What It's About:

Arthur Seaton (Finney) is a small-town factory worker whose dreary job makes him live for a wild weekend life of boozing and womanizing. He regularly beds his co-worker's wife, Brenda (Roberts), who wants more than sex, but then falls for Doreen (Shirley Ann Field), a proper young woman who demands a commitment Arthur can't bring himself to make.

Why I Love It:

Another top quality, British "kitchen-sink" drama from the 1960s, Reisz's film launched Finney to prominence after a promising debut in Tony Richardson's "The Entertainer." Drowning five days of stagnation in one night's revelry--or is it oblivion?-Arthur is the quintessential "angry young man," as he is going nowhere and won't let himself care, either about short-term inconveniences or long-term consequences. Finney is magnetic in the lead, and both Roberts and Shirley Ann Field make compelling love interests. Finney would go on to cement his stardom in the incomparable "Tom Jones".