Room at the Top (1959) is an engrossing story of ambition and deceit set in postwar England. Laurence Harvey is the very definition of a cad as Joe, WWII vet and former POW, who arrives at a new town to take a job in the Treasurer's Department of Warnley, a fictitious, bustling manufacturing center. He is from the poor town of Dufton. Joe uses his good looks to get what he wants, whether it be sex or the attentions of the pretty, innocent daughter (Heather Sears as Susan) of the town's leading citizen and employer (Donald Wolfit - serious yet upbeat).
In the first five minutes of Top, we see that this is a different kind of movie. Sexual attraction and frank admiration of the object of one's desires are the stuff that gives Top life. As Joe enters the office where he will be working, every woman there is shown to be checking him out silently, in a wonderful panning shot. He moves into a flat with his chum and co-worker, Charles (Donald Huston). Charles recruits Joe into a local drama repertory club, and we meet all sorts of lively young people, as well as Simone Signoret playing a libidinous older woman. Room at the Top is not explicit in any way, but the players and their casual remarks and gossip are very revealing and engagingly authentic.
Room at the Top was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won two, one for Signoret and one for Best Adapted Screenplay, going to Neil Paterson's work in translating John Braine's novel to the big screen. It is vastly more entertaining and thought-provoking than any Romantic Comedy* today, and it is more adult than any explicit sex romp film ever released. Absolutely Smashing!!!
* Room at the Top is a drama through and through, but most of the plot could work in a Romantic comedy also.
"How about salary?"
In the first five minutes of Top, we see that this is a different kind of movie. Sexual attraction and frank admiration of the object of one's desires are the stuff that gives Top life. As Joe enters the office where he will be working, every woman there is shown to be checking him out silently, in a wonderful panning shot. He moves into a flat with his chum and co-worker, Charles (Donald Huston). Charles recruits Joe into a local drama repertory club, and we meet all sorts of lively young people, as well as Simone Signoret playing a libidinous older woman. Room at the Top is not explicit in any way, but the players and their casual remarks and gossip are very revealing and engagingly authentic.
Room at the Top was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won two, one for Signoret and one for Best Adapted Screenplay, going to Neil Paterson's work in translating John Braine's novel to the big screen. It is vastly more entertaining and thought-provoking than any Romantic Comedy* today, and it is more adult than any explicit sex romp film ever released. Absolutely Smashing!!!
* Room at the Top is a drama through and through, but most of the plot could work in a Romantic comedy also.
"How about salary?"