This Sporting Life

This Sporting Life is a 1963 British kitchen sink drama film directed by Lindsay Anderson, and adapted by David Storey from his 1960 novel. It stars Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, William Hartnell, and Alan Badel. Harris, in his first starring role, portrays a rugby league footballer in Wakefield, a mining city in Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting life. The film opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End on 7 February 1963. Though a commercial failure, it was a critical success. At the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or and Harris won the Best Actor Award. At the 36th Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Actor (for Harris) and Best Actress (for Roberts). Roberts won her second BAFTA Award for Best Actress, and the film was nominated in four other categories, including, Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (Harris). In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked the film at No. 52 of the Top 100 British films.