Director Kenneth Loach won his spurs with a series of socially committed plays for television, making his feature film debut with this production, in the same style, aggressively realistic but with a soft centre that ultimately tends to diffuse the drama. Poor Cow - whose principal characters happily accept lying, thieving and sexual promiscuity as a way of survival - seems very much a period piece now, but a fascinating one, with a script (Loach and Nell Dunn, from Dunn's novel) and direction that veer between small-screen compromises and big-screen lyricism. What still holds the attention is Carol White's vital and beautifully conceived performance as the much put-upon heroine. Terence Stamp plays the big love of her misbegotten life.


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