This Sporting Life, Lindsay Anderson’s feature film debut following years of documentary work, centers on down-and-out coal miner Frank Machin, masterfully portrayed by a young Richard Harris, and his rise to rugby league glory. First noticed by recruits for his unabashed rage and brute force during a pub brawl, Machin abandons mining to join the top rugby team in Yorkshire. His unrelenting menace and stamina make him unstoppable on the field, despite his lack of skill, and he soon becomes a cherished icon to fans, teamowners, and teamowners’ wives alike. These attentions are no substitute, however, for the love he futilely seeks from his landlady, a recent widow who at times can barely muster the respect to look him in the eye. The duality of Machin’s fame on the field and failure in love frames this dramatic and poignant expression of the personal conflicts that so often accompany sporting success.  ST