Rent The Angry Silence (1960)

The Cost of Standing Alone - The Angry Silence review by griggs

There’s nothing cosy about this British factory film. The Angry Silence plays like a workplace Western: a wildcat strike brewing, outside agitators muscling in, and Richard Attenborough stuck in the middle when he’d much rather just do his shift and get home for his tea.

Bryan Forbes’ script is sharp about power, not “unions bad”. The right to withdraw your labour is taken as a given; what he’s skewering is how both the bosses and a few loud mouths twist that power. Management hide behind procedure and crocodile concern, while the self-appointed hard men use fear and smashed windows instead of solidarity.

Guy Green keeps everything tight and airless – factory, pub, cramped terrace – so you feel how small Tom’s world is as it closes in. Pier Angeli gives the home life a bruised warmth, and the ending lands with a proper sting. Then Alan Whicker strolls through, like a BBC crew that’s accidentally walked into a class war.