A stylish British drama which studies love and life in a depressed industrial town in Northern England. Deborah Kerr stars in this vividly characterised story of a penniless family struggling through the depression years. Kerr is a mill girl in love with Evans who loses his job and refuses to marry her on "dole money". He is killed in a demonstration against conditions and unemployment, so Kerr marries an old bookie she doesn't love in order to get jobs for her father and brother. This picture is realistic in its portrayal of poverty-stricken families, and although a depressing subject, the writers manage to insert some well-timed humour into the script with sepia-tinted photography capturing the North Country atmosphere and its poverty.

This film is one of the most moving and significant films ever made in Britain.