futility of his existence represented symbolically in the cold, gray, desolate beauty of his surroundings. Richardson further enlivens the viewing experience with some catchy jump cuts and speeded-up action, as well as some very effective montage editing, especially near the end, as the film reaches its crucial moment.

An outstanding debut performance by Tom Courtenay is one of the major reasons to watch this film. His gaunt appearance seems tailor-made to reflect both working class poverty and the physique of a long-distance runner. Courtenay went on to roles in such films as Billy Liar (1963), King and Country (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Dresser (1983), and Last Orders (2001), but his role in the present film was among his very best. Avis Bunnage (The L-shaped Room (1962)) is pretty good as Colin's mother and Michael Redgrave is excellent as the reformatory's governor, nicely mixing likable and less appealing qualities. Redgrave's impressive career included appearances in such films as The Lady Vanishes (1938), The Stars Look Down (1939), The Browning Version (1951), The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), The Innocents (1961), The Battle of Britain (1969), and The Go-Between (1971). The muscle bound Joe Robinson (A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)) was effective as Roach. Many of the extras in the Borstal scenes were actual Borstal inmates.

Bottom-Line: This is a very good looking film with a distinctly poetic air. You'll like the film's mood, regardless of how you feel about its antiestablishment message. You'll also like the excellent lead performance. I'd like to give the film 4.5 stars, but it's a tad closer to five than four.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older