Man at the Top (film)

The film was not a success at the box office.^[4]

John Gillett wrote in The Monthly Film Bulletin: "As played by Kenneth Haigh, Lampton's coarse, chip-on-shoulder gruffness and wearying pop-eyed charm soon fall flat, but the film does score a point or two in its depiction of Ackerman's world, with its suave surface etiquette, cool boardroom manners and secret country house meetings (Harry Andrews' steely, banked-down performance is a decided asset). The little interlude on the road with the girls brings some pleasantly relaxed exchanges, but the film is less successful (and rather cheap) when dealing with Lampton's swift seduction of Ackerman's wife and daughter. Despite its moments of insight and sharp, bristling dialogue, it remains too much like a television episode stretched to movie length."^[5]

Variety wrote: "This spinoff of a popular British vidseries by the same name is a professionally-crafted entry in the middlebrow stakes, with the usual reliable performance by Kenneth Haigh who repeats his vidrole of the lower class boy making good – and fighting tooth and nail to get there – in the business and society bigtime. Though no blockbuster, pic should nevertheless perform well in general release situations."^[6]

• Man at the Top at IMDb
• Man at the Top at BFI
• Man at the Top at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)