A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Peter Medak

Writers:

Peter Nichols (play)
Peter Nichols (screenplay)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly completely brain dead...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Alan Bates	...	Bri
Janet Suzman	...	Sheila
Peter Bowles	...	Freddie
Sheila Gish	...	Pam
Joan Hickson	...	Grace
Elizabeth Robillard	...	Jo
Murray Melvin	...	Doctor
Fanny Carby	...	Nun
Constance Chapman	...	Moonrocket Lady
Elizabeth Tyrrell	...	Midwife

Directed by
Peter Medak

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Nichols		play
Peter Nichols		screenplay

Produced by
David Deutsch	....	producer

Cinematography by
Ken Hodges

Film Editing by
Ray Lovejoy

Art Direction by
Ted Tester

Set Decoration by
Dimity Collins

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Bracknell	....	assistant director
Mike Higgins	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Stan Fiferman	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Herbert Smith	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Sue Kingsley	....	assistant editor
Noel Rogers	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Marcus Dods	....	conductor: Elgar excerpt

Production Companies

• Domino

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

USA:106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

1 Freeland Place, Hotwells, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Domino

Trivia:

Zena Walker won the 1968 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actress in a Drama for "Joe Egg" as Sheila.

Quotes:

Bri: When the kitten was born, Sheila wanted to call him Dick but I drew the line there. Well, I mean standing on the front steps late at night shouting "Dick! Dick!", I might have got killed in the rush!

This film deserves to be better known

Its such a shame that an important film like this is virtually unknown.

I don't think Alan Bates has done a better film than this.

Its never shown on television. The only time I can recall it being shown on British TV was in the summer of 1998. I have it on tape but sadly the quality isn't great due to a dodgy aerial at the time...

I remember wanting to see this film for some time before it appeared on TV. It was shown on Channel 4 in the early hours of the morning, thereby ensuring that it still remained unseen except for a very small audience.

I was living in Bristol at the time and it was ironic that, when I finally saw the film, I realised that I had walked past the VERY house where it was filmed several times before!! The film treads a fine line; a married couple attempting to make light of their tragic predicament of coping with their severely mentally handicapped daughter by laughing about it and even involving the child in their jokes.

The direction and the acting are so superb that the film is always compassionate and moving and is never in danger of lapsing into bad taste.

A couple of years ago I saw a clip of the filmed theatre production with Eddie Izzard in the role of Bri and Victoria Hamilton playing Sheila.

It showed Izzard improvising and larking about and Hamilton jokingly telling the audience to ignore him when he's being like this.

I maybe taking this out of context as I only saw a brief clip but having read the play and seen the film this is clearly such a delicate subject that such an approach is both insensitive and disrespectful.

Izzard was praised for his performance but I felt uncomfortable with what I saw.

It is perhaps surprising that such a successful play failed to find an audience when it was finally filmed.

This is one of the best British films of the 70s and hopefully it will be released on DVD one day.