The Criterion discs finally arrived today (how ironic they arrived once I finally finished with HAWAII FIVE-O just this morning).
So, this afternoon, I watched THIS SPORTING LIFE. The film is brilliant in almost every respect. The flashback motif back and forth gives it a dynamism and urgency that's really engrossing (as if it could be anything else with those galvanizing central performances!).
Amazing that the director had never directed a feature film before, the producer had never produced a feature film before, and the screenwriter had never written a screenplay before, and they turned out this triumph!