A KIND OF LOVING Movie Review

British director John Schlesinger's directorial debut is one of the best of the ubiquitous “kitchen-sink,” working-class British melodramas of the 1950s and early 1960s. Alan Bates is Vic, the the kind of young, blustery bloke who likes to boast at the pub over a pint or two about the “birds” he's known and those he plans to know. But Vic's fling with attractive young Ingrid (June Ritchie) has left her in the family way, and has left the couple with no alternative but marriage. There's nothing show-offy or pretentious about A Kind of Loving; it's a memorable, poignant, and well-detailed little drama, modest in scope and performed by a first-rate cast. This was one of Bates's early films, and his command of the screen is impressive and strong. Equally as fine, however, is June Ritchie, whose disappearance from British screens soon after A Kind of Loving is regrettable; she remains an under-appreciated, powerfully sympathetic performer, best remembered for her performance here.

NEXT STOP … Billy Liar, The Entertainer, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

1962 107m/B GB Alan Bates, Thora Hird, June Ritchie, Pat Keen, James Bolam; D: John Schlesinger; W: Willis Hall, Keith Waterhouse; C: Denys Coop; M: Ron Grainer. VHS NO