A Taste of Honey (1961)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Shelagh Delaney (play)
Shelagh Delaney (writer) ...

Release Date:

30 April 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The prize winning comedy-drama of a young girl's passionate love for life!...

Plot:

The moving story of a plain young girl who becomes pregnant by a black sailor, befriends a homosexual, and gradually becomes a woman.

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Pregnant Teenager | Class | Gay Interest | Black Boyfriend White Girlfriend

Awards:

Won 4 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Dora Bryan	...	Helen
Robert Stephens	...	Peter Smith
Rita Tushingham	...	Jo [Josephine]
Murray Melvin	...	Geoffrey Ingham
Paul Danquah	...	Jimmy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Bilton	...	Landlord
Eunice Black	...	Schoolteacher
David Boliver	...	Bert
Margo Cunningham	...	Landlady
A. Goodman	...	Rag and Bone Man
John Harrison	...	Cave Attendant
Veronica Howard	...	Gladys
Moira Kaye	...	Doris
Graham Roberts
Valerie Scarden	...	Woman in Shoe Shop
Rosalie Scase	...	Nurse
Herbert Smith	...	Shoe Store Proprietor
Jack Yarker	...	Ship's Mate

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Barton Swing Bridge, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

Despite winning Best Actor (Murray Melvin) and Best Actress (Rita Tushingham) prizes at Cannes, Dora Bryan and Tushingham went unrecognized and were barred from the film's celebration party until film critic Alexander Walker spotted them outside and was able to get them in.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The scene where Jo says goodbye to Jimmy for the last time is shot at Barton Swing Bridge, on the Manchester Ship Canal. Jimmy walks through the closing barriers to the end of the bridge and is next seen on the ship. But there isn't a way for Jimmy to get off the bridge and onto the ship as the far end of the bridge hangs over the canal. Jimmy would have had to fall 15 feet while leaping around 20-30 feet to make it to the deck of the ship. Quite an achievement in those boots.

Quotes:

Jo: I feel like throwing myself in the river.
Geoffrey: I shouldn't do that, it's full of rubbish.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

On a Mountain Stands a Lady

A poignant, delicately powerful gem of a movie!

This offbeat film is funny, tragic, and all the stops in between...and if Rita Tushingham, as the teenaged heroine "Jo", is the movie's heart, its soul is Murray Melvin, whose subtle but searing performance as her friend "Geoff" is one of the greatest on film (it deservedly won him the Cannes Film Festival's "Palme d'Or").

Most of the musical score may sound odd to American ears (I believe it reflects the instrumental music that actually accompanied the stage play from which this film is adapted), but the chorus of lilting children's voices, singing a traditional song, that is heard over the movie's opening and closing sequences, is extremely effective.