The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

"Running has always been a big thing in our family. Especially from the police." So says taut-jawed, wary-eyed Colin, a promising distance runner. But he's not one of the burnished lads who gave all for England in Chariots of Fire. For working-class reform school inmate Colin, the opposition isn't another runner. It's the Establishment. Tom Courtenay, (The Dresser, Doctor Zhivago) made a blazing screen debut in this, one of the best of the "angry young man" movies. Director Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) and writer Alan Sillitoe (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) give the film an edgy intensity specific to its era yet timeless in its outcry against injustice. And Sir Michael Redgrave stings as the smug school governor with his own motives for using Colin's running prowess.