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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: A Taste of Honey (1961)

 

In honor of Shelagh Delaney, the playwright who passed away last week, this week’s selection is the film adaptation of her most popular work, A Taste of Honey – a play she wrote at the age of 18.

The movie took a look at an England that stood on the precipice of social and sexual change. It was directed by Tony Richardson and starred Rita Tushingham in her feature film debut. She would later star in other films such as The Girl With Green Eyes. This film is also one of a spate of British films made during this time that focused on the world of England’s working classes in a realistic, straightforward way.

While A Taste of Honey may not be considered overlooked in its home territory, it may not have the same recognition to American audiences, especially those of my age. In very much the same way that The White Bus (also based on a Delaney work) looked the England post-WWII, post-industrial, working class life (but from a surrealistic perspective), A Taste of Honey has a gloomy, bleak environment. A Taste of Honey is a bit more personal and grounded in its look at the life of teenager Jo (Tushingham) – a life that is seemingly as glum as her surroundings. Her unstable life is primarily dominated by her absent mother, who is often absent because she is off with her man of the moment.

Jo eventually befriends and ultimately has a brief interlude with a black sailor, which results in an unplanned pregnancy. She also strikes out on her own and shares a flat with a gay design student.

Despite this murky, setting and themes, I felt this was quite an entertaining film, mainly on the strength of Ruth Tushingham’s performance.

* Be sure to visit Todd’s blog, Sweet Freedom for more overlooked selections residing out in the blogosphere.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Gaslight (1940)

For this week’s selection of the ongoing series from Todd Mason at Sweet Freedom, I have chosen the British thriller Gaslight from 1940.

The film is based on the play Gas Light / Angel Street (in the United States) by Patrick Hamilton. It is also the film that caught the attention of Hollywood studio MGM, who made the picture 4 years later with director George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury. In fact, according to reports at the time, MGM attempted (unsuccessfully, obviously) to get all negatives of the original version destroyed, for fear that it would compete with their bigger budget adaptation.

While I did enjoy the MGM production, I feel that the British version also has a lot going for it. For one, it is not as melodramatic as the American version. There is a coldness, sterility and greater sense of peril present in this version; especially in the way the actors interpreted their roles. I pay particular notice of the portrayal of Paul/Gregory (Anton Walbrook and Boyer, respectively) and my response to them and their actions. When the big “reveal” happens, I found myself not as surprised that Boyer’s character could go to such lengths – in fact I do not see Boyer batting not giving his action a second thought. But in the case of Anton Walbrook, it is made all the more surprising.

*While this article is not entirely dedicated to an analysis of Gaslight, it provides a solid background to the film.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Whip It (2009)

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut is very much how I see her – quirky, a bit rough around the edges, but at the end of the day a very fun experience. I really enjoyed this film and was disappointed that this film was not more commercially successful.

Whip It is the tale of a Texas teenager who shirks the beauty-pageant influence of an overbearing mother (Marcia Gay Harden) and goes on another course – a roller derby course, to be exact. There is much more to the story, specifically dealing with the cascading effect of Bliss’ joining the Hurl Scouts and what it means for her family relationships, friendships and potential love interests.

Of course much of the credit for making this a good viewing experience goes to Ellen Page, who seems to have the knack for playing fish out of water parts with a charm that is both grounded and endearing.

The cast also features a pre-Bridesmaids Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Eve, Daniel Stern and Juliette Lewis as leader of the rival roller derby team.

Another thing that I like about the film is in spite of it being set in the present, it has that nostalgic, 70’s feel to it. I think that this is due in part to the grain in which the film is shot. On a personal note, when I think of roller derbies, I think of the 1970’s for some reason. So maybe that mental association is at work in this instance.

In the end, this film clearly demonstrates the potential Drew Barrymore has a director. Hopefully in the future, she will continue to choose and direct projects as fun, inspiring and entertaining as this one.

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