TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGcC5wmc2qV4s9l5AbXYU-SJ6hVinnTOJUPnsB8kj2qnFE-RNszdLQWyCZGMNoh5yczFAYkwfAnNpNrFPE1omf6pXYUkUxjXAVhAFi-X9Y7_HXKjxeXCYKiL9dDbxJ5hQlXQA4_PttdvBmxVDXmToVkq_Cu5Ps3qyXVobsd3Nv2LBg3mfIriVyN-yvqNB/s1986/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-27%20at%2010.50.10%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGcC5wmc2qV4s9l5AbXYU-SJ6hVinnTOJUPnsB8kj2qnFE-RNszdLQWyCZGMNoh5yczFAYkwfAnNpNrFPE1omf6pXYUkUxjXAVhAFi-X9Y7_HXKjxeXCYKiL9dDbxJ5hQlXQA4_PttdvBmxVDXmToVkq_Cu5Ps3qyXVobsd3Nv2LBg3mfIriVyN-yvqNB/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-27%20at%2010.50.10%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Courtenay & James Bolam THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING gets credit for igniting the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/british%20new%20wave">British New Wave</a>, otherwise known as Kitchen Sink Dramas centering on the working class in England's late 50's/early 60's, that film's producer Tony Richardson's directorial THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER really thrust the movement forward...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With an active sport-plot behind character-driven, documentary-style social themes, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/tom%20courtenay">Tom Courtenay</a> plays young contented loser Colin Smith, newly arrived at a rural juvenile detention center from a renovated castle, run by ambitious warden (aka governor) Michael Redgrave...</p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, cult, drama, frank finlay, indie, james bolam, jazz score, joe robinson, julia foster, michael redgrave, prison, sixties, sport, tom courtenay, tony richardson, topsy jane

TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

Tom Courtenay & James Bolam THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: ***** Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNI...

LAURENCE HARVEY VS TOM COURTENAY FOR 'A DANDY IN ASPIC'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGM9oLlSyXQbD_Hhp0y_loEsy_xBFRxbnuPCGaLbdM8FyxqB-QjxgeXx0u5rrwYqMv9sv0h0eDvxjaFkJu_39Z92dM01Dpl7dIAku8dGcgy6jEXQuF5aNjmyhoz7YI1FnAo0UZbFOLrDJTNHFlWQZdrWIlSQMhOsKMAcDA43mct9KyUN5YmpVDd0T4g/s1440/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-22%20at%2012.15.45%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGM9oLlSyXQbD_Hhp0y_loEsy_xBFRxbnuPCGaLbdM8FyxqB-QjxgeXx0u5rrwYqMv9sv0h0eDvxjaFkJu_39Z92dM01Dpl7dIAku8dGcgy6jEXQuF5aNjmyhoz7YI1FnAo0UZbFOLrDJTNHFlWQZdrWIlSQMhOsKMAcDA43mct9KyUN5YmpVDd0T4g/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-22%20at%2012.15.45%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: A DANDY IN ASPIC Year: 1968 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"I do believe that you two would have got on well together," Tom Courtenay as a stuffy, cautious and paranoid, cold-blooded British agent named Gaitiss tells Mia Farrow's flaky model Caroline after she beds Laurence Harvey, a far more sympathetic agent that <i>we</i> think is named Alexander Eberlin. "You haven't got a past, and <i>he</i> hasn't got a future."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sadly, either did veteran director Anthony Mann, who started with Film Noir using creative camera angles before turning to traditional Westerns, making A DANDY IN ASPIC a kind of halfway visual comeback...</p><p><span></span></p>

anthony mann, barbara murray, british neo noir, british new wave, espionage, laurence harvey, lionel stander, mia farrow, sixties, spy, suspense, thriller, tom courtenay

LAURENCE HARVEY VS TOM COURTENAY FOR 'A DANDY IN ASPIC'

Title: A DANDY IN ASPIC Year: 1968 Rates: ***1/2 "I do believe that you two would have got on well together," Tom Courtenay as a s...

TOM COURTENAY PURSUED THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AS 'OTLEY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsIWkuznV8q00gUF9h2ZC5HdX13RUGaKj8XiaTlAjIZHrKobN6C2L5gc9hA38uBxXzhzoMggaqflJrAPhg4Vkqkf2GQ7m0QtcEk0qMTnfBclMkTDlqH4eRAkXtSjNLFvt8fcYPA4ltIoFld8ZfOeP_LUg5LlUIc_JeFWhEOOaUa4jqL20zwdDZSB287nE/s2452/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-16%20at%202.31.50%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="2452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsIWkuznV8q00gUF9h2ZC5HdX13RUGaKj8XiaTlAjIZHrKobN6C2L5gc9hA38uBxXzhzoMggaqflJrAPhg4Vkqkf2GQ7m0QtcEk0qMTnfBclMkTDlqH4eRAkXtSjNLFvt8fcYPA4ltIoFld8ZfOeP_LUg5LlUIc_JeFWhEOOaUa4jqL20zwdDZSB287nE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-16%20at%202.31.50%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Courtenay in OTLEY Year: 1969 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the crest of the 1960's counter-culture, OTLEY was the final starring cinematic role for Tom Courtenay before returning to and remaining with the Royal Stage until his comeback in THE DRESSER. Despite earning an Oscar nomination, those very long thirteen-years had changed the scrawny, scowling, hungry rebellious youth into a mellow middle-aged man who could still act — but visually it was like replacing James Dean with Jimmy Dean... <br> <br> OTLEY was also a reunion of two young cronies from Courtenay's star-making LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER with James Bolam as one of several antique dealers along Fleet Street, England, where Courtenay's Gerald Otley hardly makes a living, starting out being kicked out of one flat and desperately seeking another...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

action, alan badel, british new wave, fiona lewis, freddie jones, james bolam, james maxwell, james villiers, lenoard rossiter, leonard rossiter, romy schneider, spoof, spy, tom courtenay, wrong man

TOM COURTENAY PURSUED THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AS 'OTLEY'

Tom Courtenay in OTLEY Year: 1969 Rating: **** At the crest of the 1960's counter-culture, OTLEY was the final starring cinematic role f...

KIRK DOUGLAS IN 'CATCH ME A SPY' WITH TOM COURTENAY

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJAaoFnbtb1X2GpjJFfSyZrJu077DEk7dyX4YtiZNioNOUkpHNhj_CBCJjr9tUVWsCSCGfmyxxCG0Z4WVYtOmA7qwpsRGEA3S-IQxwfJWOx_PH07IAnVgeWpIRY2NY15-Rteo1EN5ZkX4dDEa6Y1lH0a31n312SVEsxWbyg8TRtsaWDRSXAydMEq-Qvw=s880" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="880" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJAaoFnbtb1X2GpjJFfSyZrJu077DEk7dyX4YtiZNioNOUkpHNhj_CBCJjr9tUVWsCSCGfmyxxCG0Z4WVYtOmA7qwpsRGEA3S-IQxwfJWOx_PH07IAnVgeWpIRY2NY15-Rteo1EN5ZkX4dDEa6Y1lH0a31n312SVEsxWbyg8TRtsaWDRSXAydMEq-Qvw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlène Jobert with Kirk Douglas and Trevor Howard in CATCH ME A SPY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one scene where French starlet Marlène Jobert plugs her nose for a mousy-sounding voice to thwart cat-and-mouse counterpart Kirk Douglas, it's actually less annoying than her real one... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But she's super cute, probably all that mattered to director Dick Clement in his spy-spoof followup to the spy-spoof <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/02/otley.html">OTLEY</a> that starred Tom Cortenay in his <span class="ILfuVd"><span class="hgKElc">penultimate </span></span> big-screen role until THE DRESSER... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, british, comedy, dick clement, garfield morgan, john thaw, kirk douglas, marlene jobert, seventies, spoof, spy, tom courtenay, trevor howard

KIRK DOUGLAS IN 'CATCH ME A SPY' WITH TOM COURTENAY

Marlène Jobert with Kirk Douglas and Trevor Howard in CATCH ME A SPY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2 In one scene where French starlet Marlène Jobe...

PETER O'TOOLE 'THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS' TOM COURTENAY

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3i6Vw8zxNLCsVEAh6UmMa8hg7W9vLBVLrJYqTQv5WAbiMGlLPi-Poh9xXAOFNUnnyvkj9sddmtrq2YEFb9AKgZ8XsYYtOQ-Ydmjp_N9tKUNp8QV5PqhPiW5t4adO93yMu9cv7EgGPbG3pzDYj6rXINAPJtm9nLXEruoJ8SoLnj1mOHPGseBcITInpPZ5/s1210/14.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3i6Vw8zxNLCsVEAh6UmMa8hg7W9vLBVLrJYqTQv5WAbiMGlLPi-Poh9xXAOFNUnnyvkj9sddmtrq2YEFb9AKgZ8XsYYtOQ-Ydmjp_N9tKUNp8QV5PqhPiW5t4adO93yMu9cv7EgGPbG3pzDYj6rXINAPJtm9nLXEruoJ8SoLnj1mOHPGseBcITInpPZ5/s16000/14.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS Year: 1967 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The fact that a movie from the producer of and two main leads from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and another David Lean-directed actor, Tom Courtenay, from the epic followup that also starred Omar Sharif, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, was just a pretty-good and not a really-great motion picture is probably why "all the hate" has been given for THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS throughout the years...<br> <br> And while spending far too much of that hefty run-time making for too long a movie in <i>general</i>, it's still a neat cinematic experience, especially the narrowed last half as a reluctant Courtenay's put in passive charge of driving/escorting bloodthirsty Nazi general Peter O'Toole around occupied yet art-inspired Paris: He's one of three German Generals that could be the murderer of a female German spy, unseen in the movie's expository prologue...<br> </p><p></p>

charles gray, donald pleasence, joanna pettet, mystery, nazi, omar sharif, patrick allen, peter o'toole, sixties, thriller, tom courtenay, véronique vendell, war, world war

PETER O'TOOLE 'THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS' TOM COURTENAY

Title: THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS Year: 1967 Rating: **** The fact that a movie from the producer of and two main leads from LAWRENCE OF ARA...

QUARTET

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLoWhSrbbH1teIURYLA3kukIduhuBy81MveAamCvRzcPwfHGogfTe7SDb43RlRJMg2oFU455QQB1TYrrDxMQLFEpwDYC2gDMgndQeZxLgFt6cE0dHd5J8ZLyZNVgQ1qIS6LLTbOQ-Dhc/s1600/QUARTET-MAGGIE-SMITH_zpsf3dbe756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLoWhSrbbH1teIURYLA3kukIduhuBy81MveAamCvRzcPwfHGogfTe7SDb43RlRJMg2oFU455QQB1TYrrDxMQLFEpwDYC2gDMgndQeZxLgFt6cE0dHd5J8ZLyZNVgQ1qIS6LLTbOQ-Dhc/s640/QUARTET-MAGGIE-SMITH_zpsf3dbe756.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Maggie Smith, Billy Connelly, Tom Courtenay rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> This is a very polarizing film. Not altogether in a negative sense but if you’re not heavily into classical music or opera it might be hard to relate to these characters, a group of elderly people in a retirement home for retired musicians.<br /> <br /> Throughout a very crowded house of crooning and/or instrument playing old timers, the first fifteen minutes consists of Billy Connelly’s sexually motivated character, Wilf Bond, flirting with every female, spouting the best dialog because everyone else has little to nothing to say. That includes Tom Courtenay's Reginald Paget, who only really comes to life after his ex wife Jean Horton, a former opera star played by Maggie Smith, becomes a resident. <br /> <br /> Part of the film's description is very misleading: “...The annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva.” For one thing, Jean is hardly a diva. That would have been humorously edgy and interesting. She’s actually quite mellow and introverted. Her only fault is stalking Paget on the grounds, but only because he wants nothing to do with her, yet they eventually connect and talk about the past.<br /> <br /> It’s difficult to relate to who they were since we never get to know them in the present. And eventually the plot’s underway: one of the residents wants the quartet, including the three characters mentioned and Pauline Collins as the ever-optimistic Cissy, to reunite. Horton (Smith) angrily balks until it’s decided to proceed, after which the show goes on with somewhat predictable results. <br /> <br /> First time director Dustin Hoffman does effectively wield creative shots in the gorgeous English exterior, but on the inside there’s little story to make the characters as worthwhile as they music they dedicated their lives to.

2012, billy connelly, drama, dustin hoffman, maggie smith, music, tom courtenay

QUARTET

year: 2013 cast: Maggie Smith, Billy Connelly, Tom Courtenay rating: *1/2 This is a very polarizing film. Not altogether in a negative s...