CAROL WHITE STARS IN 'POOR COW' FEATURING TERENCE STAMP

Carol White in POOR COW Year: 1967 Rating: ****1/2

Since selections of POOR COW were used in the 1999 thriller THE LIMEY showing star Terence Stamp's younger self, and the plot involves crooks, there's an assumption this is another British crime flick... starring Terence Stamp... and both are far from the truth: In fact we only see the police or judge cleaning up each heist's aftermath...

An aftermath's aftermath that belongs entirely to Carol White, resembling one of several English blondes including Julie Christie, Judy Geeson and Susannah York only going far beneath the usual pretty actress performance... 

In that POOR COW harbors a non-performance within a documentary-style, right down to title cards and narration as White's Joy, always with her baby (at various stages) nearby, goes from an idyllic tryst with Stamp's nice guy burglar Dave, ending abruptly in an arrest where she's on her own, working various jobs, from a cocktail waitress to a nude photo model. And with bad husband John Bindon imprisoned before Stamp, and with the laidback aura of a friend's cool little sister, she takes up with just about any man, at any age or make, for simply flirting in her direction: An uncomfortable, non-glamorous role where White, despite her perky cuteness, never poses or relies on looks, often seeming like a hardened woman past her prime, yet somehow narrowly optimistic... A part Julie Christie would never have dared to play, POOR COW is the tattered noose of The Swinging Sixties, and is another ultra-realistic art film too good for its own good to receive the awards, accolades and cult following it deserves. 

Carol White in POOR COW

Carol White in POOR COW

Carol White in POOR COW with Terence Stamp

Carol White in POOR COW

Carol White in POOR COW

Carol White in POOR COW

Carol White in POOR COW with John Bindon