The Angry Silence
Directed by Guy Green
Written by Bryan Forbes; original treatment for the screen by Richard Gregson and Michael Craig
1960/UK
Beaver Films
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] “In the meantime the strike is over, with a remarkably low loss of life. All is quiet, they report, all is quiet.
In the deserted harbour there is yet water that laps against the quays. In the dark and silent forest there is a leaf that falls. Behind the polished panelling the white ant eats away the wood. Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools.” ― Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country[/box]
After 1959’s I’m All Right Jack comes a scathing rather than sardonic look at labor relations in contemporary Britain.
An agitator of unknown origins shows up at an ICBM plant and meets with a local union leader plotting to stir up trouble. They find a pretext to call the men out on an unauthorized wildcat strike. Worker Tom Curtis (Richard Attenborough) has just learned he is expecting his third child with wife Anna (Pier Angeli). Although a union member, Tom feels no compunction about reporting to work in these circumstances.
The organizers aren’t about to take this sitting down. They have at hand a bunch of bored young hoodlums who like nothing better that violence. Retaliation begins with attacks on property but soon Curtis’s very life is in danger. With Oliver Reed in his first credited screen performance as one of the thugs.
This has kind of an On the Waterfront vibe to it though here the villain is not a corrupt union but some undisclosed (presumably Soviet) agents provocateurs. Attenborough and Angeli are sympathetic and the director keeps the action moving.
The Angry Silence was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen.
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