if....
Short description
if.... is set in an English boys' boarding school where a rigid social order holds sway. The teachers keep their distance and exercise little real authority, while prefects from the Upper Sixth enforce discipline through humiliation and corporal punishment. Three students from the Lower Sixth, Wallace, Johnny and their leader Mick Travis, grow tired of the privileges and cruelty around them and decide to strike back in a way no one expects.
Lindsay Anderson directed the film from a screenplay by John Howlett and David Sherwin, with Albert Finney, Michael Medwin and Anderson producing. Malcolm McDowell leads the cast as Mick Travis, alongside David Wood as Johnny, Richard Warwick as Wallace, Christine Noonan as the Girl, Rupert Webster as Bobby Phillips and Robert Swann as Rowntree, among 39 credited performers. It was Anderson's first feature, followed in his filmography by O Lucky Man! in 1973.
Released in December 1968, the British production earned about 5 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.4 out of 10 across roughly 26,000 votes, and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from 439 votes, indicating a solid and fairly consistent audience response. A critics' rating of 8.2 out of 10 from 49 reviews places it somewhat higher than those viewer scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's title was suggested by a secretary from Memorial Films, who was tired of listening to the director and screenwriter endlessly going through possible options.
- The screenplay the film was based on was called "The Crusaders" (written in 1960) and was set at Tonbridge School, where its authors were educated. Location shooting was planned there, but the school authorities refused, fearing for the reputation of the institution, as such boarding schools for boys were already being vilified by the press at the time.
- The film was shot at Cheltenham College, where director Lindsay Anderson once studied, as well as at Aldenham School.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
