| Man at the Top | |
| Director: | Mike Vardy |
| Producer: | Peter Charlesworth Jock Jacobsen |
| Starring: | Kenneth Haigh Nanette Newman Harry Andrews |
| Music: | Roy Budd |
| Cinematography: | Brian Probyn |
| Editing: | Chris Barnes |
| Studio: | Hammer Films Dufton Films |
| Distributor: | Anglo-EMI |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Man at the Top is a 1973 British drama film directed by Mike Vardy and starring Kenneth Haigh, spun off from the television series Man at the Top, which itself was inspired by the 1959 film Room at the Top and its 1965 sequel Life at the Top.
Joe Lampton is promoted to managing director of a pharmaceutical company, and becomes involved with Lord Ackerman, the powerful chairman, who is also his father-in-law. But Joe makes a shocking discovery: his predecessor committed suicide because of his involvement in a drug that left 1,000 African women sterile. Joe threatens to reveal all to the press, while Lord Ackerman seeks to persuade him otherwise, by offering him promotion to Chief Executive.[1]
Shooting took place from 3 March to 7 April 1973.
The film was not a success at the box office.[2]
Monthly Film Bulletin said it was "too much like an episode of a TV series stretched to feature length".[3]
"Network on Air" noted the film as, "offering a grittier treatment than the 1959 film adaptation and the subsequent television series".[4]
Allmovie noted, " Nanette Newman, a busy doe-eyed ingenue of the 1960s, is quietly effective as the middle-aged Mrs. Lampton."[5]