New from Studiocanal‘s Vintage Classics range is a release of the 1959 British film Room at the Top. The film was directed by Jack Clayton for Romulus Films and based on a book by John Braine. Laurence Harvey plays Joe, an ambitious man who has recently served in World War II (as the film is set in the late 40s). Keen to make something of his life, he leaves his small industrial town to move to the (fictional) bigger town of Warnley. To try to gain some advantage he pursues the daughter, Susan (Heather Sears) of a local wealthy industrial boss, Mr Brown (Donald Wolfit) – who attempts to shut the budding relationship down.
At the same time, Joe is continuing an affair with French woman Alice (Simone Signoret – giving an outstanding performance), who is some years his senior and stuck in a loveless marriage to man older than herself, and also conducting multiple affairs – it is clear to see how these sorts of themes were a quantum leap forward in a relatively buttoned-up era.
The film deals with these two major relationships conducted by Joe, as his interest in the two women waxes and wanes depending on multiple factors, but chiefly on how serious his feelings for Alice are as the film progresses, as well as his own ambitions and the desire to conquer the younger, innocent Susan. In short, he is playing the feelings of two women in a way that will lead to profound consequences for one of them, and for Joe. He may achieve his ambitions, but at what cost? This is a mature, adult work, which was part of a movement that, arguably, aided in making British cinema grow-up and tackle difficult subject matters.
‘Delena Kidd on Room at the Top’ kicks off the disc’s extras. Kidd played Eva in the film (a supporting role). It is not completely clear if this is a new feature. Certainly, it did not appear on the 2019 home release. If it is new, then she looks fantastic for eighty-nine years of age. It runs to a mere seven minutes, and it is perfectly fine, as she gives a few memories of the people with whom she worked.
Next is an extract from a BEHP (British Entertainment History Project, it turns out) interview with Sir John Woolf. Sir John was the founder of Romulus Films, along with his brother James, and functioned as a producer on this film. This runs to around eight minutes, and is, again, perfectly serviceable, and of interest mainly as having a permanent record of the thoughts of a man who passed away a quarter of a century ago will always have value. Both he and Kidd talk in their respective features about John Braine’s source novel, which clearly made an impression upon them both.
Bonus features also contain a pair of commentary tracks; the first from Jo Botting, a curator at the BFI National Archive, which she tells us right over the pre-film information that the Digitisation of the feature was funded by the BFI, using funds from the National Lottery. She is dry in her delivery, but extremely knowledgeable on, well, everything. She has an impressive knowledge of the source novel, the shooting script and its revision, and where cultural references have changed between its move from the page to the screen.
She knows a huge amount about all of the principal cast, the director, the budget – right down to how much of it was actually spent. She leaves little to no dead air, and – delivery aside – there is clearly a great deal of passion here. It is possible she would have played better off an interviewer or fellow expert. They could have batted around ideas and stories in a less stilted way, though there is, in truth, little wrong with this well-researched track, a track full of insights, decent analysis and cultural context.
The second commentary track is from Neil Sinyard, emeritus professor of Film Studies at the University of Hull, and a veteran of these home releases of classic cinema. Whilst it is clear Sinyard also researched for the job, it feels looser and less like something for which intensive study had been done. The difference – and it may be why Botting’s track goes first – is the first track is a fact crammer for those wanting to learn as much as possible in the running time.
This track, by contrast, is more an analysis by a contributor that has spent a lifetime working in film. It is complementary to the first track (even though they are not new and were recorded in 2019 and 2009, respectively). There are facts here – and some discussion of the novel – but it is much more a soothing guide to the film, rather than a full course in everything about its making.
There are a good pair of tracks, underpinned by impressive intellect. The first tells you how they made it, the second analyses how they made it so well. Sinyard has also provided an interview for the release of The Comedy Man, also for Studiocanal, and this is also complementary to this release, as they are films that bookend the British New Wave (the latter not being quite of that genre, but with similarities that he discussed on that release). So, again, there is cultural context and, importantly, a decent working definition of the genre. Features are rounded off with the fairly standard stills gallery and trailer.
This adds up to a decent release for a more than decent film. In some respects, though, the lack of substantial new features is a testament to the fact that this film already had a very decent home release, with a pair of excellent commentaries. As far as we can tell, this is not a new transfer either. So we are left with an already good transfer (if not great, as the image is softer than in the aforementioned The Comedy Man), supported by decent audio, and a pair of illuminating commentaries. This makes it a decent purchase for fans of the film, the era, the genre, Romulus Films, or British cinema in general. For those already in possession of a copy, this offers nothing to suggest the need for a new purchase. That said, this is a perfectly good release and it far from disgraces the terrific main feature, which we can recommend with enthusiasm.
Room at the Top is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Studiocanal.
New from Studiocanal‘s Vintage Classics range is a release of the 1959 British film Room at the Top. The film was directed by Jack Clayton for Romulus Films and based on a book by John Braine. Laurence Harvey plays Joe, an ambitious man who has recently served in World War II (as the film is set in the late 40s). Keen to make something of his life, he leaves his small industrial town to move to the (fictional) bigger town of Warnley. To try to gain some advantage he pursues the daughter, Susan (Heather Sears) of a local wealthy industrial boss, Mr Brown (Donald Wolfit) – who attempts to shut the budding relationship down.
