Brimstone & Treacle (1982)

A strange young man has a sinister effect on the family of a middle-aged writer.

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers:

Dennis Potter (play), Dennis Potter (screenplay)

Stars:

Sting, Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sting	...	Martin Taylor
Denholm Elliott	...	Tom Bates
Joan Plowright	...	Norma Bates
Suzanna Hamilton	...	Patricia Bates
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Businessman
Dudley Sutton	...	Stroller
Mary MacLeod	...	Valerie Holdsworth
Tim Preece	...	Clergyman
Elizabeth Bradley	...	Woman Passer By
Hugh Walters	...	Man
Christopher Fairbanks	...	Drunk

Storyline

Brimstone and Treacle is a modern gothic tale about the evil that men do and the price that must be paid to make things right. The film, a remake of a 1976 teleplay that included Denholm Elliot in its original cast as Mr. Bates, the film also included an incredibly cool soundtrack of songs by artists like The Go-Go's, The Police, Squeeze and an irreverently stylish 1930's little diddy called "Spread A Little Happiness", performed by Sting by himself.

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Plot Keywords:

daughter | guilt | sex | remake | invalid | 

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Taglines:

An intriguing fantasy of angelic innocence and devilish passion.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brimstone

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Namara Films, Pennies From Heaven Ltd., Sherwood Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was not a box-office success. It only ended up being profitable because soundtrack sales and video rentals did well.

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Quotes

Tom Bates: Miss Holdsworth, raise your skirt please.

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Crazy Credits

End credits are listed on turning pages of a book.

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Connections

Referenced in The Passion: Films, Faith & Fury (2006)

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Soundtracks

"A Kind of Loving"
(uncredited)
Performed by The Police

User Reviews

worth watching,forget the musical element

Dennis Potter never made a drama that never had a point,its just that his work was so deep the point of his dramas wasn't always obvious,in fact you felt you needed a high IQ level to get your head around his work.The important message of this film is that we shouldn't always be so trusting towards strangers,especially ones who seem so angelic they may have ulterior motives and in this case he did.How many cases have there been where the mentally handicapped have been abused by their carers,its not that often but its enough.Plus cases of the elderly go into nursing homes and end up being shoved about,i think he was making a very strong point.Stings character was a wolf in sheep's clothing,i think in the original version he was played by Micheal Kitchen,who i feel played the part better,the original version has only been on TV once as it had been banned,and may still be.The original version does put the point across better,i feel the remake lacks this, probably because Sting whose much more well known as a singer wasn't a good choice,it just made the film seem bizarre,people went to see this film purely to see what his acting was going to be like,so the point of the story sort of got lost.Dennis Potter was quiet ingenious, he never made a controversial film for the sake of being controversial,there was much more to him than that.Although i must admit its a pretty disturbing film,not one you would easily forget.