A Taste of Honey, meaning she had a small taste of something sweet in her otherwise pretty bitter experience.
shareI think it's from an old saying --
"A taste of honey is better than none at all."
So maybe the title is saying that, even though she doesn't get everything she wants, she's still better off having a taste of happiness.
On my DVD, it says the title refers to the brief spell of happiness she enjoyed with Jeff, the only person who truly cared for her.
shareI think her mother cared about her a lot. She was just a damaged woman and didn't have an orthodox way of showing love and care. I'd say her parents were probably pretty crappy as well.
sharepauline49 says > On my DVD, it says the title refers to the brief spell of happiness she enjoyed with Jeff, the only person who truly cared for her.With Geoff?? Wow, that just made her life look even more miserable than I thought it was when I watched the movie. I thought the brief happiness was her little fling and supposed 'love' affair.
I was under the impression the song, A Taste Of Honey, came from this film, but evidently not....
Love is never having to say you're sober.
No, the song had nothing to do with the film, except by cashing in on its popularity,
shareWikipedia says the music which eventually became the song, was written for the 1960 Broadway version of the British play "A Taste of Honey", from which the film was adapted. So, yes, it is connected to the story. Too bad they didn't use it in the film.
shareOnly the instrumental was written for the play. The vocal versions were later - after the movie was released.
shareYes, as I said, the music. This was around before anyone had ever heard of the Beatles. My mom had the Martin Denny Taste of Honey album in 62. I saw the movie a few years later and was too young to understand it, but remember I was disappointed that that beautiful piece of music wasn't in it. Of course, watching it again as an adult on TCM, I see that it's fine the way it is.
shareI believe this is actually a Biblical reference to a well-known passage in 1 Samuel. King Saul had proclaimed a fast (in hopes of getting divine favor in battle) at 1 Samuel 14:24.
But Jonathan, Saul's son, hadn't heard the news and tasted honey: 1 Samuel 14:43 "Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die."
Jonathan was reprieved by popular demand, however. The point of the story, such as it is, is that a moment of pleasure may bring a lot of pain (which is obviously relevant to the movie).
Well-known to whom? Not everyone reads that perv book.
shareThe title refers to the taste of a life somewhat sweeter than the one Jo has been used to with her mother, always on the run and bringing men home. Geoffrey and the sailor bring Jo some fun and relief for a short time. The movie softens somewhat the mother's role from the way she is on stage, but it is an amazing movie with the first directly gay character who wasn't a joke.
sharei just wanted to add to the comments on the song "A Taste of Honey". The play was brought to New York by David Merrick in 1960. Jazz pianist Bobby Scott wrote music for the play that was heard three times, to establish a certain mood. When he saw the play, Tony Bennett was totally captivated by the music and got Scott's permission to have lyrics written for it so he could sing it. The lyrics were written by Rick Marlow.
Tony sang it in his act but oddly, did not record it until 1964 when it appeared in a haunting arrangement by Dick Hyman. Early singles were released by Lenny Welch and Billy Dee Williams, but they didn't chart very high. In 1962 Martin Denny had a top twenty instrumental hit with it. It was a much bigger top ten hit for Herb Albert in the Fall of 1965, so big it revived his up to then minor career.
It's not quite fair to say the song capitalized on the film. A Taste of Honey was a film that played in art houses and was only seen by that elite audience. It was by no means a big enough film with the general public to create a phenomenon that a song would try to cash in on. The play and the music are intertwined and both are unique and excellent. I still feel the music should have been used instrumentally at least for the end titles or here and there in the film.