Tony.........................Simon Rouse
Doris...................Victoria Tennant
Tony (aged 35)...Patrick O'Connell
Tony's Wife..............................Jane Wood
Doris' Father.........................Leslie Sands
Doris' Mother.........................Rita Howard
Tony's Mother...................Brenda Peters
Tony's Father......................Brian Murphy
Paul...................................Kevin Richmond
George..............................Reginald Marsh
Pete..........................................Peter Allard
Alf............................................Steve Hatton
Old Man in Wagon..............John McEnery
Borstal Instructor...........Sid Livingstone
Borstal Barber.................William Hoyland
Factory Manager................John Malcolm
Jack..................................Donald Webster
Percy..................................Michael Quinto
Tom...................................Gareth Thomas
Lorry Driver..........................Peter Dudley
Policeman.....................Lawrence James
Doris...................Victoria Tennant
Tony (aged 35)...Patrick O'Connell
Tony's Wife..............................Jane Wood
Doris' Father.........................Leslie Sands
Doris' Mother.........................Rita Howard
Tony's Mother...................Brenda Peters
Tony's Father......................Brian Murphy
Paul...................................Kevin Richmond
George..............................Reginald Marsh
Pete..........................................Peter Allard
Alf............................................Steve Hatton
Old Man in Wagon..............John McEnery
Borstal Instructor...........Sid Livingstone
Borstal Barber.................William Hoyland
Factory Manager................John Malcolm
Jack..................................Donald Webster
Percy..................................Michael Quinto
Tom...................................Gareth Thomas
Lorry Driver..........................Peter Dudley
Policeman.....................Lawrence James
CAST
My rare, original quad (30"x40") poster for The Ragman's Daughter signed by Alan Sillitoe, Simon Rouse & Brian Murphy
The Ragman's Daughter by Nottingham-born Alan Sillitoe, is the first in a collection of short stories published in 1963. The author also wrote the screenplay for the film which was released in 1972. It was all filmed in, and around Nottingham, apart from some studio scenes at Twickenham Studios.
The Ragman's Daughter is the story of Tony Bradmore who, in his mid-30s, has a dead-end job at a cheese warehouse and a wife & two kids to feed. He looks back to the time when he was young and in love with Doris Randall. He was working-class and poor, but she was the daughter of a prosperous scrap metal dealer. In a series of poignant flashbacks, Tony remembers the first time they met, and how he had aroused her interest when he told her that he was a thief. "I've never stolen anything in my life," she says, "but I've always wanted to!"
The young lovers then led an adrenaline-fuelled existence of thieving and adventure. They taunted the world around them with their mad acts - he with his motor bike, she with her horse - until the day when their luck runs out.
The Ragman's Daughter languishes in the shadows of Sillitoe's other two masterpieces - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, but it is a gem nevertheless, and deserves to be much better known. This was the first film role for both Simon Rouse & Victoria Tennant, who starred alongside the established actors, Patrick O'Connell and Leslie Sands.
Below are my 8 original "front of house" stills from the film The Ragman's Daughter - six have been signed by Simon Rouse.
The Ragman's Daughter
by Alan Sillitoe
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(Click each still to enlarge it)
Below is a selection of screen captures from The Ragman's Daughter
Tony & Doris in the chip shop
Tony's father gets angry with his lazy son
Tony's mates tease him through the chip shop window
Tony watches the lorry driver sign for his load of cheese
Tony tucks in to his meal
Doris' father with Marion, the horse he has given his daughter
Tony's mother wonders what the noise is about
Tony's mother makes a fuss of Doris' horse
Doris gives Paul a ride on her horse......
......while Tony looks on
Man on a cart drives past Tony on Carrington Street......
Doris is in her parent's 'bad books' for staying out late
Tony & Doris share intimate moments
Tony is stopped by the police on the bridge
Tony has a lucky escape from the police
Tony is sacked from the cheese factory
Tony is keen to try out his new motor bike
Tony tells Doris she can be Lady Godiva!
Tony waits outside Doris' house for her father to leave
Tony & Doris break into the shoe shop
Tony walks across to the corner shop......
......to buy a loaf of bread......
......but is stopped by a waiting stranger......
........who is a plain clothes policeman with evidence......
...... Tony is arrested .......
......and taken away in handcuffs
Tony has a haircut from the barber in the borstal
Tony at work in the borstal
Doris' father leaves his house with his grandson
Tony looks on as Doris' father leaves the house
"Come to bed love!"
Tony and his mates outside the Berridge Road chip shop
Tony steals from a car on the Embankment near Trent Bridge
The Old Rectory at Bulwell where Doris Randall lives
The police about to dash away from Carrington Street
Tony on Carrington Street's canal bridge in Nottingham
Tony & Doris leave the Capitol Cinema in Radford, Nottingham
......and Tony accepts the lift
......and throws money for lollipops to the schoolboys
Doris' father about to drive down Station Road, Bulwell......
Tony on Highbury Road, Bulwell
Tony & Doris head off down Highbury Road towards Bulwell
Doris & Tony's 'meeting place' on Trent Street in Nottingham
Tony leaves for the borstal from Nottingham Midland station
Tony & Doris jump off the bus at Carrington Street canal bridge
Doris rides Marion along Brand Street in Nottingham
"30 bob, take it or leave it," says the ragman
Tony & Doris make plans for the future
Randall trades from Pownall's scrap yard on Meadow Lane
Tony & Doris made plans on Highfields boating lake
Nottingham Locations used for The Ragman's Daughter
The outside filming all took place at various locations in and around Nottingham. In the screen-caps below, some of these are identified.
For most people, the lasting image from this film is of Victoria Tennant as Doris Randall riding her mare Marion along the cobbled Brand Street, with its terraced houses on either side. These were "two up, two down" houses without bathrooms, but with toilet blocks behind the tiny back yards. Tony Bradmore lives at No.11 with his parents and younger brother Paul.
The whole street was demolished in the late 1970s, although the shop, where Tony buys his bread, remains and is now a cafe.
The Randall's house is the Old Rectory opposite Bulwell church. In contrast to Brand Street, this location remains virtually unaltered.
Tony is about to steal a cheese from the loading bay......
......whilst his mates look on
My poster for The Ragman's Daughter has been signed by Alan Sillitoe, Simon Rouse and Brian Murphy.........so far!
Simon Rouse signing poster
Brian Murphy signing poster
Alan Sillitoe signing poster
Alan added the quote from his book & screenplay where Doris says, "I've never stolen anything in my life, but I've always wanted to."
Simon has added, "Oh look come on, it's gotta be straight." which were his first words in this, his first film.
Director........Harold Becker
"I'll have him for Sunday dinner!" says George
Well, what else could I do?" says Tony to Doris
"It's alright George, he won't bite you!"
"If I had a horse as well, we could ride across Derbyshire."
"Come here, there's ten bob!" says Tony to Paul
Nottingham Canal from the Carrington Street Bridge