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The Killing of Sister George (1968)
20 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Still powerful, relevant, and sensuous, 30 luglio 2003
Author: julikell da United States
This movie is a heck of a lot more relevant than more recent films dealing with lesbianism -- the shallow, lame DESERT HEARTS comes to mind. Though over two hours long, TKOSG held me with little effort. The action moved freely from the studio to the apartment to the pub. And the seduction scene was totally erotic and ... well ... never mind. Was this particular scene overly long? Only to a generation raised on sex scenes which rarely last as long as it takes to cook a three-minute egg. Explicit? Grow up!
And the performances ... wow! I had no problem with the hold George had over Childie, with Beryl Reid's superior portrayal complemented perfectly by Susannah York's fragile and, at the same time, forceful Childie. I must admit, York was a bit over the top in the beginning, but I wouldn't say that if I didn't count her as one of my all-time favorite actresses. And how about Coral Browne -- she was sensational! Sublty menacing, eerily sensuous -- and when I realized this was the same woman from AUNTIE MAME and LYLA CLARE, well, I nearly fell off my chair. I love this lady!
17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Beryl Reid gives a terrific performance in this overlooked comedy drama from Robert Aldrich, one of Hollywood's most underrated directors., 15 gennaio 2004
Author: Infofreak da Perth, Australia
Robert Aldrich is a director who rarely gets the attention he deserves. Ridiculously versatile he made the fascinating Film Noir 'Kiss Me Deadly', the gothic black comedy 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?', and the macho "tough guys on a mission" action classic 'The Dirty Dozen' to name just three in a long career. Just to emphasize that he could do just about anything, one of the first movies he made after 'The Dirty Dozen' was 'The Killing Of Sister George'. It's hard to imagine two more different movies! George is a very English picture about a much loved soap opera star (played by Beryl Reid) who has to juggle a career crisis with a complex lesbian relationship (her lover being played by Susanna York). Reid was well known to British audiences through her TV work, especially a couple of highly popular John Le Carre adaptations. Reid originated the Sister George role on the stage and she really makes the most of it in this movie. Her performance is terrific, hilariously bitchy and also very sad and pathetic. York is also good, and the lesbian subject matter must have been very shocking for the time. It may look a little dated now, but in context it is quite sensitively handled. There are some great actors in the supporting cast, most notably Coral Browne ('Theatre Of Blood') who plays a TV producer who has her eye on York. 'The Killing Of Sister George' deserves a bigger audience. I highly recommend it and hope that anyone who enjoys it looks further into the career of the Robert Aldrich, a seriously underrated film maker!
14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Underrated 1960's British black comedy. A must-see, 20 giugno 1999
Author: James Foster da Brighton
Anyone who likes gritty, clever, slightly comical drama should see this one. The plot is simple enough - an alcoholic gay actress worried about her future in a top Coronation Street-style soap opera - but the way the film is put together is pithy without being too complex - the characterisations are brilliantly satirical, showing up the worst side of the soap opera industry and its catty, backstabbing nature. You don't find yourself feeling sorry for anyone at the end of it apart from perhaps Susannah York. Lots of London-in-the-1960s location filming and familiar faces - I'm only surprised that John Le Mesurier doesn't appear in it. In a word - absorbing. Why don't they make them like this anymore?
13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Scathing indictment of show biz, 4 luglio 2002
Author: moonspinner55 da redlands, ca
Beryl Reid gives a no-holds-barred performance as an aging lesbian actress who's already teetering on the edge when she gets word that her character in a TV soap opera is to be killed off. She takes out her frustrations on her childlike lover (Susannah York) and a production head (Coral Browne), the two of whom eventually become intimate on their own. The script-reading sequence had me howling with laughter, and Reid's non-stop barrage of put-downs, insults, wisecracks and other hateful remarks are acidly hilarious. A surprisingly realistic sex scene near the end is pretty graphic for its time (I almost felt like looking away) and we never learn much about Browne's icy character, but the final scene is gut-wrenching, as is the final line of dialogue. *** from ****
12 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Get a few things 'straight', 5 settembre 2001
Author: larrylagger da Sydney, Australia
On its initial release in the USA this film had an X rating and all of the sex scenes were cut completely. They were not restored until quite recently. As well, the film was financed through Britain and not Hollywood so it did not come under the auspices of the then draconian Production Code, so it could be more graphic and realistic. Cheers.
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Robert Aldrich, Sensitive Guy of the Sixties, 10 maggio 1999
Author: matthew wilder (picqueur@aol.com) da los angeles
Am I the only one who finds it painfully touching that Robert Aldrich went from the biggest hit of his career--the almost woman-free DIRTY DOZEN--to the kind of movie he really wanted to make, i.e., a stagebound melodrama about an aging lesbian soap star's love for a demented nymphet? In its day, SISTER GEORGE was considered the ne plus ultra in coarse homophobia; critics saw the sweaty thumbprints of the Aldrich Touch on every girl-on-girl scene. (Does anyone now lambaste THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT for not being hardhitting docudrama?) In retrospect, the movie seems to me one of Aldrich's most affecting, with Coral Browne (December) and a teeny, teenaged Susannah York (May) grand-slamming this folie a deux to a fare-thee-well.
10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Maybe a bit too shocking even in this day and age for some viewers, 19 marzo 2006
Author: tony-peterson da Australia
The Killing of Sister George (1968) THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE tells the story of June Buckridge, a middle-aged actress who portrays "Sister George" in a cosy weekly British TV soap opera called "Applehurst".
In the show June, as "Sister George", is a sweet and charming District Nurse loved by all, but off-screen she has a more sinister side to her personality: she's a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, cigar smoking lesbian, totally insecure in her relationship with the much younger Alice "Childie" McNaught (Susannah York).
Into this insecure relationship arrives the spidery Mrs. Mercy Croft (Coral Browne), who indirectly gets June sacked from her television role and seduces June's lover into the bargain.
Beryl Reid is sensational as June Buckridge. Using a wide variety of acting skills she makes the character completely her own. It's a memorable performance, but perhaps a bit too theatrical at times.
Coral Browne fairs a bit better and simply oozes fake charm and arch superiority. She's positively malevolent. Her every line of dialogue and facial expression seem to drip with evil intent. What a great performance.
Susannah York is a bit hard to take as "Childie". She's simply the wrong actress for the role because she appears to be too old and her personality is too "strong" for someone who is supposed to have been dominated by her lover.
The film, directed by Robert Aldrich, will be a bit too full-on for most audiences. In the play on which the film was based, the lesbian relationship was only hinted at, never really mentioned. But in the film, however, Aldrich hits you over the head with it again and again.
Be warned: the trip to The Gateways Club (a lesbian bar) maybe a bit too shocking even in this day and age for some viewers.
A good film, but it could do with some pruning, but definitely worth seeing for Beryl Reid and Coral Browne's performances.
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
an overlooked gem..., 30 marzo 2004
Author: Gary Lea da Wiltshire, UK
I did not see the stage play upon which this film is based (too young) but, based on its own merits, this film surely deserves a closer look.
The central trio of performers (Reid, York, Browne) provide career "bests" and there are some amusing vignettes from the others (Fraser, in particular, as a truly odious soap actor).
The much-discussed sex scene is, by today's standards (and, it would seem, even those of the 1960s stage play), tame, but its real value as a display of the shift of power between the three central characters is very neatly worked through in the closing quarter.
The final five minutes of (self-) destruction is heartbreaking, with excellent use made of the music track.
In short: miss it and miss out.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Monumental performance by Reid, 27 aprile 2006
Author: danielj_old999 da United States
this is a showcase for some magnificent acting....it doesn't seem at all homophobic , but rather immensely poignant and sad...and in what other film do you get to see a great lesbian band in matching sweaters and guitars (good solo!) Difficult at the beginning, just seems shallow and bitchy, but stick with it and watch Beryl Reid's character disintegrate....the final scene reminded me of "The Blue Angel" or "The Entertainer" in its shattering degradation...congrats to Aldrich for having the guts to make this movie, I think it stands the test of time rather well. Coral Browne is also magnificent, and York holds her own. The lesbian bar scene is worth waiting for.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A beautiful movie in every way, 28 giugno 2007
Author: Tony Patriarche da Victoria, BC, Canada
I don't give many movies 10/10, but this black comedy-drama gets my vote, for fine acting, production values, and of course its place in movie history in the frank portrayal of lesbian relationships.
Others have & will comment on the latter, so I'll point out some of the other aspects of this fine film. The combination of comedy with personal tragedy poses difficult problems both for the writer & director; here they both succeed brilliantly.
The three principals' performances are riveting. I particularly liked the ambiguity of Coral Brown's portrayal of Mercy Croft; watch her carefully in the tight closeups in the gay club, and notice how the down-turned mouth at times hides a hint of a self-satisfied smile.
The cinematography deserves special mention. The use of colour is beautiful; I was reminded of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", but it never steps over the line into unreality. On the contrary, the alleys of London, the TV studio and above all the stairs and corridor of the flat are supremely realistic. Most unusual is the use of chiaroscuro, the interplay of light-and-shadow, seldom seen outside of black & white films. In so many colour films the light appears to come from some amorphous omnidirectional source out of science fiction; great for lighting everything and everybody evenly, but unrealistic and DULL. Look at the shadows as Beryl Reid ('George') enters the apartment building and climbs the stairs, or in some of the bedroom scenes. Apart from its other many virtues, this movie held my attention as a fine piece of film-making.
All in all, a masterpiece; my one regret is that it was shown on TV in pan-and-scan. It IS now available in DVD - in several formats & regions - so I look forward to watching it again in its original form.
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