A Taste of Honey (1961)

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 | Unwed Pregnancy | Interracial Relationship | Expectant Mother | Pregnant Teenager

Awards:

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

Cast

  (Complete credited 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:

Hazel Blears, who later became a member of the UK parliament and a minister in Tony Blair's government, appears in the film as a 5-year-old urchin along with her brother. She can be seen wearing a tartan skirt and playing with a ball during the films opening credits.

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 hope to be dead and buried by the time I reach your age. Just think you've been living for forty years.
Helen: I know, I must be a biological phenomenon.
Jo: You don't look forty. You look a sort of well-preserved sixty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Big Ship Sails

Body language says more than words

There are several aspects about this film that I find absolutely clever. First, the way of representing characters' feelings through acting rather than speaking. Helen, Jo or Geoffey's faces give away more than they could say. Helen is a masterpiece of selfishness only by looking at the way she puts on lipstick or combs her hair or lits a cigarette. She's so self-concerned, she never allows Jo into her own body space. At the same time Jo becomes more and more despondent, tragically aware of her mother's lack of love (the acme when she throws away Peter's chocs in Blackpool) and her bent shoulders speak out for her. She carries the weight of being unwanted. Then, the dialogues never convey a proper explanation of things; the characters never explain themselves clearly or are able to articulate a description, crying out for their own feelings. The people in this film don't even know theirs, they haven't got the means to express them and it's up to the watchers to understand everything. Probably that's why I felt so overwhelmed while watching it. I really felt the public was called to read through the lines of such a powerful representation of life.