Life at the Top

1965

1h 57m

Drama

List

20%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Successful businessman Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) is married to the wealthy Susan (Jean Simmons), has two children and lives in the mill town of Warley in northern England. But his career seems to have plateaued, leaving him disillusioned. This feeling is only exacerbated when he discovers his wife's infidelity with local man Mark (Michael Craig). So he takes up with attractive TV host Norah (Honor Blackman) and moves with her to London, aiming to reignite the fire that drove him to the top.

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Phil Hardy

Time Out

A lacklustre sequel to Room at the Top.

Mar 2, 2020

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

This picture could be a documentary of all the ugly, tawdry, complicating things that might happen to restless married people when they found themselves helplessly caught in the stuffy social surroundings of the industrial Establishment.

Mar 2, 2020

Full Review

Joan Didion

Vogue

An il-advised sequel to the energetic Room at the Top.

Mar 2, 2020

Full Review

Wendy Michener

Maclean's Magazine

Life At The Top is not a very likable film, partly because the treatment is heavy-handed, and partly because Joe's self-disgust turns everything sour...

Jun 27, 2019

Full Review

Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

Life at the Top emerges as stronger stuff than the average sequel.

Apr 6, 2019

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Steve D

A long depressing slog.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Underrated movie with authentic feel of the time,damning indictment of the class society of the era,which is still prevalent today,Laura nice Harvey at his finest

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Ted Kotcheff

Director

Laurence Harvey

Joe Lampton

Jean Simmons

Susan Lampton

Honor Blackman

Norah Hauxley

Michael Craig

Mark

Donald Wolfit

Abe Brown

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Synopsis

Successful businessman Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) is married to the wealthy Susan (Jean Simmons), has two children and lives in the mill town of Warley in northern England. But his career seems to have plateaued, leaving him disillusioned. This feeling is only exacerbated when he discovers his wife's infidelity with local man Mark (Michael Craig). So he takes up with attractive TV host Norah (Honor Blackman) and moves with her to London, aiming to reignite the fire that drove him to the top.

Director: Ted Kotcheff
Screenwriter: Mordecai Richler
Production Co: Romulus Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 57m