This Sporting Life (1963, UK)

In this British sports drama by director Lindsay Anderson:

• the opening post-credit sequence of a brutal rugby scrum between players
• the monologue of celebrity Rugby League pro footballer Frank Machin (Richard Harris) delivered to friend/teammate Maurice Braithwaite (Colin Blakely) about the perception that he was "a great ape on a football field"
• his starved, romantic needs for love from his suppressed, icy landlady Mrs. Hammond (Rachel Roberts)