 |
| Title: THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE Year: 1968 Rating: *** |
After director Robert Aldrich exploded with THE DIRTY DOZEN he returned to an independent style melodrama in the fashion of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE although THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE is really a hybrid of STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and DEATH OF A SALESMAN but in this case the saleswoman's an actress fearing the possible death of her fictional character from a long-running British soap, and it all sounds like Aldrich's BIG KNIFE style parody of insider's show business...
Yet most of SISTER GEORGE centers on a gorgeous blonde childlike, doll-collecting Susannah York, the titular starlet's lover, and their bickering, apartment-dwelling scenes, ranging from the middle-aged has-been played by middle-aged firebrand Beryl Reid, wielding mind games, making her lover literally eat cigar tips or threatening to behead one of her beloved antique dolls...
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
Yet with all her selfish venom, Reid brings enough sympathy to the role, one she transferred second-nature from the stage.. Even the people in her life call her "George" instead of June Buckridge...
But her real name that hardly matters being so immersed in her day-job that she fears losing, providing anticipatory suspense through the "kitchen sink" dramatics...
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE with Coral Browne |
But the sexiest, most provocative scenes occur without "George" around at all... towards the end when blunt and initially seemingly straight studio agent Coral Browne seduces Susannah York's vulnerable, fitfully nicknamed 'Childie' (who she had hear eyes on all along) in a lesbian sex scene that caused Aldrich's stock composer to Frank DeVol to quit, replaced by Gerald Fried, veteran of early Kubrick films and probably inclined to more art-house ventures...
Yet KILLING goes beyond pushing the envelope, and would have made a more legendary mark in gay/lesbian cinema had it been less stagey and not so tremendously overlong.
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE with Beryl Reid
|
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
Sivi Aberg in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE and some fat guy
|
 |
| Beryl Reid in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Beryl Reid in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York peaks into THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Beryl Reid on the show within the show in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE with Coral Browne and Beryl Reid
|
 |
| Beryl Reid in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE with Coral Browne |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE with Coral Browne |
 |
| Susannah York with near-future lover Colar Browne in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
 |
| Susannah York in THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE |
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garr...
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
Cornelia Sharpe in BUSTING Year: 1974 Rating: **** Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, makin...
Mary-Louise Weller in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE ANIMAL HOUSE, directed by John Landis and produced by Ivan Reitman, stars John Be...
Kerri Green and John Candy in SUMMER RENTAL Year: 1985 John Candy, in his first leading role, plays a burnt-out air traffic controller ...
Robyn Hilton on STARSKY AND HUTCH Model/Actress ROBYN HILTON played Mel Brook's secretary in BLAZING SADDLES and turns up in an epis...
Robyn Hilton in Video Vixens the same year as Blazing Saddles: 1974 The Anthology of Comedic Parodies, already done in several Woody All...
CADDDYSHACK is best known for the iconic leading actors: Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray, but originally the ...
Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.