A Kind of Loving (1962) User Reviews (39)

Wow. What a trip to the past ...

[simon-vaughan · 8/10 · 13 September 2007]

I have just finished viewing A Kind of Loving (DVD) and have been inspired to comment here at IMDb. What a touching film with real honesty.

A real intimate portrait of life in the early 60s in England. Displaying the kind of innocence of that time which we now look back on and wryly smile.

But here we have an truth which can only be gained by a cross-section of life at that time. The scenes of the factory work environment, catching public transport, the pubs, even the intimacies of home life.

I'm so glad it was filmed in B&W as it emphasized too well the drear lives that people at that time were enduring. (English weather ... gotta love it.) The whole film seemed to be a spiraling downwards right to the end, until there was that tiny (tiny!) upturn at the end ... so things may not be that bad after all? Personally I reckon the recover of this doomed relationship would be short-lived.

Thora Hird ... what can I say. The only comparable mother in law I can remember was Ethel Merman in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. 10 out of 10 Thora.

And Alan Bates ... what a wonderful performance. Restrained yet so powerful, in a role that would have been so hard to display such strength.

Hire it, buy it ... but make sure you get to see it.

A story of two kids up north

[didi-5 · 7/10 · 22 April 2005]

Part of the films which came out in the 1960s from the North of England and labelled kitchen-sink drama, Stan Barstow's novel 'A Kind of Loving' comes to the screen under the sure direction of John Schlesinger.

Alan Bates is Vic Brown, a lad dissatisfied with his lot, who wants to break away from Lancashire to go and see the world, do things, and make something of himself. June Ritchie is Ingrid Rothwell, who after a few fumbles in a bus shelter and a painfully acute quickie traps him into staying put.

Beautifully observed performances from both leads ensure this film is unmissable. As a small Northern tragedy in many ways, it shows a snapshot of a more innocent time and what could easily happen when the heart rules the head. Ingrid's overbearing mother (played by the brilliant Thora Hird) thinks Vic is nowhere near good enough for her daughter - Ingrid is set for better things, not marriage and babies with such as he.

There are lesser characters of interest too - Vic's little brother, his married sister and her husband, his parents, his friends in the local boozer. You can see both the life he wants to escape to and equally why he will stay.

It is also a snapshot of what happens when young love dies. Vic and Ingrid's plight will stay in your mind a long time after you see this perceptive, humorous, and moving film.

Groundbreaking

[malcolmgsw · 8/10 · 19 February 2012]

I saw this in 1962 at the ABC Golders Green .sitting in the circle for which i paid 4/-(20p).I shouldn't have been there as it was an X film and at 15 i was one year younger than the admittance age.Seeing it again yesterday made me realise just what a groundbreaking film this was.Filmed in a North Country working class town.with a situation that happened in real life all the time.man getting girl pregnant and having to marry her.This film was just on the cusp of the swinging sixties and the sexual revolution brought by the pill and legal abortion.The characters are so true to life with superb writing,acting and direction.Incidentally the football match shown is not at Blackburn as implied.It is at Burnden Park and shows a match between Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United.

Boy oh boy

[thessaloniki65 · 9/10 · 31 October 2001]

This is a wonderful exploration of a young man's misgivings about being attached. It explores issues of manhood and love with great sincerity and sensitivity. Alan Bates is at his best here and the whole cast hits the mark under a careful eye. I think it is optimistic in its depiction, but most of all honest. The language is impeccable. How can you go wrong with lines such as "I am your husband if you did but know it"? Whistle Down the Wind is another with Bates in top form. Worth a look.

It's dark,damp,and depressing oop north - brilliant!

[ianlouisiana · 9/10 · 5 November 2005]

Hormonal trainee draughtsman Alan Bates fancies nice-but-dim typist June Ritchie.Er,that's about it really.Formula kitchen sink plot,sub-sub John Osborne/John Braine characters.Sit and watch it in the 3/9d seats whilst stuffing your face with Smith's crisp(watch out for the little blue bag containing salt) and smoking your "Strand".Turn off your brain and put your hand on your girl friend's knee.Well,that's what I did in 1963,but after about 3 minutes screen time I realised I was watching something exceptional.Somehow John Schlesinger had turned this sow's ear into a beautifully observed,moving life-affirming work of art. As an entity this film is so much better than the sum of its parts. The plaintive brass band music adds immeasurably to the atmosphere. June Ritchie is heartbreaking as the naive Ingrid and Alan Bates gives what is arguably his best film performance. The exteriors are well-chosen,the photography elegaic. All the elements for a clichefest are present,but,dammit,it turns into a tour de force.

The time of my Life.

[ronbv8 · 13 October 2007]

What a great time in my life, I was 14 when this film was being made in my home town of Bolton. I had already appeared as a non speaking actor in numerous TV plays and was then offered the part of a "milk boy" in this first class film. I'm still there today in the background carrying some crates of empty milk bottles to the milk truck about 40 minutes into the film. I remember the scene was filmed in Ancoats Manchester early on a Sunday morning late in the year,it was rainy and cold, but I loved every minute of it. Met and played football with the late Alan Bates between takes, those were the days, happy or what?. After all these years its still a film which I never miss on TV and I recently bought the DVD. If you get the chance to watch this 60@s classic ,do so, you won't be disappointed.

Vic Brown gives up dreams of travel

[barryrd · 7/10 · 7 April 2007]

This is an excellent film for the moviegoer who likes to explore the different genres of movie-making. I would hesitate to recommend it as mainstream entertainment. It is too slow and moody for most viewers.

The social milieu of the new wave of British realism in the 50's and 60's is often marked by stark photography, aimless human lives and strict social mores. This one is part of that genre. Class clearly was at the core of this brand of cinema and the entrapment that many working class people found themselves in.

Possibly motivated by the need to expose these class distinctions, director, John Schlesinger, (and others like Tony Richardson) did not hesitate to show the fate of those on the other side of the tracks, often set in towns and cities of Northern England.

It is noteworthy to see the portrayal of a young man who gives up his dreams (travel and career) to marry his pregnant girlfriend. In an age when males are often portrayed as cads, this film is a fitting counterpoint. Being badgered by both wife and mother-in-law is what he gets for fulfilling his social obligation.

The role of Vic Brown is played by Alan Bates in one of his earliest roles. This actor, who died only a few years ago, left a strong film legacy along with many of his contemporaries...Richard Harris, Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Rachel Roberts, and some others. Bates gives a fine character portrayal that is well worth watching 45 years on.

socially perceptive

[dandunne · 9/10 · 24 December 2001]

This film reflects on how social and economic pressures impact on sexuality and relationships. Class, politics, working life, changing attitudes about gender and marriage, and even scarcity of cheap housing are all referred to or explored. Against the wider social backdrop the character of Ingrid's mother represents repression and rigidity to a large degree, although even she is shown with some saving graces. All the characters here are cast in shades of grey, all internally conflicted, all in a cauldron of social pressures. The film ends with the maturing of the main characters, and also with a note of hope. An excellent script, excellently directed and acted, and a brilliant evocation of another era.

Scandalous at the time

[TondaCoolwal · 7/10 · 28 July 2017]

Watched this on True Movies the other night. Hadn't seen it before, but I was familiar with its reputation upon release. I was only 11 in 1962 and, according to the grown-ups this was one of those films which showed the sordid side of life and illustrated the deserved dire consequences of doing things you shouldn't. Certainly the poster was enough to tell you something untoward was going on. Personally, I was magically transported back in time to a past when everything was dull and grey including people's lives. It's all there. Know your place. Mind your manners. Sit up straight. Bates' character Vic, like many others is becoming aware of the big world outside his drab northern existence, and he doesn't want to miss out. More mundanely, he doesn't have a girlfriend and contrives to chat up nice girl Ingrid on the bus home. After this the plot follows an inevitable track like a Greek tragedy. You know they're going to have sex (which is why most people went to see the film) but their progress is furtive and embarrassing in line with conscience-loading morals of the time. We're even treated to a, now-hackneyed joke at Vic's expense (literally) when he can't bring himself to ask a female chemist shop assistant for a packet of condoms, and leaves the shop with a bottle of Lucozade! The resulting pregnancy means they "have" to get married in order to keep everyone happy (except Ingrid's mother with whom the couple go to live) The other characters i.e. the parents, Vic's loutish mates, Ingrid's friends, may appear to be stereotypes, but they have verisimilitude and are well portrayed by a host of actors who were to become stalwarts of British drama. James Bolam,Jack Smethurst and Thora Hird deserve mention, but Helen Fraser also pops up. She's practically a stock player in films of this era. With Ingrid's pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, Vic's dreams of a future evaporate and he walks out. Only to be drawn back. He can't escape his situation, just like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life or Billy Fisher in Billy Liar. The suggestion of a reconciliation has a precarious fragility about it. As the credits begin to roll you know it won't last.

one of the best

[gsygsy · 9/10 · 8 February 2007]

Excellent work from all concerned has gone to create what is probably, in spite of its generally melancholy atmosphere, the warmest of the realistic school of British movies from the early 1960s. Vic Brown is not as angry as Arthur Seaton in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning nor as alienated from his family as Billy Fisher in Billy Liar. And he is more likable than either Joe Lampton in Room at the Top or Frank Machin in This Sporting Life. Both Vic and Ingrid are sympathetic, recognisable people, who find themselves trapped in a situation with which their society's stern morality of self-control and self-denial, vividly expressed by Vic's sister towards the end of the film, has no sympathy at all. We finish with them trying to muddle through, and it is this compassionate but still unresolved finale that gives the film its hesitant title.

On the production side, the script, taken from Barstow's novel by those two stalwarts, Waterhouse and Hall, is bang on target; the photography, never less than excellent, is often breathtaking, as in the wonderful long shot of a romantic couple on Southport beach, gradually withdrawing into the confines of a hotel bedroom. But the usually reliable Ron Grainer doesn't quite seem to know where he's going with the music.

The performances are wonderful. The Brown family is lovingly portrayed with the lightest of touches, with particular praise earned by those two veterans, Gwen Nelson and Bert Palmer, as the parents. In the workplace, a fine group of actors, a number of whom were to become household names in the UK in later years, show their true mettle. And leading them all, that magnificent trio of Thora Hird, June Ritchie and Alan Bates.

Of Bates, a fine actor, who left a legacy of performances on film, there's no need to say much: he's perfect for the role, gets under its skin, reveals the longings, the confusions, the contradictions, the lovability, the vulnerability and the folly. No one could ask for more or better.

Thora Hird went on to enjoy a considerable Indian summer of success under the wing of the playwright Alan Bennett, but in spite of some remarkable work during those years, it's at least arguable that she never did anything on screen as intensely realised as Mrs Rothwell. Hird ensures that she is never a figure of fun or a caricature - indeed, she is often very touching in her protectiveness towards her daughter - but at the same time she gives the comic side of the character full value.

June Ritchie is absolutely wonderful as Ingrid. She may never have become the star that, say, Julie Christie (somewhat unwillingly) became, but she was and still is a remarkable actress, worthy of the greatest of respect for her achievement here. In a remarkable way, she fulfils all that was required of a Hitchcock blond: cool on the outside, with fire inside. In fact there's a moment early in the film where she is photographed from Vic's point of view, from behind and slightly above, with a hairdo reminiscent of Kim Novak's in Vertigo. One wonders whether the movie-going that was so evidently part of life in the town spills over into Vic's imagination at this point.

This is the work of a director who seems to have fallen out of favour in recent years, and there is a case to be made that he somehow lost his way. But A Kind of Loving is one of a trio of films, along with Billy Liar and Sunday Bloody Sunday, of which any director could be proud. Of the rest of his output, perhaps only his final collaboration with Alan Bates, An Englishman Abroad, has the same balance of clear observation and compassion.

Bates Method

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 8 August 2016]

As someone born and bred not a million miles from the milieu depicted in this and similar fare - A Taste Of Honey, This Sporting Life, Saturday Night And Sunday Morning, Billy Liar - I've never been terribly enamoured of the 'Northern School', 'kitchen-sink' genre that sprung up like fungi in the late fifties/early sixties any more than I could abide the more traditional fare - Hobson's Choice, Hindle Wakes, Love On The Dole - with my taste running (for no apparent reason) more to Coward, Rattigan sophistication plus Esther McCracken's solid Home Counties values. Having said that A Kind Of Loving is among the finest of the genre with two rock-solid performances from the leads.

beautifully acted and directed enhanced by B&W medium

[hague-1 · 10/10 · 24 December 2004]

I can watch this touching film over and over.

The black and white enhances the dramatic landscapes and atmosphere.

My favourite scene is the railway station where Vic hits rock bottom.

I also like the shelter scene as Vic pushes his luck and the picture pans back to the carved inscriptions.

It makes me wish I had been born in those times, with community spirit, dance halls and pubs with conversation for entertainment, football terraces and steam trains.

It is also interesting to spot so many young actors who found later fame such as "Nora Batty", James Bolam, Leonardo rossiter etc.

Not just a period piece: a timeless film

[clivy · 7/10 · 22 August 2017]

Like another commenter here, I watched A Kind of Loving on the True Movie channel here in the UK, and was drawn to it because of its reputation. I was not disappointed: it's a fine film, and a fine example of the kitchen sink and angry young men films of the period, when British cinema was drawing attention for its unflinching realism.

I couldn't help but think of my parents while I was watching A Kind of Loving. They grew up in a different place than the North of England: Boston in the US, and in the early 1950s rather than in the early 1960s. They also came from a very different background, as children of immigrants from Eastern Europe. However, I could see the film captured their generation. Both my parents lived at home, my mother with her parents and younger brother and my father with his widowed mother. My mother worked in white collar jobs as a bookkeeper and file clerk and longed to marry like her friends did. Both wanted to do what was expected of them: setting down and raising a family.

I can imagine that they saw many of their friends having to marry at City Hall (and not have a religious wedding) because the boy got the girl "in trouble", and many of them having to move in with their in-laws to save enough to get their own place eventually. I can feel the awkwardness and shame when the young couple's relationship breaks down and the husband leaves: shame not only on the part of the woman but the man too. Alan Bates' father points out that Ingrid will have to take Victor back: what is she going to do as a divorcée in the early 1960s? Many women at the time were not seen or treated well by general society if they were divorced, especially if they were divorced and had children. There were very little marriage counseling back then as well. The film ends with a note of hope for Victor and Ingrid- perhaps a touch of resignation as well. Ironic that only a year later "sexual Intercourse began", in Larkin's phrase, and social mores began to change drastically. By the time I came of age, in the 1980s, I didn't understand my parents' attitudes towards sex and marriage, as they appeared hypocritical to me and vastly old fashioned (they were tolerant of young men who were playing the field as long as their eventual goal was marriage and having children, but harshly critical of young women who didn't hope for marriage and children and were working towards having a career and being independent). A kind of Loving helped me understand how it was for many of their generation, coming from families struggling to get by or struggling to improve their lives, and putting pressure on the coming generation to do right as well as make good. I think young people now can also relate to striving not to disappoint parents and trying to cope with meddling in-laws who feel their daughter's partner is not measuring up to expectations. Though it captures the North of Britain on the eve of massive social change A Kind of Loving has much to say about relationships and family that remains timeless.

The sad facts of life

[mls4182 · 5/10 · 19 February 2022]

The statement this movie is making us if it weren't for idiots too dumb to use birth control, "humanity" would die out.

Its a real downer looking back since the problem isn't any better today. If anything, it us much worse.

Just wonderful

[trpdean · 4 July 2004]

I own very few movies - this is one of them. I've seen it many times and am always moved.

It is of course part of the special "Angry Young Man" genre that includes Billy Liar, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The Entertainer, Darling, A Taste of Honey, This Sporting Life, Look Back in Anger, Room at the Top, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - and in later years, In Celebration and The Homecoming.

Such novelists/playwrights as John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, David Storey, John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, John Wain, Shelagh Delaney, directors like Karel Reisz, John Schlesinger, Lindsay Anderson and Tony Richardson, and such screenwriters as Waterhouse and Hall (who wrote this as Billy Liar).

The movies are primarily about men trapped by place and morality -- and either lashing out/escaping or trying to accommodate themselves to their situation. Most are set in the north of England - all are about people from working class backgrounds.

Stars like Richard Harris, Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Ian Holm, Albert Finney, and Tom Courtenay broke in their film teeth with these movies - and others such as Richard Burton, Lawrence Olivier, Laurence Harvey and Dirk Bogarde revealed their expansive range.

The protagonists are often not likable - certainly the pitiful Archie Rice in The Entertainer, Burton's character in Look Back in Anger, Finney's in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Courtenay's character in "Long Distance Runner" or Richard Harris' character -- are all people you'd rather not accompany on a long train journey.

However, Vic Brown, the protagonist in this one - is largely sympathetic (and wonderfully written and portrayed). His plight is just so realistic - and the consequences so easy to believe.

There are many things that our lad gets wrong - unable to break things off with a woman, he simply ignores her (and speaks badly of her to others) - yet is helpless when she suggests they get together again. In part, this is because his lust masters him - and in part because he just can't bear to tell someone he no longer wants to see her.

As awful as most audiences will find Ingrid's mother (wonderfully played), one can also have sympathy for her - a widow overly protective of her only child, and the circumstances in which her child finds herself.

The modesty of the characters is wonderful yet not overly done - it is the characteristic that yields immense sympathy in the viewer - this is especially true of the Brown family - from "our Christine" and her gentle husband to Vic's wonderful father and brother to his forceful mother.

Most of the reviews speak of this very much as a look back in time - I think it's not so past.

The themes are universal and timeless: lust and its consequences, indecision about a romantic partner, the division between a young person's caution about taking the right steps in life and closeness to family vs. inchoate yearnings to do great things far away - these are the stuff of such plays as The Fantasticks and such movies as It's a Wonderful Life. (Donna Reed's character wanted Jimmy Stewart's no less than Ingrid wanted Vic - and both men had dreamt to be far away doing great things).

This is wonderful - it will strike anyone as sharply observed, wonderfully written - and very moving.

Wonderful Film - Best of the "Angry Young Man" Series

[mmitsos-1 · 10/10 · 17 April 2006]

I've been writing on these boards off and on for the past couple of years or so, and forgot entirely about writing something for this film until today, when I was looking up Alan Bates on IMDb. I immediately fell in love with "A Kind of Loving" when I saw it one night in 1987 while a graduate student in Austin, Texas. I was crashing at a friend's house during my last few months in school, since I couldn't afford my own apartment any longer, and she only had about four channels. I happened to catch this film, after missing only about the first two minutes, on the local ABC station in the wee hours of the morning, and it stayed with me ever since. I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with it...the look of it, its utter Englishness, Alan Bates' face, the quiet story, its reality, its sensitivity...everything. I managed to catch it again a year or so later when I returned to Chicago, luckily on a cable station, with no commercials. And, I taped it, on two different machines at the same time, since I didn't know if it would ever be shown again (the internet hadn't really yet been invented and I didn't even have a computer at that point...so, no amazon, no search engines, no genuine chance of ever catching this newfound classic for me...I had to make two copies of it while it was showing).

I don't believe I had ever seen a "kitchen sink/angry young man" film, much less really heard of the genre at that point. But this film introduced me to the whole period, and I rather like many of them. But in my opinion, this one is absolutely the best. As another reviewer on IMDb commented here, Vic Brown's character is probably the most sympathetic among various "angry young man" protagonists. Though some may feel that this film is outdated and that the characters are in a way too innocent (perhaps for their ages), it is a very charming, sensitive, realistic, and empathetic portrayal of young-adult love. As dark and dreary and claustrophobic as many of the scenes are, I somehow fell completely in love with England, the 60's (well, I've always loved almost everything from the 60's, even though I can really only enjoy them vicariously, since I was born during this decade), and certainly, Alan Bates. He is a stunner in this film and, as I soon found out, in all his films. This film prompted me to rent or buy anything of his I could find (check out "A Whistle Down the Wind"...a different film altogether...not a kitchen sink drama...but wonderful).

But far aside from his good looks, this story is so poignant. You so feel for the characters of Vic and Ingrid, and even her on-the-surface-witch of a mother. Their reactions are so realistic throughout. Even Vic's initial reaction to ignore Ingrid after their first few dates, then offer to marry her after her predicament, is so touching. You can see that these young souls are choosing a path that they think is the "right thing to do", but in the process, are giving up, before your very eyes, all their dreams. The look of sadness on both of their young lovely faces as they trod through many of their days, living with her mother (GREAT portrayal by Thora Hird...and BOY did she look like my paternal grandmother...my mother couldn't believe it when she saw the film), and their attempts to find happiness in their situation and make the best of it are just a bit heart wrenching. Their arguments were so realistic. For instance, Ingrid's insistence that they live in a "nice place", having been accustomed to living in a cushioned environment by living with her mother in her family home juxtaposed with Vic's wanting to just get out and find something of their own, no matter how low-rent the home might be....it just reinforces the fact that people shouldn't even bother getting together, much less have children, until they're ready....both financially and emotionally. I just saw a long, struggling road ahead for them...but you certainly hope it all works out. They are two young souls sideswiped by a most major event imposed upon them long before they are ready to handle it, but they muddle through it.

Alan Bates and June Ritchie deliver first-rate performances from start to finish, and are accompanied by a wonderful supporting cast. I also loved the little bits of music, typically used as a transitional element. I remember a little transitional scene in which Alan Bates is simply running across the street as the quiet music score, including the lead melody of a single flute, plays in the background. With backdrops that range from dreary urban streets to the "nicer" section of town homes in which Ingrid lives to the wonderfully hilly and misty English countryside, I simply fell in love with everything about this beautiful, thoughtful, quiet, and touching story. I need to get it on DVD before my tapes wear out. It's one of my two favorite films, with the other one being "The Pumpkin Eater" (another English classic, from 1964, but not a kitchen sink drama...check it out as well).

Find "A Kind of Loving", and enjoy.

Great Alan Bates effort

[nomorefog · 8/10 · 6 May 2011]

It may be hard to imagine these days with investment cutting across national and cultural boundaries, how there once was a time when the British were known for the quality of their home grown film industry. 'A Kind of Loving' is one of those kitchen sink dramas that the British film industry was well known for in the sixties, but it is well done and stands out for its emotional honesty and quality of script and performance. Directed by John Schlesinger from the novel by Stan Barstow, the film explores the recesses of the heart in a way that makes it seem, well, ordinary. But don't be deceived. This film is anything but ordinary, precisely because it is so very good

Alan Bates stars as Vic, a young and naïve north country lad working straight out of school as a trainee draftsman. Out of boredom and a lack of real direction, he links up with an attractive, conventional young girl from the office named Ingrid who is eager to get married (played by June Ritchie). Instead she gets pregnant. Bates is afraid of the responsibility of looking after her and the child as this will seriously curtail his freedom as a single man. He is forced to marry her but they cannot afford a place of their own and make the mistake of moving in with her mother. Whilst waiting for their baby's birth the three of them do not manage to get along; Ritchie realises her mistake in not siding with Bates against her mother when they argue. The only hope that Vic and Ingrid have of remaining together is that they reconcile themselves to a more realistic kind of relationship.

This is a fine example of 60's English cinema, which saw a re-emergence at this time with a number of directors starting out on their careers and going to Hollywood later, on the coat-tails of their achievements closer to home. John Schlesinger doesn't seem to do much, except to ensure that the camera is pointed in the right place at the right time, so that a realistic and human story will be revealed with the best possible impact. June Ritchie dropped out of sight but Alan Bates went onto to a distinguished career in film, on stage and television. He is really marvellous, and gives a perceptive performance of a young man questioning his place in society but having no idea of what the alternative might be. The rituals are simple to perform: going out and getting drunk with your mates, seducing girls, going to work, often at a job that you may not even like. But what is else is there to do? This is a very human dilemma and Bates is perfect without making the character either an obnoxious bully or a mewling mummy's boy. Thora Hird is excellent as Ingrid's mother who either cannot or will not see that she is being too over protective of her daughter. Bates dominates this film with a performance which was a preview of things to come for his many fans, but I think that this early effort is one of his best films.

Everyone else in the cast distinguish themselves and a film like 'A Kind of Loving' will stay in your mind as a really wonderful film entirely worthy of its reputation and also of your time.

Loving or kind of...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 17 December 2021]

After his "Terminus" short documentary about 24 hours in the life of Waterloo Station, John Schlesinger chose to adapt a 1960 novel by Stan Barstow, called "A Kind of Loving"; pioneering a new kind of film-making, a new wave of realistic dramas named 'kitchen sink', a new breed of directors such as Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz.

The film opens with one of these weddings that mean business: the bride harbors a smile as dashing as her glowing dress and the plainness of the groom is the indication that this is not a marriage of passion, at least one that's meant to last. Obviously, this is not the marriage the film's interested in for the focal point is Vic Brown, the bride's charming brother, played by Alan Bates, who keeps taking photographs during the whole opening credits sequence. And one can't deny the masterstroke of expositional minimalism John Schlesinger gratifies us with: we get everything, the main protagonist, his parents (Bert Palmer and Gwen Nelson) and the idea of what a promising wedding looks like.

And time goes by and until a blonde girl cute as a button named Ingrid (June Ritchie) catches Vic's eyes: she works as a typist in the same factory he's a draughtsman in. There's not a single step of their growing romance that isn't covered by Schlesinger so that a good chunk of the film is devoted to the building of their relationship. And if their awkwardness strikes a chord of realism, it also tends to slow down things a bit and the setting of the 1960s Lancashire doesn't offer much to keep your eye occupied. It didn't strike me as a 'weakness' immediately but once the 'troubles' began, I started to wonder why it took so long to get to the narrative 'epiphany'.

Then it hit me, neither Vic nor June are too poor or too rich but both possess one undeniable quality: they're attractive. Indeed, Bates and Richie are so photogenic that no lenses in Schlesinger's camera is spared to capture the intensity in Bates' blue eyes, I suspect that film might have made him an instant heartthrob and that Schlesinger couldn't help but overstate the whole 'dark, tall and brooding' trope, like he would do (and overdo) with Julie Christie as the lively bubbly young blonde. That's the trouble when your protagonists are too beautiful for the film's own good. Ritchie isn't given as many generous close-ups and is often shown in frames also occupied by her horrendously domineering mother, magnificently played by Thora Hird.

And so the first part shows them flirting around, going to the movies, having these moments of awkwardness that precedes the little kiss. I didn't mind these interactions because they were well done, well acted, well shot, although it was hard to believe such a beautiful guy would lose his self-control with a gal that didn't exactly played 'hard to get'. But Schlesinger was still inexperienced and I guess he wasn't yet willing to swim out of his depth and went step by step with more and more risqué and explicit stuff until leaving more room for surrealism. But for a start, Schlesinger chooses a straight-to-the-point approach.

The thing about "A Kind of Loving" is that it establishes a real truth about the gap of communication between guys and girls, and the pivotal part sex plays for the better or the worse. Vic is subject of post-coital depression and Ingrid is just the kind of idealistic overly pampered provincial flower so blinded by love she can't detect within the man's spleen simply a lack of excitement. Naturally, any chance to leave on good terms is terminated with a pregnancy and the subsequent shotgun wedding that looks as cheerful as a funeral (strangely one of the film's highlights). And there's something tragically karmic (not to say comic) to see this poor hunk being trapped and see the love of his life turning into a sidekick to a bossy know-it-all old hag... and as someone who went through divorce, I had a certain pervert delight to see these things happening to someone else.

Inevitably, I will say it's a solid kitchen sink drama, after other titles I watched this year such as "Room at the Top", "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", "Billy Liar", The Loneliness of the Distant-Runner", "This Sporting Life" and so many raw portrayals of youth entrapped in world of convenances sterilizing their appetite for thrills and personal fulfillment... among which "A Kind of Loving" was the only one not listed in the British Film Institute Top 100. Alan Bates starred in many films from the list but not as one of the 'angry young men' immortalized by Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay or Richard Harris whose rawer features allowed their intensity to shine in other territories than aesthetics.

But Vic is the least obvious a member of the club for he strikes more as a frustrated, indecisive fellow who's life has taken a wrong path because he couldn't make up his mind, and there's something more that might have made the film miss the list (although Schlesinger has four films in it)... a sort of obsession with realism that aseptises the film and prevents it from developing the kind of fierce passion you keep longing for. Maybe Bates' Vic is too civilized for the film's own good or Ritchie's Ingrid too banal to be worth our empathy. We do sympathize with the two characters but I wished the film could say a little louder what it's merely whispering and maybe took more risks.

Ultimately, "A Kind of Loving" is en emotional ride over the ups and downs of two young persons who are more obliged by a sense of necessary commitment than any form of love. That they decided to give themselves a chance is certainly a less angry conclusion but that didn't make it any happier to me...

The real star

[gerroll · 8/10 · 12 March 2012]

June Ritchie makes this story work. She gives an unaffected portrayal of a young woman needing to overcome her vulnerability with a combination of guile and passive aggression. It's the truest and most honest performance in the film. Bates is a star, Ritchie works a miracle. James bolam is quietly brilliant and. The supporting cast is of the salt of the earth type of genius available to directors at that time. I did not read the book but I feel the this movie version makes the task unnecessary.? What a great period of story telling this was. Bates was wonderful on film but on stage he was even more special. I was lucky to experience both. His hamlet. Though forgotten, was so pure, so honest, so sexy.

Not exactly romantic...but rather realistic.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 February 2022]

Up until the 1960s, films made it appear as if folks who got married only married because they were deeply in love. Marriages forced due to pregnancy were hardly ever talked about in films...though in real life, apparently such marriages were pretty common. This film chronicles one of these marriages.

Vic and Ingrid (Alan Bates and June Ritchie) work at the same office. Vic is a draftsman...a pretty good job for the time. One day, he notices her on a bus and soon he asks her out...and they seem to hit it off well. However, over time, his ardor seems to cool and in an effort to stir up the relationship or get him to commit, she agrees to put out...and soon becomes pregnant. He married her, because that's expected, but there sure isn't any sort of love or romance at this point in their relationship. In addition, Vic moves in with his wife and mother-in-law and the in-law isn't exactly easy to like nor warms up to him. Does the young couple stand a chance? And, what's next for them...as a couple or as individuals?

This is a definite no-frills sort of movie...free from the usual cliches and with very realistic acting. In some ways, it reminds me of a French New Wave film, as it deliberately avoids the usual conventions. So, if you are looking for a traditional romance, you might want to try a different film. Still, it is well made and different.

This is John Schlesinger's first feature film & it's great!!

[kijii · 10/10 · 22 November 2016]

This early Alan Bates film, based on Stan Barstow's best-selling novel, was the first feature film that John Schlesinger directed. Though not technically an 'angry young man' drama, it has connections to the genre by being part of the British New Wave of the late 50s and early sixties.

Vic Brown (Alan Bates) is a well-liked and wholesome young draftsman from a good family. His father, mother, and recently-married sister all see him as moving up and doing well in his field; his younger brother looks up to him and asks his advice about girls. When Vic meets a young typist, Ingrid Rothwell (June Ritchie), from the office, he can't take his eyes off of her and the two fall head over heals in love with each other.

After a brief courtship, Vic starts to have second thoughts about Ingrid and starts seeing other girls. But, Ingrid (now totally in love with Vic) starts to worry that Vic no longer loves her. The two start dating again and finally have sex (both of them for the first time). Even this is cute since it shows more realism (for the time) than the instant gratification we see in the films and TV of today.

Of course, the inevitable film story occurs when she becomes pregnant by him and they are forced to get married. How sad both families look during Vic and Ingrid's civil marriage; how different their marriage ceremony is from the one that opened the film, that of Vic's sister in a huge church wedding with all the trimmings!

Vic is doing well at work, but not well enough to support a family quite yet. So, the newly married couple makes the fatal mistake of moving in with Ingrid's mother, Mrs. Rothwell, expertly realized as the mother-in- law from hell by Thora Hird. When they move it to HER house, Vic finds himself as the interloper in the house and ultimately in his own marriage, constantly being nagged and badgered (or, worse yet, totally ignored) by Ingrid and her mother. He does the 'slow burn' for the sake of his marriage and the soon- to-arrive baby.

One day, while arriving home from work, Vic learns that Ingrid has been rushed to the hospital; when he gets to the hospital, he leans that she had a miscarriage while falling down the stairs. Vic hadn't been informed about either until he gets to the hospital where his mother-in- law stares daggers at him (for whatever he did…or did not do..to cause this miscarriage).

Several weeks after the miscarriage, things only get worse when he tries to have sex with her and she begs off, claiming it might hurt her too close to the miscarriage. This is a similar to an earlier scene in the film when he tries to have intercourse with her (after they had been married) and she begs off, feeling that it might hurt the baby. In the earlier scene, he has to prove that sex would NOT hurt the baby by showing her a chapter from a marriage manual he had purchased before their marriage.

Ingrid seems unable to confront her mother to save her marriage, and Vic gets no help from HIS family either. The kitchen-sink realism of this story has a bittersweet ending when the couple finally decides what to do about their marriage. Parts of this film may seem dated by today's standards. However, it engagingly tackles very REAL problems that did— and probably still do--happen to young couples who have to make difficult choices.

Pretty Grim Up North

[crumpytv · 7/10 · 14 March 2021]

I found this film rather depressing. The whole affair between Vic and Ingrid was doomed from the outset. I don't know if Alan Bates was purposely cast as much older than 19 year old Ingrid, but it looked wrong. They were both naïve, but Vic should have been younger to carry that off.

Moths to Flames...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 27 January 2023]

There's a frustrated young man, name of Vic, from a pool of young ladies he's picked, Ingrid Rothwell's her name, with a blonde flowing mane, she's the lass with whom he wants to tick. Ingrid's just as fond of this lad, now he's making advances she's glad, but he runs hot and cold, wants to do more than hold, so she lets him explore and un-clads. No surprise as nature takes its course, with a marriage hastily brought forth, which Vic starts to abhor, lives with Mother-in-Law, and his compass no longer points north.

Great dialogue, great performances, in a perpetually told tale of the ages, where the outcomes invariably reflect the times when the drama takes place, and leave you grateful for the times you live in today - I think it's called progress.

A Kind of Loving

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 31 March 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!

It's 1962

[screenman · 8/10 · 7 July 2009]

'A Kind Of Loving' is another of those great kitchen-sink dramas set in the north of England. Featuring Alan Bates as the 'angry young man' who imagines - like so many young men - that he is going to go places and do things... Growing-up, getting married, buying a house and starting a family - there has to be more to life than this? All he sees are disaffected people who have done no more and now expect the same of him.

This was my decade. Bates played a character maybe 10 years older than me. I empathised with his every passionate resentment. When I saw that he was a draughtsman; I scorned the very prospect of a job for which I myself was being groomed.

There are lots of extremely well-observed scenarios. Thora Hird plays the vixenish protective mother-in-law-to-be with a malignant flair that only she could muster. June Ritchie is apt as her nubile air-head of a daughter. There were plenty of 'em in the '60's. Thank heavens for emancipation. Lots of other great British character stalwarts feature. We see our hero wrestle with the growing dilemmas of sexual desire, his futile embarrassment whilst attempting to purchase contraceptives. Why didn't he go to the barber's, for heaven's sake? There's a glimpse of seduction that embodies fear, desperation and guilt that is the best advertisement for sex-education.

This is an excellent movie that is an almost perfectly observed slice of lower middle-class life during the early 1960's. It contains no radical ideas, but was extremely radical in their presentation. For a whole generation, this was what 'coming of age' was really like.

Recommended.