Les chemins de la puissance

I came to this film not having seen Room at the Top (1959) and not having read the novel. So my thoughts are based on it being a stand alone film - which might be a failing on my part, it is a sequel after all. I suspect this film was made (like so many sequels) on the back of the success of Room at the Top, rather than a stand alone piece of work. Anyway, my view of this film must be taken in this context.

Notwithstanding it's production in 1965 it somehow felt dated, perhaps exacerbated by being in black and white. The themes and the characters all seemed so stereotypical, outmoded and emotionally shallow. The main character played by Laurence Harvey (Joe Lampton) was very hard to like, he didn't seem to have many redeeming facets to his personality at all, often I felt I didn't really care what happened to him. There needs to be something in a main character to carry you through the story from beginning to end, not as in this case a man managing with a colossal chip on his shoulder. This wasn't the fault of Mr Harvey - more the way his character was written. This pretty much goes for all concerned. A superb cast do the best with what they have, hamstrung by what is often wooden dialogue.

My interest was only sustained by seeing the film as a document to mid-sixties England, the gorgeous Jean Simmons and glimpses of some fabulous cars - especially a Maserati Quattroporte.

This worthy sequel to "Room At the Top" (1958) reunites a few from the old gang, Laurence Harvey, Donald Wolfitt, and Allan Cuthbertson and welcomes Honor Blackman, Nigel Davenport and Robert Morley. Heather Sears has morphed, somewhat improbably, into Jean Simmons. DP Oswald Morris conveys a sense of doom in the saga of Joe Lampton, which could be subtitled, "you may take the boy out of the proletariat, but you can't take the proletarian out of the boy." Rigid class divisions, more a feature of England than most other countries, are clearly limned here. John Braine's themes of sin, forgiveness and redemption are well-articulated.

As sequels go, this isn't half bad. Aspirational, working-class lad "Joe" (Laurence Harvey) has managed to marry the boss's daughter "Susan" (Jean Simmons), has the semi detached trappings of middle class luxury but his life consists little of substance. His career is going nowhere fast and he is soon being tempted by the visiting television star "Norah" (Honor Blackman) as his wife embarks on an affair de coeur of her own with the rather unfortunately wooden Michael Craig ("Mark"). Has he the fortitude to go it alone; does he even really want to? The story isn't as potent as "Room at the Top" (1959) but both Harvey and Simmons as well as a strong series of cameos from the likes of Sir Donald Wolfit and Robert Morley still work well to convey many of the frustrations of a young man trying to escape the bonds of a class system and of a woman who has never had to want for anything, efficiently. It looks good. The photography is intense, almost intrusive at times, and the score from the accomplished Richard Addinsell adds much to the story and in many ways substitutes for a rather wordy and descriptive narrative. It's a good film, not a great one, and it is good to see Simmons remind us just how adaptable an actress she was.

"Life at the Top" from 1965 is touted as a sequel to "Room at the Top," which it is, but you could watch this without having seen "Room" without much problem.

Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) has had his dreams fulfilled - he's married to the boss' daughter (Jean Simmons), he's working for his father-in-law in a high position, and he's managed to squash his lower-class upbringing. However, he's miserable. He's bored out of his mind and angry with his wife, who keeps getting her father to pay for things. When he meets a pretty TV correspondent (Honor Blackman) he perks up.

This is a good movie with an excellent performance by Laurence Harvey, who really picks up where he left off with Joe Lampton, angry, ambitious, resentful, and womanizing. Jean Simmons is in the Heather Sears role, and she's wonderful - beautiful, sensual, and determined to keep her husband despite her own failings. I've always thought Simmons was highly underrated as she was always in competition with Audrey Hepburn and other bigger stars of the day for roles. She is glorious in her British films that she made when she was very young, and of course, Elmer Gantry and Angel Face, to name only two.

Worth seeing, and it answers the question, will Joe Lampton ever find happiness?

By Allah, this movie depressed me. Not many people are like a brain this movie because they all have their flaws and of course that is like real life still at remains and moving you want to be entertained where is the entertainment offered in this film flick are not really the kind you want to write home to your parents about and because of this once again the movie ends up to be pretty boring especially if you haven't read your original book on which this movie by the way even is a sequel on so you wonder what it is all about and then when you watch the movie you cannot help but feeling disappointed in the depressing life choices some of the characters are making. Personally I did not dislike the acting performances and by Allah Jean Simmons is always a wonderful marvel to look it. Mashallah!!