Chance of a Lifetime

CinemaSerfDec 2022

3.5

"Dickinson" (Basil Radford) 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 post-war era of industrial relations peppered with some good comedic lines and a genuinely plausible, collaborative, perspective. Definitely worth watching.