{{Short description|1973 British film by David Hemmings}} {{other uses|14 (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = The 14 | image = The 14 FilmPoster.jpeg | caption = Film poster | director = David Hemmings | producer = Frank Avianca<br>Robert Mintz | writer = Roland Starke | starring = Jack Wild<br>June Brown | music = Kenny Clayton | cinematography = Ousama Rawi | editing = John Shirley | studio = Avianca Productions (London) Ltd | distributor = MGM-EMI | released = {{film date|1973|12|19|df=yes}} | runtime = 105 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English }} '''''The 14''''' (also known as '''''Existence'''''; U.S. title: '''''The Wild Little Bunch''''') is a 1973 British drama film directed by David Hemmings and starring Jack Wild and June Brown.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The 14 |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150041199 |access-date=9 May 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by Roland Starke.
Its plot, based on fact, concerns the fate of fourteen children in west London who are orphaned after the death of their single mother.<ref>Pulleine, Tim (2003). "[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/dec/04/news.timpulleine Obituary: David Hemmings]", ''Guardian.co.uk''.</ref><ref>"[http://movies.tvguide.com/the-fourteen/123688 The Fourteen]", ''Movies.TVGuide.com''.</ref>
==Plot== The film focuses on a family of fourteen children who are left to fend for themselves when their mother passes away. Reg, the eldest who is turning 18, is left in charge of the family until the child welfare come in and send them all to a children's home. However. Reg is always determined to fight to keep his family together no matter what.
==Cast== * Jack Wild as Reg * June Brown as the mother * Liz Edmiston as Sylvia * Diana Beevers as Miss Field * Cheryl Hall as Reena * Anna Wing as Mrs. Booth * John Bailey as Mr. Sanders * Alun Armstrong as Tommy * Keith Buckley as Mr. Whitehead * Tony Calvin as Father Morris * Chris Kelly as Roy (as Christian Kelly) * Frank Gentry as Terry * Peter Newby as Billy * Paul Daly as Freddy * Richard Haywood as John (as Richard Heyward) * Malcolm Tierney as Mr. Michael
==Production== The film was shot on location in west London and Berkshire and at Pinewood Studios, London, England.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
==Release== The film won the Silver Bear at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival.<ref name="berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1973/03_preistr_ger_1973/03_Preistraeger_1973.html |title=Berlinale 1973: Prize Winners |access-date=1 July 2010 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>
== Critical reception == ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "''The 14'' is largely concerned to tell it straight, short on sentiment and with barely a trace of fake moralising concern. ... Everyone officially involved with this extraordinary family emerges sympathetically, from the hard-pressed and utterly dedicated social workers to the harassed priest watching the little monsters disrupt the orderly calm of his children's home, and even the professional foster-mother, pelted with her mashed potato as she lectures her unruly brood on good manners. These fourteen children were obviously a very wild bunch, and the film doesn't pretend otherwise. ... David Hemmings, directing his second film, has mostly evaded the dangers implicit in this misfits-as-heroes approach, though there are times when the difference between the real children and the screen children turns them into mere lovable rogues. ... [Although] the film does well enough on its own terms, it might have done better within a documentary framework"<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1973 |title=The 14 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305836843 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=40 |issue=468 |pages=147 |id={{ProQuest|1305836843}} }}</ref>
''Variety'' wrote: "Far from the oversentimental tearjerker it could easily have become, pic – which is based on a real-life story – emerges as a terse, intermittently humorous yet ultimately moving tale of the struggle of a 14-child family whose father and later mother both die, to work their united way against adversity and into society. ... Uncompromisingly, Roland Stark's script and actor David Hemmings' direction ... refuse to let the kids become cute or winning: to the contrary. ... Acting is good throughout, with Jack Wild getting more individual chances than the rest, and doing his job well. ... Technical credits on the all-location (or almost) pic are fine, with only an obtrusive, over-insistent musical score providing a jarring note."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=11 July 1973 |title=The 14 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/963288003 |journal=Variety |volume=271 |issue=9 |pages=18 |id={{ProQuest|963288003}} }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0070921|title=The 14}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:14, The}} Category:1973 films Category:1973 drama films Category:1973 independent films Category:1973 English-language films Category:British drama films Category:British independent films Category:English-language drama films Category:English-language independent films Category:Films about dysfunctional families Category:Films about grief Category:Films about orphans Category:Films about poverty in the United Kingdom Category:Films about siblings Category:Films directed by David Hemmings Category:Films set in London Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:1973 British films