Alan Sillitoe adapted his own novel set in Nottingham in the late 1950s, perfectly capturing the prevailing zeitgeist of youthful discontent and disenfranchisement.

The film's swaggering anti-hero, Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney), represents the archetypal Angry Young Man, epitomised by his own advice of "Don't let the bastards grind you down". Like Jimmy Porter, the central character in Look Back in Anger, he is a rebel at war with society, but Seaton is more inclined to enjoy life, drinking and womanising with defiant relish. "What I'm out for is a good time," he announces, "The rest is all propaganda".

As with Richardson's A Taste of Honey, an unwanted pregnancy impacts on all the central characters and threatens to derail Seaton's hedonistic lifestyle. He is forced to conform outwardly to gray, middle-class values and choose between staid good girl, Doreen (Shirley Anne Field) and the sexually liberated Brenda. Rachel Roberts won a Bafta for her remarkable performance as Brenda.

The controversial and aggressive realism ensured an X certificate and many cinema bookers initially refused to show the film. However, a Warner Brothers movie flopped at a high-profile West End cinema and a replacement was needed quickly. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was chosen and proved phenomenally successful in its opening week, causing massive demand for prints across the country. It became a box-office smash, won the Bafta for Best Film and established its young lead, Albert Finney, as a star.

More than 40 years later the directorial style looks dated but the strength of the script, superb acting and realistic mood ensure that the film's punch, potency and anger remain intact.

Gavin Collinson