293. Unsung Hero - The Jack Jones Story; movie review

UNSUNG HERO - THE JACK JONES STORY
Cert PG
80 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent mild injury detail, language

During the 1970s, the names of union leaders were better known in the UK than those of the panels of X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent in the modern day.
The likes of Len Murray, Joe Gormley and Hugh Scanlon were on television news every evening.
We even got to know a British Leyland shop steward called "Red Robbo" who became associated with the phrase "everybody out".
And then there was Jack Jones, the flat-capped leader of the Transport and General Workers' Union - seen by many left-wingers as the greatest Prime Minister Britain never had.
They are queuing up to give their plaudits during Sol Papadopoulos's tribute - Unsung Hero, The Jack Jones Story.
This is certainly no warts' and all biopic but it is a heartfelt eulogy to a man who is proclaimed as the incorruptible voice of the working classes.
The irony is that the likes of current union leader - Len McCluskey, who has been accused of feathering his own nest, has centre stage.
To be fair, Jones was different. He even put his life on the line while fighting fascism in Spain.
This movie chronicles his life from his childhood in a Liverpool slum from where he witnessed the early days of the Labour movement, including the 1926 general strike.
This was when the division of rich and poor was so stark that the latter could never aspire to be the former.
It then tells of Jones's involvement in Spain and being a workforce organiser in Coventry during the Second World War.
The more well-known aspects of Jones's career are then put under the microscope, including being the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union from 1968 until 1978.
Even after the cut and thrust of a decade in charge of the country's most powerful union, he continued to battle for people's rights through his work for pensioners.
Union leaders voice their admiration as does Labour MP Dennis Skinner and there is narration from Brian Reade.
Unfortunately, Reade's off-putting style is that of a hectoring Hyde Park Corner lecturer rather than an impartial commentator.
Indeed, the film becomes something akin to a party political broadcast for the Labour Party. This  struck me as a mistake. Sometimes the best messages are subliminal and not crashed home with a hammer.
Nevertheless, I was enlightened by much of its material.

Reasons to once - The chronicle of a major 20th century political figure
Reasons to avoid: Too much lecturing

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

The big question - Would Jack Jones really have made a great Labour Prime Minister?

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