June Buckridge (Beryl Reid) plays a character named Sister George on a popular TV show. She gets word that her character is going to be killed and panics. She is also a lesbian and her relationship with her lover (Susannah York) is falling apart. Network executive Mercy Croft (Coral Browne) tries to help her...or does she?
This movie has problems--it's way too long (almost 2 1/2 hours), has unlikable characters and is pretty depressing. Still it's very well-directed (I love the way the opening credits are done) and has three great performances. Reid had already been in the play on stage so she pretty much knew what she was doing. She's just great--you see her anger but also sympathize with her. York is very good as her lover. Browne is just superb as Mercy Croft.
SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!! This was (for its time) pretty extreme. It was seen as a lesbian movie. In my opinion it really isn't. It's about an older woman whose behavior and attitude ends up destroying her. She just happens to be a lesbian. Still this was pretty raw for 1968. They shot the bar scenes in an actual lesbian bar in England and there was a sexual seduction in the movie that wasn't in the play. It's when Browne and York get together. York hated doing that scene and it shows. This got slapped with an X rating originally just for the subject matter alone. Director Robert Aldrich fought against that rating for years--he thought it deserved an R. It was re rated to an R in 1972.
I remember it played here in Boston for months on end. Lines were around the block every night despite the rating. Still it was only a modest hit and quickly was forgotten. The stigma of the X rating still haunts this film which is too bad. No great masterpiece but worth seeing for the great acting by the three leads.
This movie has problems--it's way too long (almost 2 1/2 hours), has unlikable characters and is pretty depressing. Still it's very well-directed (I love the way the opening credits are done) and has three great performances. Reid had already been in the play on stage so she pretty much knew what she was doing. She's just great--you see her anger but also sympathize with her. York is very good as her lover. Browne is just superb as Mercy Croft.
SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!! This was (for its time) pretty extreme. It was seen as a lesbian movie. In my opinion it really isn't. It's about an older woman whose behavior and attitude ends up destroying her. She just happens to be a lesbian. Still this was pretty raw for 1968. They shot the bar scenes in an actual lesbian bar in England and there was a sexual seduction in the movie that wasn't in the play. It's when Browne and York get together. York hated doing that scene and it shows. This got slapped with an X rating originally just for the subject matter alone. Director Robert Aldrich fought against that rating for years--he thought it deserved an R. It was re rated to an R in 1972.
I remember it played here in Boston for months on end. Lines were around the block every night despite the rating. Still it was only a modest hit and quickly was forgotten. The stigma of the X rating still haunts this film which is too bad. No great masterpiece but worth seeing for the great acting by the three leads.