Stern James Mason and indulgent Diana Coupland head a Lancashire mill hand's family that looks snugly comfortable. However, beneath the seemingly calm situation, there's trouble brewing. The first sign is when daughter Susan George won't eat her herring.
It's a kitchen sink drama that at times seems a parody of the form as we wait for the crisis, after which it takes about twenty seconds for things to turn around, with Mason giving two performances. First he's the acerbic, blind authoritarian, and then he turns into the kindly, observant dad. Mason, of course, is almost always worth watching, and he is here, and Miss Coupland is a warm presence, but when you have a situation which can be resolved by five minutes of talk, it simply annoys me. With Hannah Gordon and Rodney Bewes.
It's a kitchen sink drama that at times seems a parody of the form as we wait for the crisis, after which it takes about twenty seconds for things to turn around, with Mason giving two performances. First he's the acerbic, blind authoritarian, and then he turns into the kindly, observant dad. Mason, of course, is almost always worth watching, and he is here, and Miss Coupland is a warm presence, but when you have a situation which can be resolved by five minutes of talk, it simply annoys me. With Hannah Gordon and Rodney Bewes.