The Killing of Sister George (1968)

George lives with her lover, Childie and plays a cheerful district nurse in a BBC soap opera. However, her character is to be killed off, and George realises that the only other job she can... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Frank Marcus (from the play by), Lukas Heller (screenplay)

Stars:

Beryl Reid, Susannah York, Coral Browne

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Beryl Reid	...	June Buckridge
Susannah York	...	Alice 'Childie' McNaught
Coral Browne	...	Mercy Croft
Ronald Fraser	...	Leo Lockhart
Patricia Medina	...	Betty Thaxter
Hugh Paddick	...	Freddie
Cyril Delevanti	...	Ted Baker
Sivi Aberg	...	Diana
William Beckley	...	Floor Manager
Elaine Church	...	Marlene
Brendan Dillon	...	Bert Turner
Mike Freeman	...	Noel
Maggie Paige	...	Maid
Jack Raine	...	Deputy Commissioner
Dolly Taylor	...	Tea Lady

Storyline

George lives with her lover, Childie and plays a cheerful district nurse in a BBC soap opera. However, her character is to be killed off, and George realises that the only other job she can get is the voice of a cow in a children's tv programme. Her life begins to fall apart as Childie has an affair with a predatory tv producer.

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Plot Keywords:

soap opera | dolls | lesbian | actress | box office flop | 

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Taglines:

The story of three consenting adults in the privacy of their own home.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

X

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

3 gynaikes me diko tous erota

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures (I), Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When first submitted in 1969 UK censor John Trevelyan refused to grant a certificate unless the seduction scene was toned down and urged all 600 local authorities to boycott the film. 12 councils, including the GLC, overrode him and showed the film with their own X certificate. After heated discussions with the distributor the kissing scene was slightly reduced and Trevelyan eventually passed the movie. All video/DVD versions of the film are the original uncut one.

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Quotes

Betty Thaxter: What's one looking for then, love and affection?
George: I suppose you could put it like that, yes.
Betty Thaxter: Oh. I think I need a drink now.

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, the picture distractingly flips from left to right as the main character travels through claustrophobia-inducing alleyways.

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Connections

Featured in Vito (2011)

User Reviews

A beautiful movie in every way

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.