Man at the Top (film)

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Man at the Top
"Man at the Top" (1973).jpg
Directed byMike Vardy
Written by John Junkin
Hugh Whitemore
Produced byPeter Charlesworth
Jock Jacobsen
Starring Kenneth Haigh
Nanette Newman
Harry Andrews
CinematographyBrian Probyn
Edited byChris Barnes
Music by Roy Budd
Production
companies
Hammer Films
Dufton Films
Distributed by Anglo-EMI
Release dates
  • 16 September 1973 (1973-09-16)(UK)
  • 10 November 1973 (1973-11-10)(US)
[1]
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Man at the Top is a 1973 British drama film directed by Mike Vardy and starring Kenneth Haigh, spun off from the television series Man at the Top , which itself was inspired by the 1959 film Room at the Top and its 1965 sequel Life at the Top .

Contents

Plot

Joe Lampton is promoted to managing director of a pharmaceutical company, and becomes involved with Lord Ackerman, the powerful chairman, who is also his father-in-law. But Joe makes a shocking discovery: his predecessor committed suicide because of his involvement in a drug that left 1,000 African women sterile. Joe threatens to reveal all to the press, while Lord Ackerman seeks to persuade him otherwise, by offering him promotion to Chief Executive. [2]

Cast

Production

It was one of several big screen adaptations of television shows at the time, although most were based on sitcoms and Man at the Top was a drama. [3]

Filming

Shooting took place from 3 March to 7 April 1973.

Reception

Box office

The film was not a success at the box office. [4]

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said it was "too much like an episode of a TV series stretched to feature length". [5]

"Network on Air" noted the film as, "offering a grittier treatment than the 1959 film adaptation and the subsequent television series". [6]

Allmovie noted, " Nanette Newman, a busy doe-eyed ingenue of the 1960s, is quietly effective as the middle-aged Mrs. Lampton." [7]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 368. ISBN 0-7864-0034-X.
  2. ↑ "Man at the Top | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (5 February 2025). "Forgotten British film moguls – Nat Cohen: Part Five (1971-1988)". Filmink. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  4. ↑ Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio, Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography, McFarland, 1996 p369
  5. ↑ MAN AT THE TOP Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 40, Iss. 468, (Jan 1, 1973): 208.
  6. ↑ "> Man at the Top". Network ON AIR. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Man at the Top (1973) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 23 March 2014.


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