Chance of a Lifetime (1950)
The workers in a small plough factory take over the firm, but when a large order falls through, the old management come back to help out.
- Bernard Miles
Rating: 6.3/10 by 9 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 29 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: factory, trade union, labor union, plough
Basil Radford ""Dickinson" runs a small foundry that makes farming implements in post-war Britain that has it's fair share of disgruntled employees. When they threaten a walk out after the stroppy "Bolger" (Geoffrey Keen) gets the push, he offers to let them try their hand at running the business instead. What ensues is a depiction of their valiant attempt to make a go of it, and what makes it interesting - aside from some characterful performances from Radford, Niall MacGinnis, Kenneth More and a smartly paced dialogue - is that Bernard Miles doesn't present us with a rose-coloured "co-op" success story. They have plenty of glitches, contretemps and the ending is clever and fulfilling, without being cloyingly sentimental. It's emblematic of the start of a new era of industrial relations peppered with some good comedic lines and a genuinely plausible, collaborative, perspective. Definitely worth watching.
