MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 2,111 this week

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

 -  Biography | Drama  -  8 May 1987 (USA)
7.1
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.1/10 from 3,189 users  
Reviews: 23 user | 20 critic

This film is the story of the spectacular life and violent death of British playwright Joe Orton. In his teens, Orton is befriended by the older, more reserved Kenneth Halliwell, and while ... See full summary »

Director:

Writers:

, (book)
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 742 titles created 11 months ago
 
a list of 237 titles created 14 Apr 2011
 
a list of 46 titles created 2 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Prick Up Your Ears (1987) on IMDb 7.1/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Prick Up Your Ears.
Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A film about the life and career of the eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Director: Milos Forman
Stars: Jim Carrey, Gerry Becker, Greyson Erik Pendry
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Stars: Chris Ambrose, Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar
Ed Wood (1994)
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The mostly true story of the legendary director of awful movies and his strange group of friends and actors.

Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

The story of the twilight years of tobacco billionairness Doris Duke and her relationship with her gay butler, to whom she left her entire fortune.

Director: Bob Balaban
Stars: Susan Sarandon, Ralph Fiennes, Peter Asher
Caro diario (1993)
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Nanni Moretti directs himself playing himself in this wry look at life. Presented in three chapters, Moretti uses the experiences of traveling on his motor-scooter, cruising with his friend... See full summary »

Director: Nanni Moretti
Stars: Nanni Moretti, Giovanna Bozzolo, Sebastiano Nardone
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

Late on Guy Fawkes Day, 1892, Oscar Wilde arrives at a high-class brothel where a surprise awaits: a staging of his play "Salome," with parts played by prostitutes, Wilde's host, his lover ... See full summary »

Director: Ken Russell
Stars: Glenda Jackson, Stratford Johns, Nickolas Grace
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A single mother, with dreams of becoming a writer, has a son at the age of 15 in 1965, and goes through a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father.

Director: Penny Marshall
Stars: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Adam Garcia
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A meditation on power and the metaphor of the body of state, based on the real episode of dementia experienced by George III [now suspected a victim of porphyria, a blood disorder]. As he ... See full summary »

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Stars: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Stars: Steve Coogan, John Thomson, Paul Popplewell
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

The life and times of Quentin Crisp, an outrageous and flamboyant homosexual, coming of age and growing into old age in conservative England.

Director: Jack Gold
Stars: John Hurt, Liz Gebhardt, Patricia Hodge
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

After Gilbert and Sullivan's latest play is critically panned, the frustrated team threatens to disband until it is inspired to write the masterpiece "The Mikado."

Director: Mike Leigh
Stars: Allan Corduner, Dexter Fletcher, Sukie Smith
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed.

Director: Mike Leigh
Stars: Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Brenda Blethyn
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
Peggy Ramsay
...
Leonie Orton
Janet Dale ...
Mrs. Sugden
...
Elsie Orton
Bert Parnaby ...
The Magistrate
...
Madame Lambert
...
Anthea Lahr
...
John Lahr
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simon Adams ...
Undertaker's Boy
Dave Atkins ...
Mr. Sugden
John Bailey ...
Wigmaker
Stephen Bill ...
George Barnett
Jane Blackburn ...
1st Woman in Gallery
Edit

Storyline

This film is the story of the spectacular life and violent death of British playwright Joe Orton. In his teens, Orton is befriended by the older, more reserved Kenneth Halliwell, and while the two begin a relationship, it's fairly obvious that it's not all about sex. Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms; Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, doesn't fare so well in those environs. While both long to become writers, it is Orton who achieves fame - his plays "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "Loot" become huge hits in London of the sixties, and he's even commissioned to write a screenplay for the Beatles. But Orton's success takes him farther from Halliwell, whose response ended both his life and the life of the up-and-coming playwright. Written by Gary Dickerson <slug@mail.utexas.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

playwright | death | writer | love | sex | See more »

Taglines:

They shared everything - except success.

Genres:

Biography | Drama

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

8 May 1987 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Ciuliti-va urechile  »

Box Office

Gross:

$1,654,743 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The interior (certainly not the exterior as the real house is mid-terraced) of Joe and Ken's flat was filmed in the actual flat where Orton and Halliwell lived (25 Noel Road). However, the murder at the end is filmed on a studio set. See more »

Quotes

Kenneth Halliwell: Do you want the sardines with the rice pudding or separate?
Joe Orton: With.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Prick Up Your Ears (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

"A Day in the Life"
(uncredited)
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

A Great Combination Between Alfred Molina and Gary Oldman
17 August 1999 | by (Leicester, England) – See all my reviews

Its films like these that make you wonder why stars like Gary Oldman(Immortal Beloved) and Alfred Molina(Boogie Nights) aren't noticed as much as the awful actors that plague our screens(see Mark Wahlberg or Ray Liotta).

Prick Up Your Ears is a wonderful film about the writer Joe Orton(Oldman) and his lover Kenneth(Molina). The dialogue is smart and the acting is incredible. Rating=4/5

In addition, I would just like to say that teenagers can enjoy decent films. I was twelve when I watched this, and I found it amazing. Its the film that sparked off my fascination with Gary Oldman films.


14 of 21 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
*falls over* Scarlett_Avenger
Why No Kenneth Williams? scarlet1881
Joe Orton rahrare
Gary Oldman's Ass jrswing80
violence etc. bunglelivesinwoolpit
Prick in your endo imothepixie
Discuss Prick Up Your Ears (1987) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?