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Poor Cow [VHS] [1967]
 
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Poor Cow [VHS] [1967]

VHS ~ Terence Stamp
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Terence Stamp, Carol White, John Bindon, Queenie Watts, Kate Williams
  • Directors: Ken Loach
  • Writers: Ken Loach, Nell Dunn
  • Producers: Edward Joseph, Joseph Janni
  • Format: HiFi Sound, PAL
  • Language English
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • VHS Release Date: 10 Jul 2000
  • Run Time: 97 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CJRE
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10,967 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Video > World Cinema > Directors > Loach, Ken
    #61 in  Video > World Cinema > British

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

"I fell in the family way when I was 18 and I got married to a right bastard". Ken Loach's debut feature tells the story of Joy, a young mother (Carol White) whose chauvinistic thug of a husband is thrown into prison. She takes up with one of his friends, lovable, kind-hearted burglar Terence Stamp, but he too ends up in jail.

It's intriguing to compare Poor Cow with Cathy Come Home, which Loach made for TV with the same actress at around the same time. Both are about mums trying to make a go of their lives in adverse circumstances. Cathy Come Home, shot in black and white, is an altogether tougher film. Poor Cow, with its Donovan music, gaudy colour photography, star names, and incongruously bawdy humour, seems lightweight by comparison. Certain sequences--Joy making love in the hay or posing half-naked for lecherous amateur photographers--must surely make Loach grimace now. There are some powerful moments--Joy desperately looking for her son who has wandered off, unattended, onto a building site, or trying to escape from her abusive husband--which anticipate such later Loach films as Ladybird, Ladybird or Raining Stones. The scenes between Joy and Stamp are played with real tenderness and humour. Don't be surprised if you think you've seen them before--some of the footage of Stamp was used in Steven Soderbergh's recent thriller, The Limey. --Geoffrey Macnab



Synopsis

A young London woman has to cope with poverty and squalor while her husband is in jail. Sadly clutching at any slight hope of happiness, she enters into a promiscuous relationship with his best friend, which ends in heartbreak. Based on the novel by Nell Dunn.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A rough diamond of a film! , 14 April 2007
By J. D. L. Bailey (Paris) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Poor Cow [DVD] (DVD)
"Poor Cow" is my favourite Ken Loach film. In fact, it is my favourite film of all time. I only discovered it 2 years ago and it has a very personal connection for me. I have since read the novel that inspired it and can state that it is a very honest and faithful dramatisation of Nell Dunn's text. It is a film about a side of London life to which many will be oblivious, and, of course, many will not.

Carol White is superb as Joy, whose first name is not as ironic as it may seem. Her life may well be a vortex of poverty, squalor and unhappiness, but White (through her acting) and Loach (through his direction) portray the character with compassion and strength as someone who is sassy and fun. This same compassion shows through in all the other characters too. There are quite a few bright moments that shine through. The scenes of Joy with her little son, Johnny, are particularly touching and very, very well-done. The location filming around Wales is visually stunning, as indeed is the opening sequence! (I will say no more about this!)

Terence Stamp is also amazing in this film, as are all of the supporting cast. Watch out for John Bindon who somehow steals the show with his brilliant-but-awful acting in his début performance as Tom Steadman!
The theme song, specially adapted and performed by Donovan, is haunting and in a way, ironic, for John Bindon's life ended early at the age of 50, as, for that matter, did Carol White's.

This film is a real rough diamond and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I am grateful to Ken Loach for having the guts and tenacity to bring to this film to life. Poor Cow documents the lives of the underdogs and is an important and interesting piece of cinema that will always have a special place in my heart.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful gem of a film!, 24 Oct 2006
By F. V. L. Buliciri (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Poor Cow [DVD] (DVD)
As a Ken Loach fan I've seen quite a few films that he's made. However,I overlooked this film for years. I simply adored this film. My heart was moved by the central character played by Carol White and her journey through life with disappointing relationships with men, her struggles to bring up her child on her own and with money. It was interesting to see so many actors in their younger days appearing in this film such as Billy Murray(East Enders -Johnny Allen), Terence Stamp, Kate Williams as well as legends such as Queenie Watts. This is a superb film and a great social commentary on a very different England to the one that we all live in today.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Oh the good Ole Days, 14 Mar 2006
This review is from: Poor Cow [DVD] (DVD)
I love movies like this. Despite a never ending trend of bogus remakes you cant remake history. Watch it over and over and gasp at the enormous beauty of Terrance Stamp who looks like a young George Best.
60's classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Make sure you know what your getting
This is a documnetary Drama - this what Loach is famed for and very good at. This one of his earler works so may be a little rough round the edges, but has a strong heart and soul.
Published on 6 Dec 2005

1.0 out of 5 stars POOR FILM
Filmed in a somewhat documentary style, it is interesting to see how shabby, in fact scummy, London life could be in the sixties, amid slum clearances. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2003 by georgedennismax

3.0 out of 5 stars a sad tale of a lonely girl
A young girl seeks happiness for herself and baby and has to contend with a husband in jail.
Carol White (joy) is particularly impressive in this film of low-income worker who... Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2001 by joyden5761@aol.com

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