Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach Page #4

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in your stomach, really.

Somebody told me you've got these places they call halfway houses.

Carol White was just a natural choice to play Cathy.

Reg might come back to me.

She could just be.

He's drifting away from me.

And that's great acting when you can get that.

And Ken had the knack of encouraging that from an actor.

It was so different to anything we'd ever seen before,

because it was shot in an observed way and not in an immaculate way,

but actually told the story

more truthfully and more realistically

than I think I'd ever seen before.

Get back! Get back!

Ken, as a director, was becoming much more confident -

determined to get what he wanted for the film.

There is one scene where Carol White has her children taken away from her

at the railway station by social workers.

It still stays with me.

It's one of the strongest scenes I've ever seen in any film.

You're not having my kids.

You're not!

SHE SCREAMS:

It had to be shocking.

It couldn't be other than shocking.

If we'd staged it with extras walking past,

it just wouldn't have had the impact.

We just put it in a real place and let it happen.

The reception - it was extraordinary.

At the first showing, the Daily Mail called Cathy Come Home,

"A dramatic battering ram."

The Guardian said it was,

"Undoubtedly one of the most successful pieces

"of social reforming drama we've had on television."

People didn't know.

I think there's been enormous confusion in the public mind

as to whether this is, in fact, fact or fiction.

I mean, what is there to prevent you next time, when you want to

make your point a little more strongly,

to introduce fictional statistics as well?

Well, I thought it was a brilliant piece of propaganda

of a highly charged and emotional kind.

The script was written, there were 60-odd actors in it.

The fact that Ken Loach is such a good director that the actors

often don't look like actors is hardly my fault.

Part of the enormous kerfuffle...

..was an invitation to the Ministry.

So, Ken Loach and I went down Whitehall

to see the Minister.

And we sat down in this huge, beautifully appointed office -

I mean, I've never lived in anywhere as big as that -

and it was very English.

Tea was on quite nice china with biscuits,

but then he said, "But what can one do?"

And I looked at Ken and Jeremy, and I said, "Well, build more houses."

And he looked at the senior civil servant

who looked back and then went...

Smiled at each other as though...

HE SIGHS:

"If only it were that simple."

We were ushered out into Whitehall and that was the end of it.

I did kick myself afterwards that it wasn't more political.

We'd let everybody off the hook.

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