Room at the Top

The main actor (Joe) may be from Lithuania but he plays the working class northerner very well. His counterpart Alice is actually German! Having said that, this is a gritty Northern drama about post war UK. A great story and a well made movie.

One of the very best films of all time

The acting is very stiff and the accents all over the place. It's probably a better film than the book was but the final scene was unnecessary. Pretty dour stuff.

Setting the template for the angry young man films of the late 50s early 60s, all black and white and brooding, it stands the test of time and maintains the power to shock. The script is sharp and bitter, very northern. Class, supposedly muted by war and Attlee's government, is writ large throughout with superciliousness, contempt, soft and hard power and deep green jealousy and ambition for its own sake. Women are caught in the crossfire of this male battle, from the posh naive but strong millionaire's daughter to the ultimate femme in Simone Signoret's Oscar winning turn as Alice. It's great, if anything dates it, it's a little too literal around class and Lawrence Harvey is easily parodyable as angry northern man. That said, essential.

I see why it's a classic! So many good performances within.

There are some good performances here - Simone Signoret's especially - but all the moral outrage delivered on behalf of the class struggle seems dated and self-righteous.

Simone Signoret gives her greatest performance, and the film is actually very well directed as well

I found it hard to pull for anyone.

A very sad film, seemed like it might be based off a play. Great acting and emotional scenes that touch on many topics that are still relatable today (class war, reputation...etc). I found the movie very interesting and it didn't turn out like I expected from the beginning. The main actress has such sad eyes and always plays sad parts...makes u wonder. The film moved at a good pace. About a young, poor and immature man coming up in the world not sure of himself who gets involved with an unhappy older woman whose married. As he starts falling in love with her, he realizes his goals of financial success and moving up in social classes is falling to the wayside. So in fear and clinging to his old ways, he casts the woman he really loves aside. He consummates his rship to a young wealthy woman to try and change his feelings, but instead it only makes his feelings grow for the older woman. However, the woman gets pregnant and he is basically forced to marry her or have a life of hardship/financial and reputational ruin. The older woman doesn't care, but he can't live that way so he ends things. She winds up killing herself in a drunk drive home from the bar. He marries the young woman, devastated and guilt-ridden but accepting things as they are now. In the last scene he cries as the young woman talks about death do us part as he obvi felt like he was married to that older woman or bc he realizes he really is stuck now...not sure??? a be careful what u wish for film.

Multi-dimensional characters and an oppressively somber mood distinguish this film from its contemporaries, building up a relatively predictable and undistinguished first half before finding its true footing in the final third. However, subtlety is not always the film's strongest suit; there is a scene where a street sign - 'Hope St.' hangs haphazardly by a single nail on a street that is slow to recover from the bombing raids of the Blitz, and I just had to let out an audible groan at that one. (4/5)