The Hireling (Limited Edition, Region B)

  

 

(Alan Bridges, 1973, 108 mins)
Release date: 21 July 2025
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere)

Robert Shaw (Young Winston) and Sarah Miles (Blowup) star in The Hireling, a devastating exploration of emotional repression, trauma, and class relations from director Alan Bridges (The Shooting Party).

In the years following the First World War, the widowed Lady Franklin (Miles) establishes an unlikely friendship with her working-class driver, Ledbetter (Shaw), a traumatised former sergeant major. But, as Lady Franklin develops a relationship with a scheming former officer (Peter Egan, Ever Decreasing Circles), Ledbetter’s precarious mental state rapidly deteriorates.

Adapted from the novel by L P Hartley (The Go-Between) by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz (The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll), The Hireling was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
  
• Original mono audio
  
• Interview with actor Sarah Miles (2025)
  
• Interview with actor Ian Hogg (2025)
  
• Interview with composer Marc Wilkinson (2025)
  
• Interview with production manager Hugh Harlow (2025)
  
• Interview with wardrobe mistress Brenda Dabbs (2025)
  
• 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

All features subject to change