‘I’m so frightened of being on my own…’
Ken Loach (credited as Kenneth Loach here) is the master of kitchen sink dramas. Poor Cow marks his first feature-length film (although he had cut his teeth on television directing several acclaimed episodes of The Wednesday Play), and it is easy to see why it caused a stir upon release in 1967. Its raw and authentic view of working-class London features hard drinking, a highly sexed and confrontational female lead and scenes of domestic violence. Let’s dive in…
Single mother Joy (Carol White) is a kind of Eva Smith character with a cheery disposition who is unabashed about using men to get what she wants. The most reliable of these men is Dave Fuller (Terence Stamp) and even he ends up in prison within the first half an hour.
Mostly improvised and filmed on the tough estates of Battersea, Poor Cow is unapologetic in its depiction of working-class life. Loach makes no attempt to polish a turd or to diminish the exuberance of his vivacious leading actress. White had a troubled life and a stop-start career after this film, but she is terrific here, recalling Corinne Marchand’s epochal performance in Cleo from 5 to 7. Elsewhere, Terence Stamp delivers a brooding and tender turn complete with a lovely rendition of a Donovan track accompanied by an acoustic guitar and John Bindon is suitably ghastly as Joy’s abusive husband Tom.
Poor Cow is not Loach’s most essential work, but it is the starting point for one of the UK’s most important directors, and for that reason, it is well worth revisiting.