The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tony Richardson
Screenplay by	Alan Sillitoe
Based on	"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" 1959 story by Alan Sillitoe
Produced by	Tony Richardson
Starring	Michael Redgrave Tom Courtenay Avis Bunnage James Bolam Dervis Ward Topsy Jane
Cinematography	Walter Lassally
Edited by	Antony Gibbs
Music by	John Addison
Production companies	Woodfall Film Productions Seven Arts
Distributed by	British Lion Films
Release date	21 September 1962 (1962-09-21)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£130,211[1]

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a 1962 British coming-of-age film directed by Tony Richardson, one of the new young directors emerging from the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. The screenplay was written by Alan Sillitoe, based on his 1959 short story of the same title, and concerns a rebellious youth who has been sentenced to a borstal for burgling a bakery. He gains privileges in the institution through his prowess as a long-distance runner, but reveries of important events before his incarceration that he has during his solitary runs lead him to re-evaluate his status as the prize athlete of the Governor.