Film

This Sporting Life

Cert: 12A

Description: Brutish miner Frank Machin can barely contain his resentment towards the local rugby team, who are treated like heroes by the residents of Wakefield. Frank's evident ferocity impresses team owner Gerald Weaver, who offers him a try-out. Sure enough, Frank impresses on the pitch and he too revels in the adulation of friends and neighbours. However, newfound celebrity doesn't win him any favours with his lover, landlady Margaret Hammond, and Frank is blind to the business deals, which dictate what happens before and after the match.

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Dir: Lindsay Anderson.

Cast: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely

Country: UK.

Year: 1963.

Duration: 133mins

This Sporting Life is still a treat

Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts deserved all praise

By Derek Malcolm
5 Jun 2009

Lindsay Anderson shot David Storey�s novel of the same name up North in eloquent black and white.

It still looks a treat and Richard Harris�s passionate performance as Yorkshire miner Frank Machin, who becomes a combative Rugby League player but loses his emotional cool off the field, deserved all the praise thrown at it at the time.

So did Rachel Roberts, as the widow who resists his advances.