''Life for Ruth'' is a 1962 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

produced by

Michael Relph Michael Leighton George Relph (16 February 1915 – 30 September 2004) was an English film producer, art director, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph. Films Relph began his film career in 1933 as an assistant ...

directed by

Basil Dearden Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director. Early life and career Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Fl ...

and starring Michael Craig,

Patrick McGoohan Patrick Joseph McGoohan (; March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an Irish-American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television. Born in the United States to Irish emigrant parents, he was raised in Ireland and Engl ...

and

Janet Munro Janet Munro (born Janet Neilson Horsburgh; 28 September 1934 – 6 December 1972) was a British actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the film ''Darby O'Gill and the Little People'' (1959) and received a BAFTA Film Awar ...

. It was released in the US as Walk in the Shadow.

Plot

John Harris finds himself ostracized and placed on trial for allowing his daughter Ruth to die. His religious beliefs forbade him to give consent for a blood transfusion that would have saved her life. Doctor Brown is determined to seek justice for what he sees as the needless death of a young girl.

Cast

* Michael Craig as John Harris *

as Doctor Brown *

as Pat Harris * Paul Rogers as Hart Jacobs * Malcolm Keen as Mr. Harris Sr * Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Gordon * Michael Bryant as John's counsel *

Leslie Sands Leslie Sands (19 May 1921 – 9 May 2001) was a British actor and writer of TV and film. Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, Sands usually specialized in dour types in authority, often policemen. He was married to Pauline Williams (1950 - 9 May 20 ...

as Clyde * Norman Wooland as Counsel for the Crown * John Barrie as Mr. Gordon * Walter Hudd as Judge *

Michael Aldridge Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...

as Harvard *

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Mapleton *

Maureen Pryor Maureen St John Pook (23 May 1922 – 5 May 1977), known professionally as Maureen Pryor, was an Irish-born English character actress who made stage, film, and television appearances. ''The Encyclopaedia of British Film'' noted, "she never playe ...

as Teddy's mother *

Kenneth J. Warren Kenneth John Warren (25 September 1929 – 27 August 1973) was an Australian actor. Bald and heavily built, Warren went to North Sydney Boys High School. He started acting in 1949. He emigrated to the UK in the late 1950s, after appearing in t ...

as Sergeant Finley * Ellen McIntosh as Duty sister * Frank Finlay as Teddy's father * John Welsh as Marshall * Maurice Colbourne as Vicar * Freddy Ramsey as Teddy * Lynn Taylor as Ruth * Brian Wilde as Newspaper photographer (uncredited)

Production

The film was based on an original script by the husband and wife team of Janet Green and John McCormick, who had written ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

'' and '' Victim'' for Dearden and Relph. They wrote it in 1961 under the title ''God the Father'' then ''A Matter of Conscience''. Michael Craig had worked with Dearden and Relph on ''Sapphire''. He says he was "surprised to be offered the film - playing a North country working class chap seemed against type - but I was delighted to do it." Filming took place in Sunderland and Seaham Harbour Co Durham,

Reception

The film had its World Premiere on 30 August 1962 at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End.

Box Office

The film was a failure at the box office, contributing to the collapse of

Allied Film Makers Allied Film Makers was a shortlived British production company, formed in November 1959, which produced several films. Producer Sydney Box came up with the idea of forming a consortium of film-makers that would distribute the films they made. Box h ...

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote of the film, "in avoiding blatant bias, mawkish sentimentality and theatrical flamboyance, it makes a statement that is dramatic, powerful and provocative."

References

External links

*
Life for Ruth
at Letterbox DVD
Life for Ruth
at BFI
Review
at Variety {{DEFAULTSORT:Life For Ruth 1962 films 1962 drama films 1960s British films 1960s legal drama films 1960s English-language films British drama films Films directed by Basil Dearden Films scored by William Alwyn Films shot at Pinewood Studios