Hard Labour (film)
| Hard Labour | |
|---|---|
 Liz Smith | |
| Directed by | Mike Leigh |
| Produced by | Tony Garnett |
| Starring | Liz Smith Clifford Kershaw Polly Hemingway Bernard Hill Alison Steadman Vanessa Harris Cyril Varley Ben Kingsley |
Release date | 1973 |
Running time | 75 minutes |
Hard Labour is a 1973 television film, directed by Mike Leigh and produced by Tony Garnett which was broadcast as part of the BBC anthology series Play for Today. The film stars Liz Smith in her first major role. The film is the most clearly drawn in all Leigh's work from the background in Higher and Lower Broughton where he grew up. "Though elements of autobiography are buried in all Leigh's films and plays, only Hard Labour is set in Salford, – the scenes in the Stones' house were shot in a house just two doors along from where the Leighs had lived in Cavendish Road."[1]
Cast[]
- Liz Smith as Mrs Thornley
- Clifford Kershaw as Mr Thornley
- Polly Hemingway as Ann
- Bernard Hill as Edward
- Alison Steadman as Veronica
- Vanessa Harris as Mrs Stone
- Cyril Varley as Mr Stone
- Ben Kingsley as Naseem
Theme[]
"The polarity between the worlds of Mrs Stone and the lady who cleans her house (the central figure, Mrs Thornley, the Catholic house-cleaner) is icily delineated. In the middle is the new housing estate, where Mrs Thornley's son, Edward, (played by Bernard Hill in his professional début), a car mechanic, lives with his wife Veronica (Alison Steadman)."[2]
References[]
External links[]
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- 1973 television films
- 1973 films
- British television films
- British films
- Films directed by Mike Leigh
- Play for Today
- British television film stubs