Room at the Top is one of those films that examines our humanity through the lens of an unsympathetic protagonist, driven by his desire to improve his lot in life through marriage. What makes this protagonist different from most, though, is a change of heart that comes in direct conflict with his ambitions. This conflict is the very heart of the film and takes what is otherwise a rather slow and plodding story and makes it a bit more interesting.
The film began life in 1957 as a novel by English writer John Braine. This novel, and subsequent film adaptations, tackle romance, sex, and the growing divide between the social status of the haves and the have-nots. The have-nots look up at the wealthy and dream of what it is like to be in that world and, in most cases, feel that there is no way to cross that gap. Joe Lampton is the main character, fresh from World War II, and he, too, wants to make that leap to a higher station. Unlike many, though, he has an idea on how to make it happen.
It is human nature to think that with a little money we would be happy and content, but that rarely works out that way. Even those who manage to get it often spend their lives in pursuit of even more, putting down those around them in that pursuit. Having is not as good as wanting. Money cannot buy happiness. We’ve heard all of these sayings, yet the reality isn’t always so cut and dry. This is explored in even more detail in the 1965 sequel Life at the Top, a film and novel that is even more pessimistic than the original. These two films combine to tell a story that is, at its heart, a diagram of how the pursuit of more can make you miserable, especially if you set aside good, solid morals in the pursuit. In some ways, it is reminiscent of the novel and film Brooklyn and its literary sequel Long Island.
The film introduces us to Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) as he is moving from his hometown, the factory town of Dufton, to the somewhat bigger town of Warnley to assume a low-paying, but secure job at the Borough Treasurer’s Department. This position may be secure, but it is a dead-end position, and Joe is determined to do better for himself. To achieve this goal, against the warnings of his colleague and flatmate, Charlie Soames (Donald Houston), he pursues Susan Brown (Heather Sears), the daughter of wealthy business magnate Mr. Brown (Donald Wolfit). Susan has been dating another wealthy man, Jack Wales (John Westbrook), but Joe is undeterred, and she responds to his charm. Her parents see through his ambitions, though, and put up roadblocks, including trying to get him a better position back in his hometown and then later shipping Susan off to France. While this effectively separates the two, Susan remains smitten with him.
Meanwhile, Joe has taken up with Alice Aisgill (Simone Signoret), the unhappy wife of George Aisgill (Allan Cuthbertson), an abusive upper-middle-class Englishman who is repeatedly cheating on her. Alice is ten years Joe’s senior, and the two enter into a physical relationship under the pretenses that they can remain “loving friends”. This develops into love, though, which is further complicated when Susan returns and Joe successfully seduces her, leaving her pregnant. This forces Susan’s parents to push for the two to get married, but Joe, now fully in love with Alice, has to make a choice between his social ambitions and the woman he truly loves. Either choice will bring with it some serious consequences.
Movies about infidelity always have a major hurdle that must be overcome if I am to be able to recommend it as a good film. I can get past a lead character being a philanderer so long as he is not married to someone else. This makes Joe’s relationship with Alice problematic for me. Alice’s relationship with George is presented as a very bad situation; he beats her and cheats on her constantly. Alice wants a divorce, but George denies her even that, forcing her to stay with him. Because of this, I cannot be too harsh on her character. She is immensely unhappy, and Joe provides her just a little bit of joy in an otherwise miserable existence.
Because of that, she latches on to him despite knowing he is not looking for a permanent relationship. She knows he has ambitions that do not include a long-term relationship with someone who cannot elevate his social status. What neither could predict, though, was that emotions can trump ambition. Were it not for Susan getting pregnant, Joe might have stayed with Alice, despite her never being able to get her divorce and marry him instead. When Susan’s father offers him a good-paying position in the family business alongside marriage to Susan, Joe accepts it, despite no longer wanting her. This all comes with the caveat that he has to break it off with Alice for good, which he does. The consequences for this action are harsh and permanent.
The best thing about Room at the Top is Simone Signoret. This is a difficult role to nail, and she makes it look easy. She sells the desperate loneliness and overwhelming sadness in a way that we just know will eventually overtake her. She latches on to Joe like he is a life raft, but we know that he will not be able to keep her afloat forever, and therefore when he detaches from her, we know immediately what is about to happen. The final result is brutal, shocking, and mercifully happens off-screen; we don’t need to see it to be rocked to the core by it.
What ultimately makes this a difficult film to get into is the glacial pacing. This is not a film in which a lot happens. There are stakes, and the film presents them well, but the way things are presented makes it hard to be fully invested in the story. That, coupled with the unlikability of Joe as a character, makes this a hard film to remain invested in. Even a disreputable lead character has to have something we latch on to to keep our interest, and there is very little of that here. The end result is an interesting look at the moral quandaries of envy and greed, juxtaposed with a lot of dull writing that fails to maintain enough energy to keep us invested. This film was a hit when it released in 1959, but unfortunately, it hasn’t aged particularly well.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Motion Picture: John Woolf and James Woolf
Best Director: Jack Clayton
Best Actor: Laurence Harvey
Best Actress: Simone Signoret (won)
Best Supporting Actress: Hermione Baddeley
Best Screenplay - Based on Material from Another Medium: Neil Paterson (won)
____________________________________________________
Release Date: January 22, 1959
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Simone Signoret, Laurence Harvey, Heather Sears, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston, and Hermione Baddeley
Directed By: Jack Clayton
Comments
Post a Comment