Neil Young at Glastonbury review: the 'ghost' show rocks hard for the lucky few
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Telegraph
4 days ago
- Telegraph
How the era of the ‘angry young men' sowed the seeds for the Swinging Sixties
The 1960s, that much-loved decade, revived with gusto during the Britpop era, still surrounds us with its images and iconography, from Bond to Sgt Pepper – but where does this distinctly English narrative come from? When did it start? Look a bit deeper, and in the decade between the end of the Korean War and The Beatles releasing Please Please Me, something stirred in the provinces. Drama, fiction and cinema started to produce a body of work that was distinctly at odds with what had passed as appropriate entertainment in the 1940s. During a time when people knew their place – and were often trapped as a result – the era of the 'angry young men' took shape. Full of 'outsider' characters and regional settings, and dubbed 'kitchen sink' by critics in recognition of its determinedly down-to-earth style, this is what gave birth to today's cultural landscape. It's part of our national DNA, and language, giving us phrases such as 'I believe you, thousands wouldn't' as well as immediately identifiable characters such as Billy Liar and Archie Rice. While there had been writing of this type before – notably by Arnold Bennett, JB Priestley, and George Orwell – what came after the post-war austerity period was much greater in scope, drawing heavily on the class consciousness of the 1930s and the bitter, traumatic experience of the war. (Especially the latter: this was a time when everybody spoke about 'the war'.) Dominating voices Within a few years, disparate talents such as the Goons; Tony Hancock; writers William Cooper, Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin; film producers the Boulting brothers and actors such as Stanley Baker, Diana Dors and Dirk Bogarde were presenting the public with new characters, novel situations and a questioning approach to status quo. Influenced partly by US noirs and European social realism, both of which were readily viewable on screen or available to read in paperback, 'kitchen sink' drama provided readers with everyday plots and strongly drawn working-class characters. Usually male, they rent a room somewhere. It's signalled that they may have been in the war, but none were officers, and they avoided heroism. Their appearance is important to them, and as this is a time of full employment, they drink and smoke continuously. Disaffected and denunciatory, they aspire to owning property and embrace materialism. Such plots are common in the work of John Osborne, John Braine and Alan Sillitoe. In terms of women writers, it was the idiosyncratic voices such as Muriel Spark and Iris Murdoch who dominated; yet, at the end of the decade authors, such as Shelagh Delaney emerged, whose narratives were grounded in reality: they described mixed-race relationships and affairs with yet-to-be-divorced older men, and broke new ground by allowing pregnancy and abortion to haunt their narratives. Frustrated, one morning our hero (or heroine) may pack a suitcase and head down to the station. On a long, slow train of blood-red carriages hauled by a black steam locomotive, they depart for London, throwing aside the conventions and restrictions of regional life. Distinctly realistic depictions All of this takes place in a country markedly different to the one we live in now: a landscape clogged with coal smoke from countless factories, yards and depots set amidst geometric rows of tiny houses. In some ways, the shadow of the war persists. Rationing has either just ceased or is still in force, and National Service remains a rite of passage for young men. How far we are from this world is apparent when viewing the images of Salford and Wakefield captured for posterity by Walter Lassally and Denys Coop in A Taste of Honey and This Sporting Life respectively. Crisp and perfect, almost every frame could be an LP cover or book jacket. Given today's London-centric arts scene, it's interesting to note the importance of Liverpool in launching the kitchen sink as a phenomenon, with two juvenile delinquency dramas, Violent Playground and These Dangerous Years, both shot there. Reminding us that current concerns about toxic masculinity are nothing new, both were outliers for the musical explosion that erupted in the city just six years later, and showed audiences a world very different from the BBC-style, Received Pronunciation dramas that still proliferated. Nor was this solely a 'northern' thing. London – Soho in particular – came into its own with distinctly realistic depictions. Prior to the mid-50s, film-makers rarely strayed beyond Mayfair and W1, and, if they did, usually shot on sets. Now there was an abundance of bedsit dramas, lots of crime and, by the standards of the time, sex (the Lady Chatterley trial helped fell those boundaries). Sowing the seeds for kitchen sink cinema The medium for showing these dramas varied. Despite being limited to only two channels, each broadcasting about six hours a day, television sowed the seeds for much of what followed. The feature-film-length TV play was a key element in the evening inventory, with ITV leading the way. At its peak, over 200 original scripts per annum were being commissioned, providing young actors and directors with critical early career exposure. TV today – including subscription platforms – could only dream of this. As for the theatre, director Joan Littlewood broke down stylistic norms and tackled themes rarely seen on stage before. Brendan Behan, John Arden, Lionel Bart, Shelagh Delaney and Arnold Wesker all benefited from her support. Much influenced by Bertolt Brecht and happy to stage big political ensemble pieces, her output at the Theatre Workshop, Stratford (formed in 1953), was youth-orientated and anticipated the satire boom that followed. There were hits, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, deprecating the replacement of community with consumerism, intriguing misses (Ned Kelly, with Harry H Corbett comes to mind) and one undeniable classic, Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). Most people encountered the kitchen sink in the cinema, though. The Odeon, Gaumont, Granada and ABC chains remained uniquely accessible and popular; and yet, the conservatism of traditional producers – for a while – made getting Osborne, Sillitoe et al on the screen difficult. The Rank Organisation, anxious to maintain their role as custodians of family entertainment, declined to back Look Back in Anger. One explanation for this resistance came from the kitchen sink portraying 'difficult topics' previously considered to be of limited interest to paying audiences. One of these was politics. No Love for Johnnie, written by Wilfred Fienburgh MP, a predecessor of Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North, showed a world of cynical career advancement, no-confidence votes, late-night drinking and extra-marital affairs. The genre ended on a high. Back in Liverpool, A Hard Day's Night was written by Alun Owen, and directed by Richard Lester, an accomplice of The Goons. Filmed in black and white, with kitchen-sink actors Wilfrid Brambell and Norman Rossington in supporting roles (and Kenneth Haigh, uncredited), it repeated one of the main plot features – the cast goes down to London by train – while also beginning the swinging Sixties. Indeed, A Hard Day's Night feels like the archetypal 1960s film, marking the dawn of a new permissiveness – but in its breaking down of barriers, in its celebration of four working-class lads, the seeds of its success were sown in the previous decade. Top five kitchen-sink heroes The writers remain in print and many of the actors are still recognised names. But look deeper, and there are some no-longer-quite-so-well-regarded figures whose work repays study. 1. Mary Ure Glaswegian actress Mary Ure made a huge impression as Jimmy Porter's fragile, abused wife Alison in Look Back in Anger (1959), playing the part – definitively – on both stage and screen. A spell with the Royal Shakespeare Company followed, as did an Academy Award nomination for her role as Clara Dawes in Sons and Lovers (1960), but her career – like those of many women – remained defined by her marriages, in her case to John Osborne and Robert Shaw. Like Harvey she died in early middle-age, more than half a century ago. 2. Laurence Harvey A true outsider – Jewish, Lithuanian, brought up in South Africa – Laurence Harvey projected an undemonstrative, detached acting style whilst being simultaneously debonair and anti-heroic. It was an approach that fitted the times, and brought him Academy Award and Bafta nominations for his turn as proto-Thatcherite Joe Lampton in Room at the Top (1959). He also directed, including the black jazz musical Simply Heavenly (1958) and a film The Ceremony (1963), which, much influenced by Orson Welles, suggests a talent that might have been more widely used. 3. Tom Bell Leading man Tom Bell owed much to TV plays, appearing in 33 when that genre reigned supreme on the small screen. From Liverpool, Bell was famous for 'upsetting the establishment' something that lost him much work. With a background in provincial rep and a spell at the Theatre Workshop his best role during this period was in The L-Shaped Room (1962). 4. Kenneth Haigh Similarly, Kenneth Haigh, from Mexborough, never quite achieved star status despite creating the part of Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, partnering Roberts in Maggie May and playing Joe Lampton in Man at the Top (1970-1972) on TV. During a long career, which saw him appear in 21 TV plays, he played Napoleon in Eagle in a Cage (replacing Albert Finney) and co-starred with Joan Collins in The Bitch. 5. Rachel Roberts Rachel Roberts lasted only a little longer, and like Ure was famous as much for her husband, Rex Harrison, as for her acting. This included Bafta-winning performances in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life. Lionel Bart built the stage musical Maggie May (1964) around her, but despite a third Bafta for John Schlesinger's Yanks (1979), alcoholism took its toll a year later.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
White Lotus actor Sam Nivola, 21, calls out 'old movie stars' who get plastic surgery to play 'young roles'
Sam Nivola has slammed 'old movie stars' for getting plastic surgery in order to play 'young roles.' The 21-year-old actor - who jumped into the spotlight for his portrayal of Lochlan Ratliff in The White Lotus earlier this year - shared his honest thoughts on the topic during an interview with Variety published on Thursday. The star expressed that he feels there aren't a lot of new stars breaking out into the entertainment industry in Hollywood. 'The old movie stars are getting plastic surgery, and they're looking younger and they're staying young. You have these really old people playing young roles.' Sam - who is the son of fellow actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola - continued, 'And it's not giving any space for the young'uns to move in and make a name for themselves. 'With all due respect to those people, one day they won't be here anymore, literally, and they will have to create new stars.' Daily Mail has reached out to Nivola's representatives for comment. Sam then revealed that he is a big fan of Timothee Chalamet and called him one of the 'best actors alive.' 'He's one of a very few examples I could come up with. But it's a different kind of movie star; he's not huge and jacked. He looks a little more like me,' the star said, before adding, 'I wish!' Sam kicked off his acting career over a decade earlier when he appeared in an episode of Doll & Em in 2013 - which his mother Emily also starred in. He later took on a role in the 2022 comedic drama White Noise and worked alongside Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple (2024). Earlier this year, Sam played Lochlan Ratliff in the third season of HBO Max's The White Lotus. The most recent episodes also had a star-studded cast, with Patrick Schwarzenegger portraying Sam's on-screen older brother. The pair took part in a now-infamous incest scene which was branded as 'disturbing' by some viewers at the time. While also talking to Variety back in March over the scene, the actor admitted that it had been 'weird' to kiss Patrick. 'It was very weird kissing Patrick because he's a really good friend of mine,' Sam explained to the outlet. 'And, you know, I'm straight, he's straight. It's already weird. Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of f**ked up.' His mother Emily also offered her own thoughts on her son's sex scene in The White Lotus with Patrick and fellow castmate Charlotte Le Bon - where they had a threesome. 'It's so crazy, all of it. It wasn't particularly crazier than having my boy go off to Thailand for so long,' The Pink Panther actress told The Times. 'Of course it was a bit bizarre, but being married to an actor [Alessandro Nivola], we've all had to watch each other do strange things.' Emily said that her son did give a warning about the scene - but not how many times it would be shown throughout the episode. 'I had been warned - although Sam said that the worst bit was the first ten minutes, but they kept flashing back. So I'd relax and then it wasn't true at all.' She also shared how her son has been dealing with fame and explained, 'he just sort of owns it, which isn't thanks to either of us. 'I'm biased because I'm his mum, but he doesn't need any guidance.' During his latest conversation with Variety, Sam - who is dating actress Iris Apatow - talked about being classified as a nepo baby. While his mother is also known for her roles in projects such as The Newsroom and Shutter Island, his dad has appeared in movies including Mansfield Park (1999), Coco Before Chanel (2009), American Hustle (2013) and The Brutalist (2024). Despite his famous parents, the actor explained that his success in the industry thus far was due to his own hard work. 'Other than my genes, I don't think I can attribute much of my success to my parents. I feel proud that I've done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them,' Sam said. When it came to his first movie role - River Of Fundament (2014) - the star said he 'didn't get my dad's agent to call up so-and-so. I did it by myself. 'I didn't want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I've achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I'm proud of that.' Sam has a number of upcoming projects up his sleeves, including the comedic film titled Driver's Ed. The premise is: 'A group of teens who steal their school's driver's ed car to go on a road trip to help a high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back,' per IMDB. Along with Sam, other stars that have been cast in the upcoming movie are Molly Shannon, Kumail Nanjiani and Ella Stiller.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
‘The poor, poor child' people say as mum reveals the X-rated name given to her daughter without knowing what it means
PLENTY of parents opt for more unique names for their little ones, but one young mum has come under fire for the X-rated moniker she gave her daughter. It turns out the young mum had no idea what the word really meant when she set her heart on it, and people have been. left stunned. 2 2 This comes after a Reddit user revealed that her cousin, 20, created her own name by fusing two different names together - except she had no idea the word already means something else. Taking to the online forum, the concerned family member explained that the name came from her grandparent's names, Harvey and Charlotte. Despite the sweet sentiment, the name left the family in chaos/ In the viral post, the Reddit user said: "She named her something so horrific I cannot even call the baby it. "She combined two names and came up with... 'Harlotte'." It turns out no one had any idea what the name would be until it was too late and all the legal documents had already been signed, so no one had a chance to talk the mum out of it. "My mom burst out, "YOU NAMED THE BABY W****???" and my cousin started screaming. We are a loud family, but holy hell,' the Reddit user added. Although spelt differently, the unusual name sounds exactly like the word 'harlot' which, unfortunately for the little one, means 'prostitute'. The Reddit user said she refused to use the name, so used a nickname when she was born, but doesn't know how long it will last. After revealing the name people couldn't believe she didn't know what it really meant. Marnie Simpson reveals first video of newborn baby daughter and very unusual name "I would immediately and INSISTENTLY start calling that child Lottie and never look back," one person commented on the viral post. A second wrote: "If she doesn't immediately change it to Charlotte, she's a bad person for not making things right for her child's future." "It's a shame - I feel this was a lovely gesture that backfired due to ignorance," someone else noted. And another said: "Oh no! Honestly, it's a cute idea and I see where she was going. I assume a lot of 20 year olds may not be familiar with old timey misogynistic insults. "It's so easy to change her name right now though." Meanwhile, others pointed out some other combinations of the name the mum could've picked instead, including Charley, Charvey, Harley, or Harvette. Are Unique Baby Names Worth The Hassle? YOU may think having a unique name helps you to stand out, but is it all it's cracked up to be? Fabulous' Deputy Editor Josie Griffiths reveals the turmoil she faced with her own name while growing up. When I was a child, all I wanted was one of those personalised keyrings with my name on it. But no joy, the closest I could find was Rosie, Joseph (not great for a little girl) and Joanne. Josie is short for Josephine, which is a French name, and I managed to reach my 20s without ever meeting anyone who shared it. When I try to introduce myself to people, I get all sorts of random things - like Tracey and Stacey - which can be pretty annoying. Although I have come into contact with a couple of Josies over the last year - there seems to be a few of us around my age - it's still a much rarer name than most of my friends have. On the whole I don't mind it, at least it's not rude or crazily spelt. And it means I can get away with 'doing a Cheryl' and just referring to myself as Josie. I'm getting married this year and some friends are shocked that I'm changing my surname, as it's not seen as very cool or feminist to do so these days, but I explain to them that I'm not that attached to Griffiths as I'd always just say 'hi it's Josie' when ringing a mate up. I think it's nice to be unique and I'll definitely try and replicate this when naming my own kids. It's the rude names you've got to watch out for, so after nine years as a lifestyle journalist I'll definitely be avoiding those.
