Director: Alan Bridges
Based on the novel by: LP Hartley
Screenplay: Wolf Mankowitz
Starring: Robert Shaw, Sarah Miles, Peter Egan, Caroline Mortimer, Elizabeth Sellers, Ian Hogg, Christine Hargreaves, Lyndon Brook, Patricia Lawrence, Petra Markham, Alison Leggatt
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 108 min
Year: 1973
Certificate: PG
By the early- to mid-1970s, actor Robert Shaw had portrayed memorable roles in a host of big films from the likes of The Dam Busters, The Caretaker, A Man for All Seasons and Battle of Britain, to The Sting, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and, of course, as villain Red Grant in the second James Bond film From Russia With Love. He was also an acclaimed author with arguably his best-known role yet to come, that of Quint in Steven Spielberg’s monster blockbuster Jaws.
It’s difficult to choose Shaw’s best performance, there were so many great ones, but one of his greatest for me comes in one of his least known films: 1973’s The Hireling, which is due a reappraisal, and one it will hopefully get with the new release of a limited edition Blu-ray of the film on the fantastic Indicator label.
Based on a novel by LP Hartley which was published in 1957, The Hireling is set in and around Bath, Somerset, in the aftermath of the First World War. Working-class chauffeur Leadbetter (Shaw), who is struggling to return to normality after the war traumatised him as a sergeant major, forms an unlikely friendship with the widowed Lady Franklin (Sarah Miles), who has just been discharged from a mental health clinic and hires him as her driver.
It seems as though Leadbetter is the only person Lady Franklin can talk to, which is why their relationship and bond develops, but during a boxing night, she is reacquainted with Captain Hugh Cantrip (Peter Egan) with whom she starts to have a relationship. She sees less of Leadbetter, and his mental state and way of life unravels as a result.
Much of the film is a series of conversations, mostly between Leadbetter and Lady Franklin, where a lot of backstory and the feelings and mindsets of the characters are developed either through the dialogue or their reactions.
Facial expressions and responses are very important in the film, particularly in highlighting the state of mind of the two leads, as well as delivering a thought-provoking study of the British class system.
Leadbetter’s burgeoning relationship is never going to develop into a romantic one, despite his best efforts, as the couple are from different classes, never mind that Lady Franklin has developed feelings for Cantrip.
It’s a riveting film that builds to surprising climax, with a fantastic script and some marvellous performances. I’ve already mentioned Shaw; he’s absolutely brilliant in this, but so is Miles. Both feel like they are powder kegs of emotion just waiting to boil over at any time, their past haunting them and repressed feelings just ready to come to the fore.
The supporting cast are also a delight, particularly Egan as the duplicitous Cantrip, who comes between the leads about halfway through the story when he begins to woo Lady Franklin, leading to the thrust of the second half as their relationship develops and Leadbetter’s mental state begins to disintegrate and his life falls apart around him.
The production design by Russian-born Natasha Kroll, costume design and location work are also uniformly excellent. The Hireling was filmed at Bray Studios near Windsor, famed for Hammer Horrors, and the sets are a delight, but so are the filming locations, particularly around Bath, Windsor, Eton, Wiltshire and in the grounds of delightful country homes.
It very much feels like a British prestige picture and that’s not only due to the setting and the cast but also the crew, including cinematography by the great Michael Reed, who shot the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service amongst others, and frames some of the shots in The Hireling marvellously, with some great use of reflection.
There are also some beautiful costumes by Phyllis Dalton, whose work on David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago won her an Academy Award in the mid-1960s, as did her work on Henry V for Kenneth Branagh at the end of the 1980s.
As one of the articles in the accompanying booklet points out, in adapting the novel for the screen, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz made a number of changes, not least the location and chronology but also the purpose of the car journeys and the ending. I’ve not read the source novel to comment on which is better, but the elements that I know Mankowitz brought to the film are fantastic, and he certainly wrote a fine film of the tale.
I felt on edge throughout the film and incredibly unsettled, some of that is down to the performances – there’s an almost otherworldliness about the characters; it feels almost like a ghost story but with no ghosts. But I was also unsettled by the score by Marc Wilkinson. It’s very creepy and disconcerting; a real strength of the film.
The film shared the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1973 with Jerry Schatzberg’s Scarecrow starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. The co-win almost seems to have gone against The Hireling, it receiving criticism in some circles for the very things it was praised for at Cannes.
I personally adored it. There’s a tender friendship – the burgeoning relationship between Leadbetter and Lady Franklin is a joy to behold; and then it’s all derailed by the quite wonderful character of Cantrip. It’s a riveting tale of friendship, of love, of human relationships, and of repression and the past haunting you, as well as a study of the British class system, all brought to the screen handsomely and elegantly by a cast and crew at the top of their game.
Film: 
The Hireling is released by Powerhouse Films on its Indicator label on limited edition Blu-ray on 21st July 2025. The picture quality is good throughout, and feels as though it captures the right look for the film, with natural colours and plenty of detail. The audio is also fine and I had no issues with it.
Indicator limited edition Blu-ray special features:
High Definition remaster
Original mono audio
The Driving Force interviews with actors Sarah Miles and Ian Hogg, composer Marc Wilkinson, production manager Hugh Harlow, wardrobe mistress Brenda Dabbs, and production accountant Maureen Newman
The Lady and the Chauffeur interviews with actors Sarah Miles and Ian Hogg, production manager Hugh Harlow, wardrobe mistress Brenda Dabbs, and production accountant Maureen Newman
Original theatrical trailer
Larry Karaszewski trailer commentary (2021): short critical appreciation
Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Limited edition exclusive booklet with new essay by Peter Cowie, selected interviews with screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz on his adaptation of L P Hartley’s novel, an overview of critical responses, and film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK
The Driving Force is a short but informative and entertaining 12-minute making of, featuring interviews with actors Sarah Miles and Ian Hogg, composer Marc Wilkinson, production manager Hugh Harlow, wardrobe mistress Brenda Dabbs, and production account Maureen Newman. There are some warm anecdotes about the making of the film. The same interviewees pop up again in The Lady and the Chauffeur, a 12-minute piece looking at the film’s lead actors, which again is an entertaining but short watch.
Costume designer Phyllis Dalton’s interview is from 2000 for the British Entertainment History Project (BEHP) and runs for 105 minutes, almost the entire length of the film. It plays over the film like a commentary. It covers a lot of ground starting with Dalton’s childhood before running through films she worked on, people she worked with and including plenty of other recollections from her career. Dalton is on fine form and very easy to listen to. It’s a very good interview.
The theatrical trailer runs for three minutes and gives a decent introduction to the story.
Screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, who is a huge fan of the film, provides a commentary over the theatrical trailer, which together with an intro runs for almost four minutes. He attempts to unpick why the film hasn’t left as much of a mark as it should. It’s a short but decent appreciation in which Karaszewski describes the film as a British twist on Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows.
The image gallery contains around 30 promotional stills, lobby cards and posters, mostly in black and white.
The 32-page booklet is a typically fine one by Indicator, which opens with a new essay by author Peter Cowie who gives a great overview of the Britishness of the film, running through its cast and crew and providing plenty of factoids along the way (I hadn’t realised Shaw was an acclaimed novelist and playwright, for example). Up next are some very interesting snippets of interviews with British-born screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz interspersed with some well researched background on him. It includes a decent section on The Hireling, including a look at the changes made in transferring the novel to the big screen. The booklet closes with some of the critical reception the film received.
In closing, it’s a relatively modest package of extras, but each provides some interesting insight into both the film and some of its cast and crew. The picture and sound are good, and the film is a real gem, which I knew very little about going in, but which I look forward to revisiting again soon.
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