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SCREENING: Room at the Top (Jack Clayton, 1959)

  • Kent Museum of the Moving Image 41 Stanhope Road Deal, Kent CT14 6AD United Kingdom (map)

Kent MOMI presents … HOT BRITAIN (a series of films appropriate to the season!)

It’s worth recalling the original impact of Jack Clayton’s trailblazing 1959 film, reflected in its six Academy Award nominations.  It won two: for Simone Signoret’s dazzlingly charismatic performance, and for Neil Paterson’s screen adaptation of John Braine’s of-the-moment 1957 best-seller.  (Hermione Baddeley’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress was achieved off the back of her 2 minutes and 19 seconds of screen-time – the shortest ever performance to win an Oscar nomination.  Also look out also for a coquettish young secretary played by Prunella Scales).

Room at the Top gave us Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton, the smouldering, ambitious young working-class Yorkshireman with a chip on his shoulder and a burning desire to get on, and get laid … a drama of class conflict and male frustration in a world where nice girls wouldn’t or if they did pregnancy was shatteringly immediate. … a pungent time capsule for postwar Britain where nasty snobbish remarks could be exchanged at the Rotary club.” (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian).

Doors open 5.30, for drinks, nibbles & classic cocktails. Film starts 6.30 with a brief introduction. Entry is free with a yearly ticket, although we suggest a small donation of £5pp to help us keep the lights on. Yearly tickets can be purchased on the door (£7.50 adult / £6.00 concessions).