Relations between Jo and her mother become further strained when her mother courts Peter Smith (Robert Stephens). A Taste of Honey gave greater complexity and depth to a literary movement that developed in England in the late 1950s called “kitchen-sink realism.” While this movement often focused on young, working-class men disillusioned with the conventions of modern society, Delaney expanded its themes to focus on women and to expose complex dynamics of class, sexuality, and race. Helen returns after leaving her lover and the future of Jo's new home is put into question. and the Terms and Policies, |, May 20, 2003 |, September 17, 2016 She makes a sexual pass at him which he fails to recognize, confirming that "it is not marrying love between us". Back at the flat, Helen informs Jo that she is going to marry Peter. |, July 31, 2019 She meets a gay textile design student, Geoffrey Ingham (Murray Melvin), and invites him to live with her. Jo faces more complications as she discovers she is pregnant, but finds support when she moves in with an odd but thoughtful gay student named Geoffrey (Murray Melvin). It is an exemplar of a gritty genre of British film that has come to be called kitchen sink realism. He gives Jo a ring which she hangs around her neck under her clothes to hide it from Helen. [There are] no weeping martyrs or brave romantic souls. Here, however, Tony Richardson has made the other decision, and successfully. |. The opening credits play over a girls game of netball in a school playground. Jo (Tushingham) isn't blessed with charm, money or good looks, and her unreliable mother (Dora Bryan) is a well-meaning but self-absorbed floozy. Delaney and Richardson also won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award. | Top Critics (6) Within a few minutes the audience learns that they have little money, living off Helen's immoral earnings—money given to her by her lovers, although she is not a true prostitute, being more of a "good time girl." We owe a debt of gratitude. A Taste of Honey - Plot summary. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. Mum brings a new man home after a night in the pub but her love life is curtailed because she has to share a bed with Jo. A Taste of Honey is a play written by Shelagh Delaney. But she also has met Geoffrey (familiar character actor Murray Melvin), a young homosexual outcast whose kind heart is just what she needs. Coming Soon. |, August 18, 2016 When she learns that the baby will be black, she loses her nerve and rushes out for a drink, even though Jo's labour pains have just begun. Helen says Geoff has just popped out. Cinemark "[6] However, Kenneth Tynan wrote, "Miss Delaney brings real people on to her stage, joking and flaring and scuffling and, eventually, out of the zest for life she gives them, surviving” ; while Lindsay Anderson in Encore called the play "a work of complete, exhilarating originality," giving "a real escape from the middlebrow, middle-class vacuum of the West End. The film was banned in several countries. [5] Together they make the workshop more liveable. At the same time Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. Within minutes of reuniting the two of them have a row - calling each other whores. The audience next sees Jo irritable and depressed by her pregnancy, with Geof patiently consoling her. Geoff leaves quietly. She scolds Jo violently for thinking of marrying so young, one of her occasional bursts of real feeling and concern for her daughter. He proposes marriage but then goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone. But they did." "A Taste of Honey" is a melancholy tale with a notably unresolved ending. Tushingham's performance and lovely, open face are still a tonic. Rejected by her mother, Jo leaves school, starts a job in a shoe shop and rents accommodation in an old workshop on her own. The chemistry between Tushingham and Danquah is not what it should be, but Bryan and Melvin are wonderful. It was written in the late 1950s when Delaney was only 18 years old. All Critics (19) All rights reserved. [16], "Bryanston Films : An Experiment in Cooperative Independent Production and Distribution", "Tony Richardson, John Osborne And Rita Tushingham", "A Taste of Honey (1962) - Full Synopsis", "Breaking Barriers: Murray Melvin on A Taste of Honey", "Screen: 'A Taste of Honey' Arrives:British Drama Stars Rita Tushingham", "Rita Tushingham on life after A Taste of Honey: 'It was a shock when the 60s ended, "BAFTA Awards British Screenplay in 1962", "BAFTA Awards Most Promising Newcomer To Leading Film Roles 1962", "BBC News | Entertainment | Best 100 British films - full list", The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Taste_of_Honey_(film)&oldid=981525558, Films whose writer won the Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 2 October 2020, at 21:00. The Boy: Also known as Jimmy, a black sailor. [7], The film won four BAFTA awards: Delaney and Richardson won Best British Screenplay,[8] and the film Best British Film. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. | Rating: 3/4 Geoffrey: An art student in his early twenties who becomes Jo's roommate and friend. "[6][7], The play was admired by Morrissey of the band The Smiths, who used Delaney's photo on the album cover artwork for Louder Than Bombs. By way of a visual backdrop to A Taste of Honey, Delaney reflected on life in Salford in a documentary, directed by Ken Russell, for BBC television's Monitor that was broadcast on 26 September 1960.[1]. Your AMC Ticket Confirmation# can be found in your order confirmation email. At this point, Helen enters. However, after a few weeks her mother reappears - by now her rocky marriage has broken down and, ever needy, she is intent on moving in with Jo and pushing out Geoff, with whom she has a shouting match. As they move into a grotty new flat after having done a flit, a young black sailor called Jimmy (Paul Danquah) sees Jo struggling with her suitcases and gives her some help. Delaney wrote the screenplay with director Tony Richardson, who had directed the play on the stage. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your email. While Bryan's character chases another cold-hearted scoundrel as a temporary husband, neglected Jo begins a sweet romance with a black sailor (Paul Danquah). Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl, and her mother, Helen, who is presented as crude and sexually indiscriminate. 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. drama, When Jo has a brief fling with a black sailor and Helen takes up with a new lover, their already tense relationship is further strained. It became known as a "kitchen sink" play, part of a genre revolutionising British theatre at the time. Alone, Jo happily hums a tune Geof sang before, still not having realised that he is gone. When Jo discovers she is pregnant by Jimmy, Geoff is supportive, even offering to marry her, saying "You need somebody to love you while you're looking for somebody to love". The City of the Future (A Cidade do Futuro), Fall TV First Look: Find Out What’s Coming, The Best Peacock Original Shows and Movies, All Upcoming Disney Movies: New Disney Live-Action, Animation, Pixar, Marvel, and More. The play was first produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a small fringe theatre in London, on 27 May 1958. Jo assumes that Helen has moved here to escape from him, but the audience is never told the reason why. The chemistry between Tushingham and Danquah is not what it should be, but Bryan and Melvin are wonderful. |, June 24, 2006 Her momentary outburst against the baby, motherhood and womanhood is short-lived, however, and she and Geof are about to have tea when Helen enters with all her luggage. The play was first produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a small fringe theatre in London, on 27 May 1958. They send Jo home alone. A Taste of Honey is set in Salford in North West England in the 1950s. Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service. Nonetheless he asks Helen to marry him, first half-jokingly, then more or less in earnest. That Delaney was only a child (19) herself when she wrote this, a calm reply to the theatrical pretensions of the day, only underlines the veracity of her insights, particularly how much denial plays a significant part in the doldrums of society. After Helen and Peter leave her on her own for Christmas, Jo weeps and is consoled by her boyfriend. Jo and Geof seem happy. [9] Bryan won Best Actress[10] and Tushingham was named Most Promising Newcomer. I LOVE Rita Tushingham! This, of course, is what a film ought to make you feel: that it was conceived in cinematic terms. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, 9 Pioneering Hispanic Women Filmmakers From the Earliest Days of the Movies. [A Taste of Honey] has an earthy gusto and sincerity that lift its somewhat downbeat theme and drab surroundings. The narrative is fairly empty which made me feel like it was far too long and at times the acting isn't so great however overall I'd recommend it. The camera can emphasize and select in a way a stage production can't, and this can make something quite different, and also authentically "cinematic." When Jo wakes up, she finds Geoff has gone: she goes outside in the hope of catching him before he has properly left, but sees only her mother, returning from the off licence with some bottles of beer. To get rid of Geof, she behaves rudely to him, while overwhelming Jo with advice and presents. In the next scene, Jo is walking home in the company of her black boyfriend. Morrissey's lyrics include other borrowings from Delaney, such as "river the colour of lead" and "I'm not happy and I'm not sad", both of which are spoken by the lead character Jo. The film opened on 15 September 1961 at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End.[3]. Jo tells him that she is really leaving school and is going to start a part-time job in a pub. After this conversation, Peter (Helen's younger boyfriend) comes in. Jo (Rita Tushingham) in A Taste of Honey (1961) I've always been a sucker for kitchen sink drama. This turns out to be the start of a brief romantic relationship, but Jimmy's ship soon sails and they part. The production then transferred to the larger Wyndham's Thea… A pretty good film showing what life is like for a working class teenager of Britain in the 60s. Like Truffaut’s film, A Taste of Honey is about a misunderstood adolescent, is semi-autobiographical, was shot on location, and follows the hardships of growing up without the support of a family and a good group of friends. |, October 11, 2019 Apparently, she has been thrown out by Peter and now plans to stay with Jo.