The Ragman’s Daughter

Tony Bradmore, now middle-aged, privately thinks back on his wild youth and his love affair with Doris Randall. His memories float between flashbacks of the past and his present life as a cheese factory worker. The contrast between the thrill of youth and the steadiness of adulthood frames the timeline.

As a young man, Tony is unemployed and lives with his working-class parents in a crumbling terrace. He engages in petty thefts and burglaries with friends as a way to survive and seek thrills, a pattern born of limited opportunities. The environment fosters risk-taking and a sense that crime is a path out of hardship.

At a local fish and chip shop, Tony meets Doris Randall, a beautiful blonde from a wealthier background. Doris's dress and demeanor signal a higher social class than Tony, and her father's money has given her luxuries like nice clothes, a horse, and expensive schooling. Their clash of classes becomes the spark of their romance.

Doris's father wants her to pursue upward mobility by socialising with well-off youths and attending university. Doris feels uncomfortable with these expectations but is drawn to Tony and the kicks they share, including rides on his motorcycle. The class divide creates tension as love grows against the odds.

Doris falls for Tony and encourages him to steal more, even suggesting she join him on the crimes. She seeks the thrill in their risky romance and pushes him toward more audacious thefts. The relationship deepens amid danger and deception.

Together they burgle a shoe shop, with Doris deliberately turning on lights to raise the risk and taunt the shopkeeper. They nearly get caught during the break-in, and though they briefly escape, Tony leaves behind incriminating evidence. He is later arrested and sent to borstal, ending his relationship with Doris.

Tony is arrested and sent to borstal after the burglary, which marks the end of his romance with Doris. The experience fractures his early opportunities and foreshadows a life of petty crime. He begins to reckon with the consequences of his choices.

Upon his release, Tony learns that Doris was pregnant with his child. Doris had already married another man by then, adding bitterness to the reunion with his past. The news signals a new, complicated chapter in his life.

Doris marries another man and has the child she conceived with Tony. Tony's paternity remains a source of ache as he imagines the family that could have been. The memory of Doris continues to haunt him.

Doris and her husband die in a motorcycle crash while riding together. The crash ends the chance of a future with Doris and leaves the child to be raised by Doris's parents. Tony learns of the tragedy from afar and is left with more questions than answers.

Doris's parents adopt the child Tony fathered, leaving him denied contact with the son. The success and stability of the adoptive family contrasts with Tony's own uncertain life choices. The past continues to collide with the present.

In the present-day sequence, Tony steals a radio in broad daylight on a busy street and is quickly apprehended. The act echoes his younger impulsiveness and underscores a persistent, self-destructive habit. The incident reinforces his marginal status in ordinary society.

The middle-aged Tony continues his pattern of theft by stealing cheese from his employer. He brings the stolen cheese home to his wife and young sons, sustaining a loving family life on the surface while concealing his crime. The tension between his affection at home and his illegal impulses widens the rift inside him.

Police wrongly suspect him of a major bank robbery and search his bag. The evidence leads to his manager at the cheese factory, who sacks Tony but declines to press charges. His wife remains supportive, and he tries to hide how Doris still haunts his thoughts.

Tony reassures his wife that he can probably get a new job, perhaps with the butcher, and looks toward a steadier routine. The final moment hints at a fragile reconciliation between memory and reality as he tries to move forward. The film ends with him choosing to keep striving and supporting his family.