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A Taste of Honey |
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A Taste of Honey - 1961 | 100 mins | Drama | B&WThe Production TeamDirector: Tony
Richardson Producer: Tony Richardson. Script: Shelagh Delaney and Tony Richardson. (from the play by Shelagh Delaney) Cinematography: Walter Lassally. Editing: Antony Gibbs. Production Design: Ralph W. Brinton. Costume Design: Sophie Devine, Barbara Gillett and Sophie Harris. Sound Department: Don Challis, Roy Hyde and Charles Poulton. Original Music: John Addison. |
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The CastRita Tushingham - Jo Robert Stephens - Peter Dora Bryan - Helen Murray Melvin - Geoffrey Paul Danquah - Jimmy Margo Cunningham - Landlady |
Plot SynopsisThis powerful drama was adapted for the screen by director Tony Richardson from the acclaimed ‘kitchen sink’ stage play A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney. Rita Tushingham won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her sensitive portrayal of Jo. Jo (Rita Tushingham) is the teenage daughter of a promiscuous, alcoholic mother, Helen (Dora Bryan), together they spend their time drifting through various bed sits. When Helen and her latest boyfriend Peter (Robert Stephens) take a brief holiday at the seaside town of Blackpool, Jo finds herself unwanted and wanders around the docks and meets Jimmy (Paul Danquah). Jimmy is a black sailor on brief shore leave, Jo spends the night with him before he sets sail the following morning. Jo arrives home later and discovers that her mother and Peter have impetuously married, and that Jo must find a room of her own. Jo gains a job working in a shoe store and meets shop assistant Geoffrey (Murray Melvin), a sensitive homosexual who needs a place to stay. The price of a flat proves too much for Jo alone, so she allows him to be her roommate. Geoff and Jo are both lost souls and find perfect company with each other. Jo soon realises that she's pregnant due to her casual affair with Jimmy, Geoffrey is elated at the thought of the baby and plunges himself into the role of surrogate father to the child. He knits baby clothes, tidies up the residence to await the birth of the child and even offers to marry Jo so the unborn child will have a name. Jo declines and becomes increasingly depressed. Geoffrey is worried about her condition and tells her mother what's happening, but Helen couldn't care less - until her new husband abandons her. With no place else to go, Helen moves in with Geoffrey and Jo. It isn't long before Jo’s hateful mother asserts herself and, over her daughter’s protests, tosses Geoffrey back out on the street. |
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