Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, released in 1960, still remains one of the finest of the Angry Young Men movies that emanated from England in the late 1950s and ’60s. 

In his first starring role, Albert Finney played a charismatic man who seems destined to follow in his parents’ and grandparents’ footsteps by pursuing a mundane, working-class lifestyle. 

Employed as a lathe operator in a Midlands factory, Finney’s Arthur Seaton lives for the weekend, when he drinks and womanizes to excess. However, when he has an affair with a coworker’s wife, he finds himself facing decisions he never expected to have to make. 

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was based on the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe, who wrote the screenplay. He based the grim but compelling story line on his own experiences working in a factory and used the plot as a plea for the younger generation of Brits to break the bonds that restricted them to predictable and unfulfilling lives. An accomplished stage actor, Finney earned international acclaim for his powerful performance. 

"Don't let the bastards grind you down!"