Bruce Pritchard is paralysed in a soccer game and is confined to a wheelchair in a convalescence home. But this doesn't slow his lust for life. Then he meets Jill and has to think about the effects of disability.
Malcolm McDowell
Bruce Pritchard
Nanette Newman
Jill Matthews
Georgia Brown
Sarah Charles
Bernard Lee
Uncle Bob
Barry Jackson
Bill Charles
Theresa Watson
Gladys
Gerald Sim
Rev. Corbett
Michael Flanders
Clarence Marlow
Margery Mason
Matron
Geoffrey Whitehead
Harold
Christopher Chittell
Terry
Jack Woolgar
Bruce's Father
Norman Bird
Dr Matthews
Constance Chapman
Mrs Matthews
Michael Lees
Geoffrey
Geoffrey Bayldon
Mr Latbury
Patsy Smart
Bruce's Mother
Theresa Walton
Gladys
Sylvia Coleridge
Celia
Brook Williams
Hugh Collins
Richard Moore
Arnold Foster
George Hilsdon
George
Nellie Hanham
Margaret
Aimée Delamain
Alice
Anne Dyson
Gladys' Mother
Norman Tyrrell
Gladys' Father
Jenny Logan
Night Nurse
Elsie Wagstaff
Wedding Guest
Petra Markham
Mary
Jacqueline Maude
Female Trustee
Winifride Shelley
Mrs Hetherington
John Savident
Fete Guest
Michael Nightingale
Mr Thomas
Wilfred Boyle
Trainer
Jackie Agrique
Edna
Paul Darrow
Doctor
Lee Carter
Wedding Singer
Director, Screenplay
Bryan Forbes
September 25, 2022
7
I can't say that I am really a fan of Malcolm McDowell. He always seems to play an angst-ridden "victim" of something, and here is no different. He ("Bruce") suffers a debilitating injury whilst playing football, and is now wheelchair bound. His working class family have no idea how to care for him (nor much interest, either) so he is shipped off to a care home, ostensibly, for more specialist care. Depressed and dejected, he meets "Jill" (Nanette Newman). She is also confined to a chair, and engaged to a fiancée who is loyal but increasingly full of little love - or lust, just pity. As the two start to bond, they discover a rebellious nature and a sense of optimism which lifts both of their spirits. That's about the height of the story, it is simple and straightforward with little effort made to fill the plot with faux scenarios. The supporting cast - Bernard Lee and Georgia Brown amongst them, offer us honest and plausible characterisations as those around them must also do some adjusting of their own. It has a sadness, a relentlessness to it, which is complimented well by the steady pace of the film and an effective score from Stanley Myers - both of which allow McDowell to offer up one of his better, more considered and empathetic performances. Newman is adequate. I found she always had a slightly soporific tone to her voice which I never really liked and which sometimes rendered her conversations about more serious matters (here it is sex and longing) hard to absorb. There are no rose-coloured cottages for people here, as the ending demonstrates - and that, too, adds a degree of authenticity to this story that is curiously depressing yet uplifting at the same time.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00