Starring Sarah Badel as George;
Lucy Whybrow as Childie;
Anna Massey as Mercy Croft
Frances Jeater as Madma Xenia
Tom Bevan as Bill
Keith Drinkel as Fred
Why did the blindman swing his dog round in the supermarket?
HE WANTED TO HAVE A LOOK AROUND!
Sorry I missed it. Was it the entire play? Did you listen, and how was it?
shareIt was the whole play, and it was good.
I never got round to seeing the film, so I was glad I got the chance to catch this version.
You've got fingers in more pies than a leper on a cookery course.
I'm glad you enjoyed the play. This script really lends itself to the spoken-word treatment, but hopefully you'll be able to see the film because it's excellent.
shareThe film IS excellent but it changes the play dramatically in one incident. I've never heard or seen the play but I read the script and there is NO sexual seduction in the play like there is in the movie. I think they put it in the movie to make it very clear why George is left alone. I do know the two actresses didn't want to do it. York tried to back out of filming it but the director told her if she did she'd never work in Hollywood again. So--she got through it and (I thought) was just great.
shareThat's no surprise that the "seduction of Childie" scene wasn't in the original play, because it's quite awkward here and doesn't really fit the tone of the film. Frankly, I think everyone would have known why George was all alone at the end anyway – she pretty much burned every bridge she ever crossed. The sex scene between Mercy and Childie was groundbreaking and brave, and for that reason it is important, but you can tell neither of the actresses was into it (in terms of both performance and pleasure).
shareHmmmmm--I somewhat agree with you. It's true the seduction scene isn't needed but I think it fits into the film. As u said both of the actresses were very brave for doing it (although it's pretty tame by today's standards)
shareYes, it's extremely tame by today's standards. Anyone seeing this today who realized this was an X-rated film upon release would channel Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"
shareLOL true true. The director complained loudly that it deserved an R rating. He thought it was because of the seduction scene it got the X. He finally agreed to cut it out--but was told it would STILL get an X because of the subject matter!!!! Hard to believe but back in the late 1960s the MPAA here in America was VERY strict when it came to gay or lesbian subject matter. "Midnight Cowboy" had an X rating too when it first came out over here.
shareSo so very very true true! For a time almost any film that addressed gay subject matter would at least get an R, and any film that had gay sexual content (rare indeed for mainstream films until recently) would be a candidate for an X. Even in the '90s, "Henry & June" was rated an NC-17 for ... well, I don't really know what for, because it wasn't very explicit.
shareNever saw "Henry and June" but I heard there was a lesbian sex scene...that might have done it. That was the film that pushed the MPAA into making the NC-17 rating. There was a time where a same sex kiss got films an automatic R rating! I remember a 1980 film called "Najinsky" (which was PG material all the way) got slapped with an R cause of a VERY minor kiss between two men! That didn't change until the late 1990s where a film called "Big Eden" got a PG-13 despite quite a few scenes of men kissing. It's kind of funny--same sex kisses were happening on TV quite a bit since the 1980s but it takes the rating board ten YEARS to realize that audiences have no problem with it.
shareI saw "Henry & June" years ago in a film class, and yes there was a lesbian sex scene, but I don't think we saw anything there that Sharon Stone didn't show us in R-rated pictures (and certainly less than in "Basic Instinct"). It seems the MPAA has always considered certain themes to be automatic R's (or X's or NC-17's), just like it was usually assume that the gay character would commit suicide or get knocked off.
I didn't see "Nijinsky," but "Big Eden" was very sweet if perhaps a bit overrated. Interestingly, I've just watched John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," which was very explicit (and understandably unrated). It's really one for the time capsule – a film with gay and straight characters interacting emotionally and sexually with complete frankness, almost disarmingly so.
I agree with you about "Big Eden". I liked it but didn't buy the plot for one second. "Shortbus" was GREAT. I saw it in a theatre and loved it when this str8 college football player sitting in front of me watched the explicit gay sex scenes without flinching:) His girlfriend seemed a little shocked though. LOL
shareI guess one door opens as another closes, so to speak. ;-)
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