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The System

Play trailer Poster for The System 1964 1h 33m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In a picturesque village on the sea, resident Tinker (Oliver Reed) has developed a foolproof plan to seduce -- and then ditch -- wealthy ladies. Thanks to his work photographing tourists on summer vacation, he retains the names and addresses of his female clients, which get put in a pool. He and his hoodlum friends then make their selections and go out on the prowl. But the jaded Tinker finds his callous worldview shaken when he becomes smitten with an on-the-ball model (Jane Merrow).

Critics Reviews

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Kathy Fennessy Seattle Film Blog The System is a very British film that compares favorably to the work of Tony Richardson and John Schlesinger... Rated: 3.5/4 Feb 17, 2022 Full Review John J. Puccio Movie Metropolis ...thanks largely to Oliver Reed's engaging portrait...the movie holds up well. Rated: 6/10 Jul 29, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jim P Well. I grew up on the south coast of England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (in the 80s) and the memories came flooding back 😂 But it’s not a great movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/26/24 Full Review Audience Member I loved this way more than I expected to. An excellent little slice of life film about a small-town big fish in a swinging '60s man's world that's just starting to swing out of their grasp as the season, the times and their ages start to creep up on them. It's endlessly fascinating to me that this came out the same year as A Hard Day's Night because in a lot of ways they mirror each other. A Hard Day's Night portrays a rather bubblegum playground for its main men, who can have everything they want and yet the women hold a looming power to shape their worlds - they're only as free as their fans allow them to be. The System is the more kitchen-sink drama where women are hunted, second-class prey. Yet once these women play the game right back, the cracks in the fragile masculine system breaks apart in seconds - it doesn't hold up if nobody believes in it's strength. Oliver Reed makes the entire film as Tinker, the charming rogue of the beach. He's masterful as the ringleader of a group of guys who all playfully-aggressively pursue women so that they can check off notches in their bedposts. Reed owns every inch of the screen through his expressions and movements - his insincere smiles, sarcastic quips, lecherous stares, masculine prowl, and his scuffles with his fists or with tennis rackets. But also through his heart-on-his-sleeve honesty and his double-blind vulnerability. There's so much going on in Reed's character it's astounding for a movie that's essentially about picking up girls. He's a perfect portrait of the Stockholm Syndrome cage of masculinity. He's boxed himself in so tightly that he has no where to go but brag about how great it is to be so trapped. He's like the guy who can barely pay rent but boasts about how many strippers he's put through college. But he's strong and he's attractive, men and women can't seem to help but fall for the charade. I also loved Jane Merrow as the unattainable rich girl Nicola who's better at Tinker's System than he is. She's mesmerizing to watch as she moves coolly though both her high brow and the low brow worlds, while still managing to come out on top and wholly herself - probably the best gift money could buy women in the '60s. There's also Barbara Ferris who has a heartbreaking drunk monologue wondering why men are only interested in sex when all she wants is to be loved. It makes you really empathize with why women latched on to the 'dream' of pregnancy at the time; somebody to love you without objectifying you. Last but not least there's the engaging and beautiful cinematography by Nicholas Roeg. A mixture of the handheld man-on-the-street documentary style, with beautifully crafted fashion magazine-worthy shots. Everybody in this movie is beautiful, it's that summer beach dream. Between that, the fun music video style editing, and a perfect pop soundtrack from The Searchers, this is really a mid '60s gem. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Offbeat to begin with, it slowly becomes a conventional relationship story that actually mirrors the transition in the main character from a player to something else. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Kind of the British version of a teen film like "Where the Girls Are" crossed with Nicholas Ray. Michael Winner directs Oliver Reed and his Jersey Shore-like pals chasing rich girls in at a seaside vacation spot. The film is a lot edgier and more sexually overt than American teen films of the same time and that's what makes this film interesting. While Reed and his cad friends initially come to the resort town looking to have their way with tourist girls, the film takes an interesting turn when Reed comes to realize that it's them and not the rich tourists who are being exploited. It was also kind of interesting to see Reed as a roguishly handsome young man, as opposed to the large imposing Orson Welles-like figure I'm more used to seeing him as. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member good UK 'angry young men" pic Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A class warfare love story yet Fabulous! Starring young Oliver Reed. Rich girl vs. poor guy. Refreshing look at movies, not anything like today's bland ones. What a great gift to be able to see a life, even if fictional and not terribly credible of young men on the prowl for tourist gals. [img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JaTC3PMeL._SX300_.jpg[/img] But don't mistake this film as some stupid lightweight one. It is about as serious a film as can be despite the outward appearance initially. The weight of class in Great Britain becomes terribly obvious, espicially at the tennis match. Wait for it. Quote to remember from the film: As to girls: "I never make the same mistake twice, I make them hundreds of times."---Oliver Reed as Tinker As to the rich: "I suppose one doesn't grind the face of the poor, they waterski over them"--- Oliver Reed to the rich father after seeing the waterski wealthy ones come home If this was typical party life in merry old England (where every gal is obtainable), then count me in. But let's face it, this is a movie and accept it as such. But these guys, like 23 (or so, as he says) Tinker (Reed) are after rich tourist gals. He believes he has an obligation to "take" what he can, much like any hunter and his prey. He chases one rich girl in particular. The band of brothers here have darn near made a business out of chasing rich or near rich tourist females. They eschew marriage, feeling their youth will last forever. [img]http://modculture.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/13/system.jpg[/img] The "System", as such it is, is a method of meeting rich tourist girls which is really just a modified version of the more honest approach. It involves gimmicks like using cameras to mask one's real intentions or "breaking the ice" so to speak. The "System" is rather technical and clinical and therefore rather heartless and disingenuous. And THAT becomes the problem for our man Tinker. [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XsVALQtGIZM/TMTBxB6eS6I/AAAAAAAASx8/OXtfRgxT3qk/s1600/Pan-G677+Burke+The+System.jpg[/img] It's that British New Wave film period, early 1960's, that presented new stars like Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Richard Burton and Albert Finney to the halls of legendary actors. [img]http://i.ebayimg.com/t/British-1sht-Film-Movie-Poster-The-SYSTEM-Oliver-Reed-27x40-1Sheet-1965-F-VF-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/tzEAAOxygKZSRbra/$(KGrHqQOKpMFIsbG!p)MBSRbrZR3tw~~60_35.JPG[/img] Shocking look at what some 1960's film making looked like, visit a trip back in time. Film screen legend Oliver Reed leads a band of dudes looking to have fun with gals on their Engish seaside vacation. Black and white. [img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F0CL2hH1L._SX300_.jpg[/img] The moral of this story is be careful what you chase, you might just get it! Legend actor Oliver Reed gets caught up in love when love was not quite what he was after. [img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgfWUwxLIed3ujf9ChlraIeBT-rwuTioKo5aTXqMivLn1iPCss-g[/img] NOTES: 1 If you care to notice, people are at parties and the beach dancing the "twist". The Twist was an outrageously popular dance craze started, or at least made popular, by singer Chubby Checker. White people actually had the chance to move their bodies, its so funny realize that today. 2 Introduces the term "grockle", or tourist. "They can't bear to leave their transistors [radios]" 3 The car is a huge Buick, owned by the girl of his dreams. SEE a clip from the film: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEnNdGTWsPI‎ OR this one www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wqe1h3byUw‎ [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5cw7Kl0kucs/ShW9mZ-JLUI/AAAAAAAABRU/mUGVnT2ZcME/s400/oliver_reed_fest.JPG[/img] Oliver Reed as Tinker Jane Merrow as Nicola Barbara Ferris as Suzy Julia Foster as Lorna Harry Andrews as Larsey Ann Lynn as Ella Guy Doleman as Philip Andrew Ray as Willy John Porter-Davison as Grib Clive Colin Bowler as Sneakers Iain Gregory as Sammy David Hemmings as David John Alderton as Nidge Jeremy Burnham as Ivor Mark Burns as Michael Derek Nimmo as James Derek Newark as Alfred [img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01390/oliver_reed_best_1390199c.jpg[/img] Oliver Reed Directed by Michael Winner Written by Peter Draper Starring Oliver Reed Jane Merrow Barbara Ferris Julia Foster Harry Andrews Music by Stanley Black Cinematography Nicolas Roeg Distributed by Bryanston Films Release date(s) 11 October 1964 Running time 93 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English SEE the entire film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tqz_arBcz8 [img]http://www.videovista.net/reviews/aug09/system2.jpg[/img] The fox, Reed, gets outfoxed his self [img]http://images.moviepostershop.com/the-girl-getters-movie-poster-1965-1010254549.jpg[/img].. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The System

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Movie Info

Synopsis In a picturesque village on the sea, resident Tinker (Oliver Reed) has developed a foolproof plan to seduce -- and then ditch -- wealthy ladies. Thanks to his work photographing tourists on summer vacation, he retains the names and addresses of his female clients, which get put in a pool. He and his hoodlum friends then make their selections and go out on the prowl. But the jaded Tinker finds his callous worldview shaken when he becomes smitten with an on-the-ball model (Jane Merrow).
Director
Michael Winner
Production Co
Kenneth Shipman Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 17, 2020
Runtime
1h 33m