A room at the top is just another movie in modern times. In order to truly see the affect this film had at the time of its release, you must first consider the time and location that it was being produced in. England in the late 1950’s still lived with the memories of WWII, the “baby-boomers” were in full force and society was rapidly adapting to a new generation that lived through and lost many to WWII. A transition, commonly referred to as the British New Wave, is an era that transformed the arts to capture more of the average life of British culture. It is also closely tied to Kitchen Sink Realism that portrayed younger men as fed-up with the social status quo that existed in Britain. These movements and realizations are clearly evident in “A Room at the Top.” Joe Lampton is a 25-year-old, ex-orphan, whose parents were both killed in an air raid during WWII. Mr. Lampton starts work in Northern England, only to find the last thing on his mind is work as he meets Susan the daughter of wealthy industrial magnate, Mr. Brown; and Alice, a much older and unhappily married woman.

As time progresses, Mr. Lampton becomes incredibly frustrated with the lack of respect he receives from Susan’s parents, who do not approve of his advances. Joe comes from a poor background and is not worthy of the wealthy Brown family. This idea is easily drawn from the Kitchen Sink realism that young angry men are dealing with unfortunate social structures. Joe Lampton is an ideal portrayal of the difficulties a lot of young men saw after the war, even though Joe was a POW and strives to be a hard worker he is somehow still shoved off for his poor upbringing. Throughout the film, Joe slowly falls in love with Alice who accepts Joe for who he really is.

Some critics believe this is because Alice is also a bit of an outsider, being born in France. Her husband is unfaithful and seems to disregard Alice every chance he gets, much like how Susan’s parents disregard Joe at every opportunity as well.

For Joe a common theme he incurs is the constant bother of other’s lack of respect for his part in the war. Critics sometimes referred to the lack of respect Joe receives triggers his anger with the rest of the population. It is evident that this may have been a common problem in the aftermath of WWII, where young men fought hand in hand with other young men, but when it was over everyone went back to their respective social classes. Joe being a POW and then coming home only to have people ask why he did not escape would make anyone upset.

This is a difficult film to classify as conventional or unconventional. However, it is more conventional then not. Although the film tackles negative social environments, it is still centered on a white male who is having trouble deciding between two women. Some unconventional aspects are that Alice dies in the end, and Joe is forced into a “shotgun” wedding with Susan.

Which would typically be conventional, but Joe did not love her at that point anymore. Additionally, the topic was quite scandalous for its time. There is a lot of pre-marital sex between two different women. Alice is a much older woman who actively allows a younger unmarried man to pursue her and eventually fall in love. At the time, the romantic scenes are much more common than any other film at the time. Not only that but Joe is showed flipping back and forth between two different women, which would have been very concerning to any adult at the time.

This film seems to tackle the beginning of relaxed social structures. Watching this film as a lower-class citizen who fought in WWII would be truly hopeful for future generations. It unlocked an allowance for other artists to fight back against a rigid social class structure in England.