This film is part of Rentals
The Angry Silence
Richard Attenborough plays a factory worker who’s ostracised after refusing to support a strike, in this gritty industrial drama.
Drama 1959 95 mins
Director: Guy Green
Overview
When factory worker Tom Curtis (Richard Attenborough), married with two kids and another on the way, refuses to support an unofficial strike, he finds himself shunned by his colleagues - and even his best friend.
Written and co-produced (with Attenborough) by Bryan Forbes as the first release of his production venture, Beaver Films, The Angry Silence can be seen as a British variant on the industrial drama of On the Waterfront (1954). But with its gritty depiction of working-class homes and factory life, there are also shades of the British New Wave ushered in by Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, released later the same year. The nuanced and naturalistic performance from Attenborough (who’d previously sent up labour relations in I’m All Right Jack) is one of many notable qualities in a film that offers a fascinating preview of the anti-union paranoia that would define the following two decades.
Accessibility
Related
Drama
Memory Box Memory Box
Drama 2021 103 mins Director: Khalil Joreige
A package of keepsakes from 1980s wartime Beirut arrives in contemporary Montreal, in this stylish intergenerational drama from acclaimed directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.
Minyan Minyan
Drama 2020 119 mins Director: Eric Steel
David gets a taste of freedom whilst living in 1980’s New York City when he develops a close friendship with his grandfather’s neighbours, two elderly closeted men.
Boiling Point Boiling Point
Drama 2020 95 mins Director: Philip Baranttini
An emotionally scarred London chef (Stephen Graham) struggles to keep it together in this formally extraordinary and beautifully acted single-take thriller.
Mothering Sunday Mothering Sunday
Drama 2021 104 mins Director: Eva Husson
In this beautiful adaptation of Graham Swift’s novel, starring Josh O’Connor and Odessa Young, a writer has a creative awakening steeped in books, love and loss.
Spencer Spencer
Drama 2021 117 mins Director: Pablo Larraín
Pablo Larraín's sublime ‘fable from a true story’ imagines a Christmas weekend at Sandringham in the early 1990s, as an unhappy Princess Diana contemplates saying ‘no’.
Drive My Car Drive My Car
Drama 2021 179 mins Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Inspired by Haruki Murakami’s short story, Ryusuke Hamaguchi takes us on an unpredictable and self-revelatory journey in this serene yet riveting drama.
Working Class Heroes
Poor Cow Poor Cow
Drama 1967 101 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s perceptive, personal, and moving debut feature film tells the story of a young mother’s struggles while her husband is in jail.
Bronco Bullfrog Bronco Bullfrog
Drama 1969 87 mins Director: Barney Platts-Mills
A fascinating record of 1960s suedehead youth culture which is largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from east London
Harry Brown Harry Brown
Crime 2009 103 mins Director: Daniel Barber
Michael Caine’s storming return to an action role finds him as a retired marine confronting local hoodlums on his housing estate.
The Long Good Friday The Long Good Friday
Gangster 1979 109 mins Director: John Mackenzie
Bob Hoskins charms as a London mob boss brokering a development deal with the American mafia – but somebody wants to see him dead.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Gangster 1986 100 mins Director: Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan's gritty thriller stars Bob Hoskins as a gangster recently released from prison who falls in love with the prostitute he is supposed to be protecting.
Journeyman Journeyman
Drama 2016 92 mins Director: Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine directs and stars with Jodie Whittaker in this emotional knockout - the story of a boxer rebuilding his life after a near-fatal injury.
Featuring Richard Attenborough
Loot Loot
Comedy 1970 102 mins Director: Silvio Narizzano
Silvio Narizzano adapts Joe Orton’s extraordinarily funny satire on police corruption and the conventions of detective fiction.
All Night Long All Night Long
Drama 1962 91 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Othello is transposed to the 1960s Soho jazz scene as a malevolent drummer sows mistrust between husband-and-wife jazz luminaries.
Seance on a Wet Afternoon Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Crime 1964 111 mins Director: Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes’ stylish psychological thriller about a medium who plans to kidnap a child and help the police solve the crime to bolster her reputation as a clairvoyant.
Brighton Rock Brighton Rock
Thriller 1948 93 mins Director: John Boulting
Richard Attenborough’s unforgettably sinister turn as ‘Pinkie’ pervades this classic adaptation of the Graham Greene novel.
New
Cicada Cicada
Romance 2020 97 mins Director: Matt Fifer
As a young man embarks on a new relationship, he is forced to face the traumas of his past in this remarkable debut feature.
Memory Box Memory Box
Drama 2021 103 mins Director: Khalil Joreige
A package of keepsakes from 1980s wartime Beirut arrives in contemporary Montreal, in this stylish intergenerational drama from acclaimed directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.
Knives Out Knives Out
Thriller 2019 130 mins Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig is the Kentucky Fried Poirot with all-star suspects - Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Toni Collette among them - in this nimble and brilliant crime caper.
Men Who Sing Men Who Sing
2021 78 mins Director: Dylan Williams
Humorous and melancholic portrait of a senior Welsh male voice choir.
Ailey Ailey
Documentary 2021 95 mins Director: Jamila Wignot
An immersive profile of ground-breaking and influential choreographer and founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Minyan Minyan
Drama 2020 119 mins Director: Eric Steel
David gets a taste of freedom whilst living in 1980’s New York City when he develops a close friendship with his grandfather’s neighbours, two elderly closeted men.