A Kind of Loving (1962)

April 12, 1962 (GB) • Drama, Romance • 112m

Overview

As Vic Brown vacillates between infatuation and disinterest for his co-worker Ingrid Rothwell, she finds out that she is pregnant and Vic has to reconcile how he thought his life would go with what life actually has in store for him.

Director

John Schlesinger

Writers

Stan Barstow, Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall

Top Billed

Alan Bates

Keywords

northern england based on novel or book working class black and white kitchen sink realism forced marriage manchester 1960s unplanned pregnancy british new wave father son relationship mother daughter relationship brother sister relationship draughtsman interfering mother-in-law unwed pregnancy

Where to watch

Free / Included

Shout! Factory Amazon Channel

Top Billed Cast

Alan Bates

Victor 'Vic' Brown

June Ritchie

Ingrid Rothwell

Thora Hird

Mrs. Rothwell

Bert Palmer

Mr. Geoffrey Brown

Pat Keen

Christine Harris

James Bolam

Jeff

Jack Smethurst

Conroy

Gwen Nelson

Mrs. Brown

John Ronane

Draughtsman

David Mahlowe

David Harris

Patsy Rowlands

Dorothy

Michael Deacon

Les

Annette Robertson

Phoebe

Fred Ferris

Althorpe

Leonard Rossiter

Whymper

Malcolm Patton

Jim Brown

Harry Markham

Railwayman

Peter Madden

Registrar

Norman Heyes

Laisterdyke (uncredited)

Bryan Mosley

Bus Conductor (uncredited)

Yvonne Buckingham

Barmaid (uncredited)

David Cook

Draughtsman (uncredited)

Jerry Desmonde

TV Compère (uncredited)

Helen Fraser

Ingrid's Friend (uncredited)

Joe Gladwin

Bus Driver (uncredited)

Reginald Green

Contestant (uncredited)

Douglas Livingstone

Window Cleaner (uncredited)

Ruth Porcher

Dr. Parker (uncredited)

Bud Ralston

Pub Comedian (uncredited)

Edna Ridgway

Pub Pianist (uncredited)

Graham Rigby

Pub Politician (uncredited)

Kathy Staff

Mrs. Oliphant (uncredited)

Kathleen Walker

Woman in Dinner Queue (uncredited)

Fred Wood

Pub Patron (uncredited)

Crew

Stan Barstow

Novel

John Schlesinger

Director

Keith Waterhouse

Screenplay

Willis Hall

Screenplay

Joseph Janni

Producer

Roger Cherrill

Editor

Charles Hammond

Production Manager

Bob Jones

Sound Recordist

Denys N. Coop

Director of Photography

Don Sharpe

Sound Editor

Frank Ernst

Assistant Director

Ray Simm

Art Direction

Laura Nightingale

Wardrobe Supervisor

Jack Hanbury

Associate Producer

George Stephenson

Sound Recordist

Ron Grainer

Original Music Composer

Bob Lawrance

Makeup Artist

Ron Grainer

Conductor

Barney Platts-Mills

Assistant Editor

Nat Cohen

Presenter

John Harris

Camera Operator

John Goldstone

Production Assistant

Maurice Fowler

Set Dresser

Pamela Davies

Continuity

Ann Skinner

Production Secretary

Harry Gillard

Still Photographer

John Gilbert

Assistant Editor

Stuart Levy

Presenter

Anne Box

Hairstylist

Reviews

CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

March 31, 2024

I can't say I was ever a great fan of Alan Bates, but he's really quite good in this - for the time - almost raunchy romantic drama. He is factory worker "Vic" who takes a bit of a shine to the shy "Ingrid" (June Ritchie) - well, she takes more of a shine to him, actually. What now ensues is a sort top-of-the-bus courtship, a movie, a snog on the beach and then... She becomes pregnant, a shotgun wedding follows and thought the pair do genuinely like one another, it's clear that there's some rather unpleasant writing on the wall. He's an ambitious character. His traditional working class roots are ones he wants to leave behind. His new family status makes him feel trapped and hemmed in. His future somehow snatched away from him. Needless to say, his character changes and that sets him at odds with his new wife - and with her mother (Thora Hird) who lives with them and rarely misses an opportunity to make her presence felt. How long can he tolerate this self-made scenario before something has to give? Bates convinces as his increasingly frustrated persona as does Ritchie whose character finds herself increasingly ostracised from an husband she loves but doesn't understand. Hird features sparingly but actually offers quite a cleverly constructed characterisation of either the interfering mother-in-law or the caring and responsible parent. That all depends on your perspective and though the story is definitely told from that of "Vic", I think John Schlesinger leaves enough ambiguity of loyalty for the audience to deal with. Though there's little graphic here that might have offended in 1962, the subject matter does challenge the ingrained societal approaches to marriage, to choice and to aspiration in quite a potent fashion and presents us here with a story that does take it's time to get going - but then, so do most romances!

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$213,084

Revenue

$581,138

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