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Room at the Top

Room at the Top (1959)

  • 100% of critics liked it
    (11 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (1,047 ratings)

Ruthless young working-class Englishman Laurence Harvey takes a job in a North Country village controlled by millionaire Donald Wolfit. Harvey resents Wolfit's class consciousness and vows to rise to the top by wooing the millionaire's daughter, Heather Sears. Meanwhile he has an affair with… More

Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
Neil Paterson, Mordecai Richler
Genres
Drama, Romance, Classics
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1959 Wide
Lion International Films

Critic Reviews

  • Phil Hall, Film Threat

    One of the most important films in the history of British cinema.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    Time has rained on its parade and it seems less daring when viewed today.

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    A seminal work that introduced the new British social realism tradition, this superbly acted film is an uncompromising indictment of the British class system; it launched the career of Jack Clayton, in his feature debut, as a new significant voice

  • Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

    Probably the best acting Harvey ever did.

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Pierluigi P


    A man who doesn't define himself is trapped, attached by the forceful and heavy chains of what society decides is best for him. If he conceals or denies his true self, the rest of the world will be oblivious, knowing he is nothing more than just another puppet among the million… More

  • jay n


    Beautiful performance by Simone Signoret, completely deserving of the Oscar awarded, and perhaps a career best one from Laurence Harvey in this fine examination of naked ambition, wrong choices and the price paid for them.

  • Eric B


    A powerful, influential movie. The launch point of the British New Wave, "Room at the Top" is more conventionally made than many of the '60s "kitchen sink" films that followed in its wake, yet its emotional punch is as hard as any works of its genre. A great… More

  • Byron B


    There are not very many Oscar winning movies that I thought were awful. I think that just about any movie that has been nominated for or won an Oscar is a step above. My average ratings are fairly high because I have seen a lot more good movies than bad. But I just didn't… More

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Cast

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