Burton next featured as Jimmy Porter , " an angry young man " role , in the film version of John Osborne 's play '' Look Back in Anger '' ( 1959 ) , a gritty drama about middle-class life in the British Midlands , directed by Tony Richardson , again with Claire Bloom as co-star . Biographer Bragg observed that '' Look Back in Anger '' " had defined a generation , provided a watershed in Britain 's view of itself and brought Osborne into the public prints as a controversial , dangerous figure " . Burton was able to identify himself with Porter , finding it " fascinating to find a man who came presumably from my sort of class , who actually could talk the way I would like to talk " . The film , and Burton 's performance , received mixed reviews upon release . Biographer Alpert noted that though reviews in the UK were favourable , those in the United States were more negative . Crowther wrote of Burton : " His tirades are eloquent but tiring , his breast beatings are dramatic but dull and his occasional lapses into sadness are pathetic but endurable . " Both Geoff Andrew of '' Time Out '' magazine and Schwartz felt Burton was too old for the part , and the '' Variety '' reviewer thought " the role gives him little opportunity for variety " . Contemporary reviews of the film have been better and it has a rating of 89 % on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes . '' Look Back in Anger '' is now considered one of the defining films of the British New Wave cinema , a movement from the late 1950s to the late 1960s in which working-class characters became the focus of the film and conflict of social classes a central theme . Jimmy Porter is also considered as one of Burton 's best on-screen roles ; he was nominated in the Best Actor categories at the BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards but lost to Peter Sellers for '' I 'm All Right Jack '' ( 1959 ) and Anthony Franciosa for '' Career '' ( 1959 ) respectively . Though it did n't do well commercially , Burton was proud of the effort and wrote to Philip , " I promise you that there is n't a shred of self-pity in my performance . I am for the first time ever looking forward to seeing a film in which I play . " While filming '' Look Back in Anger '' , Burton did another play for BBC Radio , participating in two versions , one in Welsh and another in English , of Welsh poet Saunders Lewis ' '' Brad '' , which was about the 20 July plot . Burton voiced one of the conspirators , Caesar von Hofacker
Golden Globe
17th Golden Globe Awards
Richard Burton