A taste of honey, a 1961 film adaptation of the play. A taste of honey was adapted as a film in 1961, earning popular success and a number of critical awards. Jo rita tushingham is an uneducated white slum dweller from the northern industrial city of manchester. Tushingham and melvin won best actress and actor at the 1962 cannes film festival.
Set against a gritty backdrop of the northern england of the 1950s this is a story of relationships and lost hopes, exploring issues that remain topical. A taste of honey is a 1961 british film adaptation of the play of the same name by shelagh delaney. She is known for her starring roles in films including a taste of honey 1961, the leather boys 1964, the knack and how to get it 1965, doctor zhivago 1965, and smashing time 1967. Directed by 1 writing credits 3 cast 22 produced by 1 music by 1 cinematography by 1 film editing by 1 art direction by 1 makeup department 2 production management 2 second unit director or assistant director 3 art department 2. This interview is from the 1962 cannes film festival and has director tony. A taste of honey 1961 is one of the most poignant of the entire genre and unusually features a young woman, jo, as its central character and introduced rita tushingham in her first film role. A taste of honey, london, may 1958 stage the guardian. Italy 26 august 1962 venice film festival italy 7 september 1962. Shelagh delaney was only 19 when she wrote the original play on which a taste of honey is based, and its her brilliant words plus characters who are easy to warm to that make this such a memorable film. If the thendaring subject matter suggests an issueled drama urging moral tolerance, director tony richardsons treatment is more a matter of poetic realism, highlighting sensitive changes of mood and emotion against a backdrop of. A taste of honey criterion collection 4k mastering.
The film was opened out from the play, through richardson and cinematographer walter lassallys impressionistic use of industrial landscapes the canals and backstreets of salford take. Its components are excellent and yet the film as a whole is uninteresting. The revolutionary british new wave films of the early 1960s were celebrated for their uncompromising depictions of workingclass lives and relations between the sexes. A taste of honey 1961, directed by tony richardson, is a key. The movie a taste of honey is based on the original broadway stage play written by shelagh delaney. A taste of honey, british film, released in 1961, that is often cited as a classic example of the socially conscious and realistic angry young man dramas that appeared in britain in the postworld war ii era.
Melvin went on to play his role of geoffrey in the film of a taste of honey, directed by tony richardson 1961. Aug 23, 2016 i n 1961, when he made the wonderfully fresh a taste of honey, tony richardson was still in his early thirties but was already a major force in both cinema and theater in britain. It was initially intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise british theatre and to address social issues that she felt were not being presented. A taste of honey 1961 movies, tv, celebs, and more. Director richardson, who was nominated for best director at cannes for this movie, was on a real roll at this time in his career. With rita tushingham, dora bryan, robert stephens, murray melvin. A taste of honey was the first play by then18yearold shelagh delaney, with whom richardson also wrote the screenplay. A taste of honey is a pop standard written by bobby scott and ric marlow.
The film stars rita tushingham, robert stephens, dora bryan, murray melvin, and paul danquah. A taste of honey this is a key movie in the british new wave that followed the free cinema movement, says philip french. A sensitive cinematic look at the life of a working class english. Rita tushingham born 14 march 1942 is an english actress. Rita tushingham arrived as an underdog star with a taste of honey, an early tony richardson film about an adrift teen girl.
France 10 may 1962 cannes film festival czechoslovakia june 1962 karlovy vary international film festival finland 1 june 1962. Jo has been trailing after her mother, who shuffles between unsuitable men and flats not fit to live in, and then she gets pregnant. Rita tushingham delivers a baftawinning performance as a resilient salford schoolgirl making her way in the world in this classic of 1960s british cinema. Kenneth tynan on a taste of honey stage the guardian. Tom jones 1962, the loneliness of the long distance runner 1962, a taste of honey 1961, sanctuary 1961, the entertainer 1960, look back in anger 1959. A pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support. I n 1961, when he made the wonderfully fresh a taste of honey, tony richardson was still in his early thirties but was already a major force in both cinema and theater in britain. Teacher eunice black reading keats ode to a nightingale, then attacking pupil jo rita tushingham, who escapes and meets again sailor jimmy paul danquah, along the manchester ship canal, in tony richardsons a taste of honey, 1962.
Directed by 1 writing credits 3 cast 22 produced by 1 music by 1 cinematography by 1 film editing by 1 art direction by 1 makeup department 2 production management 2 second unit director or assistant director 3. A girl gets pregnant by a sailor and finds comfort with a homosexual friend. A taste of honey is a 1961 british film adaptation of the play of the same name by shelagh. The revolutionary british new wave films of the early 1960s were celebrated for their uncompromising depictions of workingclass lives and relations between. The free cinema movement was a rough cinematic parallel to the. A taste of honey, a japanese television drama series. A taste of honey is the first play by the british dramatist shelagh delaney, written when she was 19. Directed by tony richardson, a leading light of that movement, and based on one of the most controversial plays of its time, a taste of honey features rita tushingham in her starmaking debut role as a disaffected teenager. Both the original and a later recording by herb alpert in 1965 earned the song four grammy awards. It stands apart from the others in another respect its more anguished than angry as it recounts the stormtossed emotions of its central character, jo, a teenaged schoolgirl who lives in salford next stop down from. Rita tushingham and dora bryan are magnificent as jo and her mother helen.
A taste of honey 1961 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. A taste of honey, a 2016 lgbt fantasy romance novella by kai ashante wilson. Overview of a taste of honey, 1962, directed by tony richardson, with dora bryan, rita tushingham, robert stephens, at turner classic movies. A taste of honey is a film programme that first aired in 1961 and has been classified a 15 certificate. A taste of honey, tart and lively around the edges and bitter at the core, is richardsons best film to date. When he later leaves her, she plans to raise the child with her gay best friend. Rita tushingham was born in liverpool on march 14, 1942, and did her professional apprenticeship with the liverpool playhouse. A taste of honey 1961, on dvd, with dora bryan, robert stephens, rita. Karel reisz, 1960 and its impact on british screens. A taste of honey is a play written by shelagh delaney a taste of honey or taste of honey may refer to. Tony richardsons film of shelagh delaneys play was a critical and commercial success, following hard on the heels of saturday night and sunday morning d. Shelagh delaneys a taste of honey brings real rage to the theatre royal, stratford east, on may 27 1958 samantha ellis wed 10 sep 2003 09. Tony richardson is a terrific director, who is able to pace the film perfectly and draw wonderful performances out of his actors. Cinema retro writer david savage revisits a key film from britains golden age of.
It is an exemplar of a gritty genre of british film that has come to be called kitchen sink realism. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. It was originally an instrumental track or recurring theme written for the 1960 broadway version of the 1958 british play a taste of honey which was also made into the film of the same name in 1961. An excellent social commentary this film was the winner of a number of awards the year of its release. A pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her. The film was wildly daring for its day, a fact that is liable to be lost on younger audiences. An unidentified man joins rita and dora at the 1962 cannes film festival. Made in 1961, a taste of honey tells the story of a working class salford schoolgirl who meets, falls in love with, and falls pregnant to, a black british sailor. Discover what genre a taste of honey, 1962, directed by tony richardson, with dora bryan, rita tushingham, robert stephens, belongs at turner classic movies. The realistic, adult movie often means the movie in which the hero is. After a stellar career in student drama at oxford, he had joined the bbc, but he was soon also writing film criticism and, in 1956, was one of the founders, along with karel reisz and lindsay anderson, of the free. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto. A taste of honey was certainly a milestone in filmmaking back in the early.
After a stellar career in student drama at oxford, he had joined the bbc, but he was soon also writing film criticism and, in 1956, was one of the founders, along. This was rightly called kitchen sink realism at the time. Not rated 1h 41min drama 30 april 1962 usa a taste of honey poster. A taste of honey is tony richardsons 1961 film about the lives of the british working class. Delaney wrote the screenplay, aided by director tony richardson, who had directed the play on the stage. It is an exemplar of a gritty genre of british film that has come to be called kitchen sink realism the film opened on 15 september 1961 at the leicester square theatre in londons west end. Audio interview with director and coscreenwriter tony richardson, conducted by film critic gideon bachmann at the 1962 cannes film festival. The prize winning comedydrama of a young girls passionate love for life focuses on a working class girl who is struggling to create a life for herself with her gay coworker after becoming pregnant from a onenight stand with a black sailor. New interview with kate dorney, curator of modern and contemporary theater at the victoria and albert museum in london, about a. The film was opened out from the play, through richardson and cinematographer walter lassallys impressionistic use of industrial. Jo is the central character in richardsons 1961 film, a taste of honey, based. In february 1959, a taste of honey opened at the wyndhams theatre and transferred to the criterion some six months later. British identity a taste of honey 1961 film youtube.