Cathy Come Home ***** (1966, Carol White, Ray Brooks, Winifred Dennis) – Classic Movie Review 8380

Director Ken Loach’s realistic black and white classic 1966 BBC TV drama The Wednesday Play: Cathy Come Home is a searing indictment of the social services in the British welfare system of the Sixties, focusing on the plight of Cathy and Reg (Carol White and Ray Brooks), who are evicted from their home and find that their children are taken away from them and put in care.

Cathy Come Home is a notable success as both drama and propaganda, and White’s heartrending portrayal of despair was the best thing she ever did. It is proof that a work of art can change things: it led to the establishment of the homeless charity Shelter. Cathy Come Home is the winner of the 1968 Prix Italia.

The story is by Jeremy Sandford, and the screenplay is by Ken Loach (uncredited).

Also in the cast are Winifred Dennis, Wally Patch, Adrienne Frame, Emmett Hennessy, Alec Coleman, Geoffrey Palmer, Lila Kaye, Cleo Sylvestre and Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Cathy Come Home is directed by Ken Loach, runs 75 minutes, is made by BBC tv, released on BBC1 by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1966) (UK), written by Jeremy Sandford (story) and Ken Loach (uncredited), scored by Tony Imi, is produced by Tony Garnett, is scored by Paul Jones and is designed by Sally Hulke.

It is Season 1, episode 72 in the 171 episode series The Wednesday Play. It aired on BBC1 on 28 March 1969. The Wednesday Play ran from 1964 to 1970.

It was released by the British Film Institute (BFI) on BFI Video on DVD in 2003 in the UK.

Carol White (1943–1991) had two sons with Mike King of The King Brothers, Sean (born 1962) and Steve (born 1965), who play her character’s sons of the same names in Cathy Come Home.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8380

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