Pity poor Vic (Alan Bates): when he begins a relationship with Ingrid (June Ritchie), a typist at the Lancashire factory where he works as a draughtsman; his life comes apart at the seams. Ingrid's gossiping, malicious friends are bad enough, but her mother Mrs Rothwell (the terrifying Thora Hird) is something else. Vic has to marry Ingrid-she's pregnant--and the only place for them to stay is chez Rothwell.
There's a tenderness about A Kind of Loving which you don't find in the more abrasive "kitchen sink" films of the 60s. Vic is not a rebel like Arthur Seton in Saturday Night, Sunday Morning or a macho lunk like Richard Harris' rugby-league player in This Sporting Life. He's a likable, easygoing youngster who soon discovers that real-life love affairs are infinitely messier than he and his mates could ever have imagined. The acute, witty screenplay, adapted by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse from Stan Barstow's novel, shows how limited Vic and Ingrid's choices really are. They have no privacy or independence. Bounced into a marriage that neither necessarily wants, their romance quickly sours. Mrs Rothwell is truly the mother-in-law from Hell--a busybody and a tyrant. Look out for the Queen Victoria-like expression on her face when a drunken Vic throws up in her front room. Debut-feature director John Schlesinger captures the humour and the pathos in the young lovers' plight without ever making fun of them. --Geoffrey Macnab
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
A different world? If your hair is just beginning to go grey at the edges, you will very likely join the ranks of those who feel nostalgic for their lost youth. This marvellous film from the very beginning of the 1960s is another example (with the even better 'Saturday Night & Sunday Morning' for example) of a Britain that has gone for ever. Although filmed in black & white, one really gets the feeling of a grim and gritty country where the austerity brought on by the war hasn't yet disappeared and where the streets... more info
Get your Brylcreem off my antimacassar! Stan Barstow was one of the most underrated writers of the sixties and the following decades,and a hell of a nice bloke. Schlessinger does a
great job of translating it to film without losing much of Barstow's incisive writing. Alan Bates and June Ritchie (then an unknown amateur) were near perfect casting, as was Thora Hird. Unfortunately, I do not feel the other pricipals were so well cast, not that they weren't up to the job - quite the opposite. However,having been introduced to the book in 1967... more info
Early 60s spot on. Believe me, this might as well be an early 60s documentary. Just the way it was for plenty of Vic's and Ingrid's, including staying with the mother in law. Incidently, Thora Hird wasn't the worst. A sort of semi-staid Britain just before the Beatles exploded on the scene. Great acting all round. From the script to the decor, clothing and shortage of cars on the road, it's just the way it was. No features or trailer, who cares. If you want to time travel back to early 60s UK and be a fly on the wall in... more info
British Film Making At Its Best Adapted from a famous Stan Barstow novel the story evolves around Vic Brown's relationship with Ingrid Rothwell, a typist who works at the same place. When Ingrid falls pregnant, Vic is obliged to marry her and his life is turned upside down when he comes up against the mother-in-law from Hell wonderfully portrayed by Thora Hird. This is a fine example of British movie making and is worth seeing for the performances by Alan Bates; June Ritchie and of course, Thora Hird. Controversial at the time since it... more info
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