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Room at the Top is a 1959 British drama film based on the 1957 novel of the same name by John Braine. The film was widely lauded, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning two. Room at the Top is seen as the first of the British New Wave of kitchen-sink-realism film dramas. It was followed by a sequel in 1965 entitled Life at the Top.
An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.
Successful businessman Joe Lampton is married to the wealthy Susan, has two children, and lives in the mill town of Warley in northern England. But his career seems to have plateaued, leaving him disillusioned. This feeling is only exacerbated when he discovers his wife's infidelity with local man Mark. So he takes up with attractive TV host Norah and moves with her to London, aiming to reignite the fire that drove him to the top.