The read
It runs a compact 47m.
Synopsis
The first part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an eight-year-old living on the breadline with his half-brother and sick grandmother in a poor mining village.
Ratings
IMDb7.3/10
55 audience votes
Key crew
- Bill DouglasDirector
- Bill DouglasWriter
Cast
- Stephen ArchibaldJamie
- Hughie RestorickTommy
- Jean Taylor SmithGrandmother
- Karl FieselerHelmuth
- Bernard McKennaTommy's father
- Paul KermackJamie's father
- Helena GloagFather's mother
- Ann SmithJamie's mother
- Eileen McCallumNurse
- Helen RaeBus conductress
- James EcclesMan singing