Directed by Mike Leigh • 1973 • United Kingdom
Starring Liz Smith, Clifford Kershaw, Polly Hemingway
Mike Leigh’s first television drama is also one of his most autobiographical works, set in the same neighborhood where he grew up in Salford in Northern England. Mrs. Thornley (Liz Smith, in a poignantly understated performance) is a hardworking maid and housewife who is exploited and underappreciated by all around her, including her gruff husband (Clifford Kershaw) and adult daughter (Polly Hemingway). Though she bears her suffering silently, it is in the privacy of the church confessional that Mrs. Thornley reveals her innermost feelings. Look out for an early appearance by Ben Kingsley as a taxi driver.
Up Next in Mike Leigh at the BBC
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The Kiss of Death
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1977 • United Kingdom
Starring David Threlfall, Kay Adshead, Angela CurranCited by Mike Leigh as one of his personal favorites among his own works, THE KISS OF DEATH is a mordantly funny portrait of Trevor (David Threlfall), a terminally shy mortician’s assistant who st...
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Who’s Who
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1979 • United Kingdom
Starring Richard Kane, Joolia Cappleman, Phil DavisWith this caustically observed comedy, Mike Leigh crafted a scathingly funny satire of a group of wealth- and image-obsessed London yuppies. Centering on Alan (Richard Kane)—a social-climbing emplo...
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Grown-Ups
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1980 • United Kingdom
Starring Phil Davis, Brenda Blethyn, Lesley ManvilleOne of the finest of the films that Mike Leigh produced for the BBC early in his career, GROWN-UPS focuses on the relationship between Dick (Philip Davis) and Mandy (Lesley Manville), a young, new...
