Jimmy Porter (Burton) is a bitter, college-educated candy vendor whose unfulfilled life makes him lash out at everyone, including — most viciously — his wife Alison (Ure). He resents Alison's upper-middle-class upbringing and her parents' utter rejection of him, and eventually drives her out of their home, only to take up with Alison's best friend, Helena (Bloom).

Based on John Osborne's excoriating play, Tony Richardson's "Look Back in Anger" burst onto the screen in 1958 with piercing dialogue reflecting the stultifying state of the British lower classes. Richard Burton (in his prime) is electric as Jimmy, imbuing the malcontent with his own dark, scathing intensity. Richardson evokes the Britain of cold-water flats and endless drizzle with a grim authenticity. Look for veteran stage actress Dame Edith Evans playing Mrs. Tanner, Jimmy's surrogate mother (and the only woman he trusts).