The End of the Road

The trials of a crusty old duffer who doesn't want to retire seems far from the reality of life 65 years later when both men and women have to work not as empowerment but simply in order to make ends meet, and people are being forced to work longer and longer hours and long to be able to afford a comfortable retirement in the foreseeable future.

What this typically earnest Group Three production is really about, of course, is the loneliness and boredom of old age, which is a problem that isn't going to go away in the near future. (Finlay Currie at 76 looks as strong as a horse in this film and continued almost right up to his death at the age of 90; few others are that lucky.)

Finlay Currie plays Mick-Mack, a veteran electroplater forced to retire from his factory. He is left embittered and now regarded as a burden on his family, he has to swallow his pride and claim benefits from the post office.

He reluctantly takes on a job as a nightwatchman but loses it when he leaves his post, with his son and wife arguing he is heading for a nervous breakdown, but at least his knowledge and skill comes to the aid of the factory owners.

In some ways this is the precursor to the provocative British kitchen sink dramas that would emerge in the late 1950s. Currie gives a skillful portrayal of a working man who has reached the end of his tether, his family contemplating putting him in a home.

It is a small scale film, Currie plays a proud man who at the same time can irritate you.

This film was shown last night as part of the NFTVA 75th anniversary celebrations.It was made by Group 3 an independent company set up by the NFFC in 1951.It originally comprised such disparate talents as John Grierson,Michael Balcon and John Baxter.However due to a general falling out between themselves everyone bar john Baxter left.He ended up as Production Controller.The company's main problem was getting a decent distribution for the films.the circuits really weren't that interested.The company folded in 1955 having made 22 films,some of them quite decent.This is a modest film which still has a timely tale.All about Mick Mack an electro plate layer who has to retire because he has reached the retirement age.He tries to get a job but all he can find is a night watchman's job.Initially his family have too much on their minds to even notice he has been retired.However when they do recognise this it has a startling impact on their lives.Currie ends up having a nervous breakdown.The film is resolved in a fairly pat and conventional way.It has to be said that this type of film would become redundant in a few years with the introduction of the angry wave eg Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.Every thing has a rather pre war feel to it,maybe influenced by Baxter?The married couple have twin beds,the husband wont let the wife go out to work,the work force all seem rather complaisant and not a hint of a union anywhere.Currie gives a sterling performance in the sort of film which would disappear with the emergence of TV drama.

It's old, but so well done, and the screenplay is superb. An old man, feeling he is no longer useful, refuses to accept it. This causes many kinds of family tension and problems from his former workmates - but somehow, he copes with it all and even - eventually - triumphs. This is a lesson for any and every age. Made in 1954, has anything really changed? Yes, the world has, we're in a new age of technology - but people are still the same, and their problems too.

Finlay Currie is one of the old-time greats - earlier he was a biblical character in 'Quo Vadis' and later a memorable player in 'Ben Hur'.

Watch this, if you can.

The UK had its own ' New Wave ' but I can imagine in 1954 that the country was not ready for it, needing 'entertainment ' instead of the real streets and factory settings of the time. It also takes on the subject of old age with a good performance by Duncan Lamont who is forced to retire from his job. Later on in the decade the UK was ready for such films, and with the ground breaking ' Room at the Top ' ( which was in some ways less uncompromising than this film in its need for sexuality and an X certificate to become a success ) and audiences were ready to see representations of ' reality ' around them. As for ' The End of the Road ' Wolf Rilla shows the near breakdown of a family and treats old age with understanding and contrasts it beautifully with the beginning of life of a young boy. Seeing them both, the very young and the very old walk hand in hand walking down the road is full of tenderness and compassion. Both in their stages of life vulnerable and this is vividly depicted. Well worth seeing,