Along with Richard Burton's Jimmy Porter (Look Back in Anger) and Albert Finney's Arthur Seaton (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning), Courtenay's Smith has become recognised as one of the principal incarnations of the era's so-called Angry Young Man. Sullen, tight-lipped and hard-nosed, Smith is an anti-hero for sure yet part of Courtenay's achievement is that he quickly wins our sympathies.
The film traces Smith's progress at Borstal, where he's trained "like a racehorse" for a high-profile sporting event with the local public school. Lengthy, intermittent flashbacks depict his route to the institution, charting several misadventures with Likely Lad James Bolam that result in his arrest for robbing a bakery.
Sillitoe himself turned Smith's story into a screenplay, fleshing out the details of his working-class Nottingham background and adding a romantic interlude in Skegness. The author's treatment retains the distinctive timbre and quick wit of his protagonist's narration, offering some particularly delicious lines. ("What's the first thing you'd do if you won £75,000?" "Count it.")
Tempering documentary-style observation with occasional bursts of exuberance, Richardson's direction often recalls his work in A Taste of Honey. Several sequences are sped up - most memorably the robbery - and others, such as the climactic marathon, benefit from smart editing. Daily life at the grim, fortress-like Ruxton Towers is captured in close detail while Smith's claustrophobic home life is equally well drawn.
There's some intelligent use of music too. From its semi-lyrical opening to the wonderfully downbeat ending, variations on the signature theme (Jerusalem) set a mood that is alternately stirring, sprightly and poignant. Intercut with the capture of a runaway, the scene in which the Borstal boys sing Blake's hymn is still astonishing.
Chris Wiegand
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on BBC Four
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Courtenay appeared in Billy Liar! a year later. He had previously played the role onstage
