Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema

Released: 11th June 2018. Details Collection of eight films produced by the Woodfall Films company, founded in 1958 by director Tony Richardson. In 'Look Back in Anger' (1959) Richard Burton plays angry young man Jimmy Porter in this screen adaptation of John Osborne's ground-breaking stage play. Jimmy, university-educated, articulate and poor, is angry with almost everything and everyone; from the government and the church to his long-suffering wife, Helena (Claire Bloom). In 'The Entertainer' (1960) a tatty, ageing seaside performer is a failure as a family man and as an entertainer. Laurence Olivier plays the excruciating Archie Rice, with an ego that destroys the lives of those closest to him. In 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' (1960), Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney) is a young man filled with a rage perhaps even he doesn't fully understand. Working in the tough environment of a Nottingham factory, he compensates for the drudgery and discipline of his weekday life with weekends spent drinking and womanising. His affair with a fellow factory worker's wife, Brenda (Rachel Roberts), seems especially ill-advised - particularly when Brenda informs him that she is pregnant with his child. With abortion illegal at the time, Arthur and Brenda face a difficult dilemma. Will Arthur face up to the kind of domestic responsibilities he openly scorns or run harder than ever? In 'A Taste of Honey' (1961), when pregnant Manchester teenager Jo (Rita Tushingham) is abandoned by her sailor boyfriend and her man-hungry mother (Dora Bryan) she realises she might have to face life's difficulties all alone. Help then comes in the form of a kind-hearted man named Geoffrey (Murray Melvin) who moves in and takes care of her. The two find happiness together, but soon life moves on... In 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' (1962) Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay), a cynical working class youth, finds himself in a boys' reformatory for robbing a bakery. The governor in charge of the reform school (Michael Redgrave) preaches to his inmates that exercise and physical challenge can permanently destroy a boy's rebellious streak. But Colin is fortunate enough to be on the boss's good side due to his natural running prowess and is offered the chance to train for a race against the local public school. Tensions build as the big day approaches and after a lot of time spent thinking on his lonely runs, Colin might just reconsider his naturally rebellious instincts. In 'Tom Jones' (1963) a country boy who has a taste for wine, women and money enjoys many bawdy exploits. Whilst trying to create his own wealth, Tom Jones (Finney) sets his sights on a girl named Sophie (Susannah York) but her family have other plans for her. In 'The Girl With Green Eyes' (1964) an innocent Catholic girl (Tushingham) moves to Dublin where she falls for an older, more sophisticated man (Peter Finch). The relationship infuriates the girl's father, who tries in vain to end it. Finally, in 'The Knack... and How to Get It' (1965) Michael Crawford stars as Colin, an awkward and naive teacher who shares a flat with smooth-talking womaniser Tolen (Ray Brooks). Keen to capitalise on the sexual revolution occurring around him, Colin asks Tolen for some advice about how to seduce women. His first port of call is to get himself a new, bigger bed; and while he and his other flatmate, Tom (Donal Donnelly) are procuring one, they meet Nancy (Tushingham), an innocent country girl who agrees to come along with them. Things are looking up for Colin... until he gets Nancy back to the flat, where she meets the irresistible Tolen and falls under his spell. Can Colin get 'the knack' in time to beat Tolen at his own game? Extras All films newly remastered and presented in High Definition for this release (excluding Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) • The Stories that Changed British Cinema panel discussion (2018): Danny Leigh, Rita Tushingham, Tom Courtenay, Joely Richardson, Paris Lees and Jez Butterworth explore the gritty stories brought to life by Woodfall Films • George Devine Memorial Play: Look Back in Anger (Peter Whitehead, 1966) • Oswald Morris Remembers Woodfall (Alan Van Wijgerden, 1993) • Ten Bob in Winter (Lloyd Reckord, 1963) • Look Back in Anger trailer • George Devine Memorial Play: The Entertainer, Sequence One and Two (Peter Whitehead, 1966) • O Dreamland (Lindsay Anderson, 1953) • Panoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901) • Parade on West End Pier, Morecambe (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901) • Parade on West End Pier, Morecambe (2) (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901) • Parade on Morecambe Central Pier (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1902) • Morecambe Promenade & Winter Gardens (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901) • Morecambe Pier (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1900) • Scenes by the Stone Jetty, Morecambe (Mitchell and Kenyon, 1901) • Morecambe Carnival - Topical Budget 944-2 (1929) • Lancashire Coast (John Taylor, 1957) • Albert Finney Interview (2009) • Shirley Anne Field on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Caroline Millar, 2009) • We are the Lambeth Boys (Karel Reisz, 1959) • Walter Lassally Video Essay (2002) - Walter Lassally explains some of the decisions and techniques used on A Taste of Honey • A Taste of Honey 50th Anniversary Q&A with Rita Tushingham, Murray Melvin and Walter Lassally (2011) • A Taste of Honey from Stage to Screen – A Journey with Murray Melvin (2018) • Rita Tushingham on A Taste of Honey (2018) • Holiday (John Taylor, 1957) • Walter Lassally Video Essay (2002) - Walter Lassally explains some of the decisions and techniques used on The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner • Momma Don’t Allow (Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, 1956) • The Guardian Interview: Albert Finney (1982 – audio only) • Vanessa Redgrave on Tony Richardson (2017) • USSR Today: Meeting to Mark the 200th Anniversary of Henry Fielding (1954) • Tom Jones trailer • George Devine Memorial Play: Luther (Peter Whitehead, 1966) • Walter Lassally on Tom Jones (2017) - The cinematographer looks back over his work on Tom Jones • Rita Tushingham on Girl with Green Eyes (2018) • Film Poetry: Desmond Davis (2018) - A new interview with director Desmond Davis • Food for a Blluuusssshhhhh (Elizabeth Russell, 1959) • The Peaches (Michael Gill, 1964) • Girl with Green Eyes trailer • George Devine Memorial Play: Exit the King (Peter Whitehead, 1966) • Captain Busby The Even Tenour of Her Ways (Ann Wolff, 1967) • Now and Then: Dick Lester (1967) • Rita Tushingham remembers THE KNACK… and how to get it (2018) • Staging the KNACK… and how to get it (Marcus Campbell Sinclair, 2018) • British Cinema in the 1960s: Richard Lester in Conversation (Marcus Campbell Sinclair, 2018) • Audio Commentaries by Robert Murphy, writer Alan Silllitoe and cinematographer Freddie Francis (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning), Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan and Murray Melvin (A Taste of Honey), Robert Murphy, Alan Sillitoe and Tom Courtenay (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner), Adrian Martin (Girl with the Green Eyes), and Neil Sinyard (The Knack...and How to Get it) • Stills Galleries