Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Acting
Bancroft's breakdown in the phone booth—Oscar-nominated and still devastating.
Cinematography
Oswald Morris's color palette turns pastoral England into psychological prison.
Direction
Clayton's surgical precision with Penelope Mortimer's autobiographical script.
Director
Jack Clayton
Anne Bancroft
Jo Armitage
Peter Finch
Jake Armitage
James Mason
Bob Conway
Janine Gray
Beth Conway
Cedric Hardwicke
Mr. James - Jo's father
Rosalind Atkinson
Mrs. James - Jo's mother
Alan Webb
Mr. Armitage - Jake's father
Richard Johnson
Giles
Maggie Smith
Philpot
Anthony Nicholls
Surgeon
Yootha Joyce
Woman at Hairdresser's
John Junkin
Undertaker
John Franklyn-Robbins
Parson
Gerald Sim
Man at Party
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Harold Pinter secretly rewrote much of the dialogue without credit, his first uncredited Hollywood ghostwriting gig.
US
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