Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)
Encyclopedia
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960
British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name
by Alan Sillitoe
. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz
.
factory. Angry at his lot in life, he is determined not to be tied down to living a life of domestic drudgery like the people around him, including his parents whom he describes as "dead from the neck up". He spends his wages at weekends on drinking and having a good time. Arthur is having an affair with Brenda, the wife of an older co-worker. He also begins a relationship with Doreen, a single woman closer to his own age. When Brenda gets pregnant, Arthur asks his Aunt Ada for advice on aborting
the child (as abortions were not legal at that time). However, none of Ada's advice works and Brenda decides that she will keep the child and suffer the consequences. Later, Brenda's husband discovers the affair, and his brother (a burly soldier) and a fellow soldier give Arthur a vicious beating. After recovering, Arthur returns to work but knows he can never see Brenda (or his soon to be born child) again. The film ends with Arthur and Doreen discussing marriage and the prospect of a new home together.
or "kitchen sink drama
s" which followed the success of the play Look Back in Anger
. Others include Tony Richardson
's (a producer on this film) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
(from Alan Sillitoe's 1959 collection of short stories of the same name) and A Taste of Honey
; and John Schlesinger
's A Kind of Loving
and Billy Liar
. It was at the forefront of the British New Wave
, films dealing with working class
issues in a serious manner for the first time, and portraying the more realistic side of issues such as sex and abortion. The film received an X rating from the BBFC upon its theatrical release and later was submitted for re-rating for the home video release and given a PG rating.
, though some scenes were shot elsewhere. The night scene with a pub named "The British Flag" in the background was filmed along Culvert Road in Battersea
, London
, the pub being at the junction of Culvert Road and Sheepcote Lane (now Rowditch Lane).
The closing scenes show Arthur and Doreen on a grassy slope overlooking a housing estate with new construction going on. According to an article in the Nottingham Evening News on 30 March 1960, this was filmed in Wembley
with the assistance of Nottingham
builders Simms Sons & Cooke who set up a staged "building site" on location.
rock band Arctic Monkeys
, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
.
It is also the origin for the title of the live album Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
by The Stranglers
.
The runout groove on the B-side of vinyl copies of The Smiths
' 1986 album The Queen Is Dead
feature the line "Them was rotten days" said by Aunt Ada (Hylda Baker) in the film.
Also the line said by Doreen before Arthur takes her to the fair "I want to go where there's life and there's people" inspired the song "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
" on the same album ("I want to see people and I want to see life").
1960 in film
The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Author's Club First Novel Award.It was adapted by Sillitoe into a 1960 film starring Albert Finney, directed by Karel Reisz, and in 1964 was adapted by David Brett as a play for the Nottingham...
by Alan Sillitoe
Alan Sillitoe
Alan Sillitoe was an English writer and one of the "Angry Young Men" of the 1950s.. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was applied.- Biography :...
. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz was a Czech-born British filmmaker who was active in post–war Britain, and one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in 1950s and 1960s British cinema.-Early life:...
.
Synopsis
Arthur Seaton is a young machinist at a NottinghamNottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
factory. Angry at his lot in life, he is determined not to be tied down to living a life of domestic drudgery like the people around him, including his parents whom he describes as "dead from the neck up". He spends his wages at weekends on drinking and having a good time. Arthur is having an affair with Brenda, the wife of an older co-worker. He also begins a relationship with Doreen, a single woman closer to his own age. When Brenda gets pregnant, Arthur asks his Aunt Ada for advice on aborting
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
the child (as abortions were not legal at that time). However, none of Ada's advice works and Brenda decides that she will keep the child and suffer the consequences. Later, Brenda's husband discovers the affair, and his brother (a burly soldier) and a fellow soldier give Arthur a vicious beating. After recovering, Arthur returns to work but knows he can never see Brenda (or his soon to be born child) again. The film ends with Arthur and Doreen discussing marriage and the prospect of a new home together.
Style
The film is among the first of the social-realistSocial realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
or "kitchen sink drama
Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men...
s" which followed the success of the play Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
. Others include Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
's (a producer on this film) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe which was set in Irvine Beach, and published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same name. The work focuses on Colin, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a blue-collar area, who has bleak...
(from Alan Sillitoe's 1959 collection of short stories of the same name) and A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey (film)
A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British film adaptation of the play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney adapted the screenplay herself, aided by director Tony Richardson, who had previously directed the first production of the play...
; and John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
's A Kind of Loving
A Kind of Loving (film)
A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Stan Barstow. It stars Alan Bates and June Ritchie as two lovers in 1960s West Yorkshire. The photography was by Denys Coop, and the music by Ron Grainer...
and Billy Liar
Billy Liar (film)
Billy Liar is a 1963 film based on the novel by Keith Waterhouse. It was directed by John Schlesinger and stars Tom Courtenay as Billy and Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends. Mona Washbourne plays Mrs. Fisher, and Wilfred Pickles played Mr. Fisher...
. It was at the forefront of the British New Wave
British New Wave
The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The label is a translation of Nouvelle Vague, the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others.There is considerable overlap...
, films dealing with working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
issues in a serious manner for the first time, and portraying the more realistic side of issues such as sex and abortion. The film received an X rating from the BBFC upon its theatrical release and later was submitted for re-rating for the home video release and given a PG rating.
Filming locations
Much of the exterior filming was done on location in NottinghamNottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, though some scenes were shot elsewhere. The night scene with a pub named "The British Flag" in the background was filmed along Culvert Road in Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the pub being at the junction of Culvert Road and Sheepcote Lane (now Rowditch Lane).
The closing scenes show Arthur and Doreen on a grassy slope overlooking a housing estate with new construction going on. According to an article in the Nottingham Evening News on 30 March 1960, this was filmed in Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
with the assistance of Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
builders Simms Sons & Cooke who set up a staged "building site" on location.
Cast
- Albert FinneyAlbert FinneyAlbert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
as Arthur Seaton - Shirley Anne FieldShirley Anne FieldShirley Anne Field is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.-Early Life:...
as Doreen - Rachel RobertsRachel Roberts (British actress)Rachel Roberts was a Welsh actress noted for her fervour and passion; Roberts is best remembered for her forthright screen performances in two key films of the 1960s, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life, in both of which she played the older mistress of the central male...
as Brenda - Hylda BakerHylda BakerHylda Baker was a British comedienne, actress and music hall star.-Early life and career:Baker was born in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, the first of seven children. Her father, Harold Baker, was a painter and signwriter, who also worked part-time in the music halls as a comedian...
as Aunt Ada - Norman RossingtonNorman RossingtonNorman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night.-Early life:...
as Bert - Bryan PringleBryan PringleBryan Pringle was a British actor who appeared in television, film and theatre productions.Born in Tamworth, Staffordshire but raised in the Lancashire town of Bolton he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1958, he married character actress Anne Jameson; together they had...
as Jack - Robert Cawdron as Robboe
- Edna Morris as Mrs. Bull
- Elsie Wagstaff as Mrs. Seaton
- Frank Pettitt as Mr. Seaton
- Avis BunnageAvis BunnageAvis Bunnage was a British actress of film, stage and television.She attended Manley Park Municipal School and Chorlton Central School in Manchester. She worked as a secretary and a nursery teacher before deciding to become an actress...
as Mousy Woman - Colin BlakelyColin BlakelyColin George Blakely was a Northern Irish character actor. He was considered an actor of great range.-Early life:...
as Loudmouth - Irene Richmond as Doreen's Mother
- Louise Dunn as Betty
- Anne Blake as Civil Defence Officer
- Peter MaddenPeter Madden (actor)Peter Madden was a British actor who was born in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya.Madden was a character actor who made several notable appearances in Hammer films...
as Drunken Man - Cameron HallCameron Hall (actor)-Selected filmography:* The Lilac Domino * Adventure's End * Yes, Madam? * Neutral Port * Spellbound * I Thank You * My Brother Jonathan * Man on the Run * Madeleine...
as Mr. Bull - Alister WilliamsonAlister WilliamsonAlister Williamson was an Australian-born character actor, who appeared in many British films and television series of the 1960s and 1970s. A big, craggy-faced man, he would usually be found playing gruff police inspectors or henchmen in adventure series and police dramas of the period...
as Police Constable - Peter SallisPeter SallisPeter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character...
as Man in Suit (uncredited)
Popular culture references
The film is the origin for the title of the debut album of SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
rock band Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the debut album by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 January 2006. The album became the UK's fastest selling debut album, shifting over 360,000 copies in its first week, and remains the fastest selling debut album by a band. It...
.
It is also the origin for the title of the live album Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning is a live recording of The Stranglers in concert.By coincidence, it was Hugh Cornwell's last concert with the band that had been recorded for posterity. This recording was eventually released in 1993, as Saturday Night, Sunday Morning...
by The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
.
The runout groove on the B-side of vinyl copies of The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
' 1986 album The Queen Is Dead
The Queen Is Dead
The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band The Smiths. It was released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records and released in the United States on 23 June 1986 through Sire Records. The album reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart, maintaining...
feature the line "Them was rotten days" said by Aunt Ada (Hylda Baker) in the film.
Also the line said by Doreen before Arthur takes her to the fair "I want to go where there's life and there's people" inspired the song "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a song by the British alternative rock group The Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was originally featured on their third album The Queen Is Dead , and was released as a single in 1992, five years after The Smiths split up...
" on the same album ("I want to see people and I want to see life").
External links
- British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
article - ScreenonlineScreenonlineScreenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...
article - British New Wave Essay on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, at BrokenProjector.com. Archived at Webcite from this original URL 2008-05-08.
- Photographs of The White Horse Public House, Nottingham as featured in the film