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Georgy Girl Reviews

Even that sense of discomfort, of puzzlement, evaporates, because it is all made trivial -- Georgy’s pain as well as her bright remarks.

Full Review | Sep 19, 2023

Georgy Girl is from the life's-a-giggle school of comedy, and Lynn Redgrave larks about non-stop, exhibiting a talent for mimicry with overtones of Joyce Grenfell.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2019

A charming comedy reflecting the mores of the 1960s swinging London, Georgy Girl has not dated particularly well, but the acting is good, particularly Lynn Redgrave in the lead and James Mason in the supporting role.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 1, 2011

An empty film posing as something more substantial.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 25, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 30, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 27, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 13, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 30, 2003

Classic British Invasion flick with a slightly sour tone.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 16, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 22, 2002

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 26, 2002

Kinetic direction, crisp black and white photography, pop music, urban realism, social issues, and contemporary attitudes towards sex

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

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Georgy Girl

The role of a gawky ungainly plain Jane [in this adaptation of the novel by Margaret Forster] is a natural for Lynn Redgrave's talents, and she frequently overwhelms her costars by sheer force of personality.

By Variety Staff

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The role of a gawky ungainly plain Jane [in this adaptation of the novel by Margaret Forster] is a natural for Lynn Redgrave ‘s talents, and she frequently overwhelms her costars by sheer force of personality.

She’s sharing a slovenly apartment with an attractive, brittle and promiscuous girl friend (Charlotte Rampling). And whenever a lover is being entertained in the communal bedroom, Redgrave takes herself off to the home of her parents’ wealthy employer. Girl friend becomes pregnant, opts for marriage instead of another abortion, but when mother-to-be is in hospital, husband (Alan Bates) realizes he chose the wrong girl.

James Mason , as the wealthy employer, attempts to adopt a father figure in relations to the girl, but is actually nothing more than a conventional old roue.

Redgrave has a pushover of a part, and never misses a trick to get that extra yock, whether it’s her first passionate encounter with Alan Bates or her fielding of Mason’s amorous overtures.

Popular on Variety

1966: Nominations: Best Actress (Lynn Redgrave), Supp. Actor (James Mason), B&W Cinematography, Song (‘Georgy Girl’)

Production: Columbia. Director Silvio Narizzano; Producer Robert A. Goldston, Otto Plaschkes; Screenplay Margaret Forster, Peter Nichols; Camera Ken Higgins; Editor John Bloom; Music Alexander Faris; Art Director Tony Woollard
Crew: (B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1966. Running time: 100 MIN.
With: James Mason Alan Bates Lynn Redgrave Charlotte Rampling Rachel Kempson Bill Owen

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Georgy girl.

Directed by Silvio Narizzano

Georgy Girl is BIG!

A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employer while attempting to please her glamorously stuck-up roommate Meredith.

Lynn Redgrave James Mason Alan Bates Charlotte Rampling Bill Owen Clare Kelly Rachel Kempson Denise Coffey Dorothy Alison Peggy Thorpe-Bates Dandy Nichols Terence Soall Jolyon Booth

Director Director

Silvio Narizzano

Producers Producers

Otto Plaschkes Robert A. Goldston George Pitcher Clive Reed

Writers Writers

Margaret Forster Peter Nichols

Original Writer Original Writer

Margaret Forster

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Kenneth Higgins

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Michael Stevenson

Art Direction Art Direction

Tony Woollard

Composers Composers

Alexander Faris Tom Springfield

Everglades Productions Columbia Pictures

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Italian English

Releases by Date

25 jun 1966, 04 aug 1966, 17 oct 1966, 24 nov 1966, 02 sep 1967, 29 sep 1967, releases by country.

Premiere Berlin International Film Festival
Theatrical 15
Theatrical R18+
Theatrical NR

99 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Sean Baker 4

I didn't know anything about this film. Indicator put out a Blu-ray so I checked it out. I was immediately enraptured by the theme song and opening title sequence. Found the film to be a very interesting character study and time capsule of London's Swinging Sixties. Love the B&W cinematography by Kenneth Higgins (The Virgin Soldiers) who unfortunately didn't shoot much in his career. All the performances are great however Charlotte Rampling steals the show for me.

Watched the Indicator Blu-ray.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Audio commentary with Diabolique magazine’s editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger • The Guardian Interview with Charlotte Rampling (2001, 59 mins): an archival audio recording of a career-spanning interview conducted by Christopher Cook at London’s…

Review by Mark Cunliffe 🇵🇸 ★★★★ 7

"...Of course, if it were made now, Georgy needn’t opt for compromise, as single-parent families are much more accepted in modern society, but it’s important to remember that in the 1960s such a life was near impossible. That’s why I cannot agree with the negativity some heap upon this film. I can see why it would be more satisfying to see Georgy defy society by realising her own self-worth and maternal capabilities enough to abandon Joss, jilt Leamington and head off into the sunset with the baby, but around the corner would be the very same social workers who tore the children from Carol White’s arms in Cathy Come Home, because that’s what life was like then. By all means,…

Review by Dylan ★★★★½

A pleasant, slice-of-life look at self-discovery. Every interaction has a charming warmth that beautifully combines humor, drama, and romance, which makes the film's plot flow naturally and smoothly. Lynn Redgrave is utterly alluring as she consistently combines endearing comedic timing with witty dramatic readings to give her character likability and seamless humor. Both Alan Bates and Charlotte Rampling also manage to turn in scene stealing performances. Truly, a lovely experience.

Review by Jack Often ★★★ 2

A movie I've known about seemingly from birth thanks to the song, but had never seen. I loved Charlotte Rampling even though we're meant to hate her. Alan Bates is cute but aggravating. Lynn Redgrave as Georgy is built to be endearing but wore out her welcome for me. Mason's famous lechers and cretins precede him. The style is pleasingly loose but not that remarkable compared to what the rest of British cinema was doing at the time. I'm confounded by the attitude of the ending. Redgrave has said in an interview that she considers Georgy to be manipulative, despite her quirky wrapping. I can sort of see it but the end of the film doesn't feel premeditated to me,…

Review by Sally Jane Black

The theme song (which I have heard long before I even knew this was a movie) is so upbeat and airy that it would never have occurred to me that this is what the movie would be like. Vicious, stupid, unpleasant, the film follows the daughter of two clueless servants as she reacts to the world around her rather than engage with it. It is implied that all she wants to do is work with children and maybe have one of her own, but she never really speaks up about what she wants. Her face lights up at babies, but other than that, she's just kinda there to react to her capricious roommate (the film has a special hatred for…

Review by Mark Costello ★★★★½

There's a completely different version of Silvio Narizzano's exploration of the swinging sixties that wallows in the inherent sadness of it all...the delve into toxic relationships, be they between an older man and his desperation to sate his inappropriate sexual predilections, or they between two 'friends' whose need for the other to satisfy something in themselves leads to mental anguish and abuse...the look at the new social norms that were leading to babies being born to those little more than babes themselves and with none of the sense of responsibility that should come with parenthood...and a peek behind the curtain of the most grooviest of times, that was really only groovy for the pretty and the privileged, with everyone else…

Review by williamfaeleith ★★★★½

"Hey there, Georgy girl, Swinging down the street so fancy free, Nobody you meet could ever see The loneliness there, inside you."

That classic opening sequence through swinging London will surely have you whistling as we're introduced to big, dowdy Georgy played perfectly by Lynn Redgrave. She's a little insecure and lacking in confidence but is trying to get what she wants out of life even though it doesn't seem to value her. Her flatmate Meredith (Charlotte Rampling) is the complete opposite - slim, attractive, dressed in the latest fashions, cool and confident but is a selfish bitch. Meredith's long-term, but not exclusive, boyfriend Jos (Alan Bates) is nicer but still selfish and very randy. Her father (Bill Owen) is…

Review by Vanina ★★★

How anyone escaped the 60s with their sanity in tact I'll never know.

That song and the poster have to be the two most misleading film advertisements in existence - I was expecting this to be quite joyous but it had me desperately sad by the end.

Lynn Redgrave is fantastic as a slightly offbeat 22-year-old who is constantly overlooked in favour of her Mary Quant-clad roommate Charlotte Rampling. James Mason must have decided to just play ultra creepy guys in the later stages of his career and Alan Bates is of course beyond stunning, but also completely miscast as a vapid 60s lad. I'm a bit lost about whether this was intended as a takedown of the Swinging Sixties…

Review by phoebe 💫 ★★★½ 4

Essentially, if there’s a movie about a swinging sixties girl (with the notable exception of Darling ), I am going to completely attach my personality to them. They’re all so positive and hyper and awkward and slightly detached from what’s going on around them while still wanting very much to have fun. I love watching them run around, trying to get their lives together, especially if they’re played by Rita Tushingham or Lynn Redgrave and feature a dazzling selection of Mary Quant minidresses. There’s a bit of a dark turn in this one considering Georgy’s father’s employer has been trying to groom her for years with her dad’s knowledge (EEYIKES) but he ends up being very benign, and Georgy herself is so magnificent that you never doubt she’ll be perfectly okay.

Review by Kevin Jacobsen ★★★★

I think what she really needed was a gay best friend

Review by nora ★★★½ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

i love the kind of obnoxious mid-60s british performance/humor in this that sort of recalls HARD DAY'S NIGHT, even though i feel like at times it makes the emotional core feel more remote. however i'm dying over how THE GRADUATE seems to have ripped off the ending of this film on some level. i adore alan bates and lynn redgrave sm and i love how this is basically the swinging 60s version of a lubitsch throuple movie lol

Review by Jonathan White ★★★★½ 4

My parents, like most parents in North America, were avid watchers of The Ed Sullivan Show. One of my earliest memories was my Dad coming home from work and, ruffling my hair, and exclaiming ‘you’re starting to look like a Beatle!’ I quizzically responded in the quizzical way a four year old does …. ‘What’s a Beatle?’ My Dad came back, well, you’ll see this Sunday … they’re on the Ed Sullivan show. That Sunday my world was changed. Since that point I’d keep a keen ear peeled for when Ed mentioned that ‘here’s something for the youngsters’.

Flash forward a few years and it’s spring 1967. We had just pulled up and moved the previous summer to live in…

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Georgy Girl Review

17 Oct 1966

100 minutes

Georgy Girl

Although the swinging London scene has come to represent the popular image of 1960s Britain, the majority of people endured a far more humdrum reality. Everyday life felt more like a Wednesday Play than an Austin Powers picture and this adaptation of Margaret Foster's novel cleverly draws on contemporary movies for its tone.

In many ways, it's the female flip side of Alfie, with Georgy taking a more responsible attitude to relationships, and the suburban counterbalance to Darling, with Georgy similarly caught between an older mentor and a younger suitor who may not be as suitable as he seems. There's even a hint of A Taste of Honey and such tele-dramas as Cathy Come Home and Up the Junction in the story's discussion of gender, class and morality. Yet, James Mason's presence also draws comparisons with Lolita and Spring And Port Wine, with the latter's sense of stern patriarchy recurring in Bill Owen's martinet father.

But, regardless of its myriad influences, Georgy Girl very much has its own character, thanks to Lynn Redgrave's Oscar-nominated performance. Her good-hearted, self-doubting acceptance of everyone else's foibles and failings makes her irresistibly attractive. Yet director Silvio Narizzano never wholly demonises the other members of the central quartet, despite the seediness of Mason's machinations, the delusional hopelessness of Alan Bates's daydreams and the selfish hedonism of Charlotte Rampling's reckless response to the baby that Redgrave ends up rearing as her own.

It may have its roots firmly in the Kitchen Sink tradition, but this also reflects the social aspiration encouraged by Harold Wilson's Labour government. Consequently, it embraces the manners and mores of the celebrity set (the debuting Rampling, for example, was dressed by happening designer, Mary Quant), while also recognising the options that newly emancipated women were becoming less afraid to take. It's certainly a film long overdue reappraisal.

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Georgy Girl Reviews

1 hr 40 mins
Drama, Comedy
Watchlist Where to Watch

Best Actress nominee Lynn Redgrave stars as an unlucky-at-love Londoner who is on the horns of a dilemma when she is being pursued by her father's employer, as well as the lover of her promiscuous pregnant roommate.

A heart-tugger. Redgrave is Georgy, a chubby virgin in her early 20s suffering from a lack of self-esteem. Her parents are servants employed by Mason, a well-to-do married man who never sired any children. Through the years Mason has treated Redgrave like a daughter, but as she grows older his affection changes, and he eventually asks her to become his mistress. Rampling, Redgrave's sensual but patronizing roommate, announces she's pregnant by her new lover, Bates. Redgrave and Bates meet and fall in love, which spurs Rampling to declare she's going to give up the child for adoption. Redgrave will not hear of this and becomes the baby's surrogate mother. By picture's end, Redgrave is impaled on the horns of a dilemma: should she marry Bates, should she just keep the baby, or should she marry the conveniently widowed Mason and keep the baby? Mason is wonderful as the older man, harried by a nagging, sickly wife. Redgrave shot to stardom in this role, and rightly so. She shows her range as she grows from a self-conscious, uncertain waif to a woman with responsibilities. A charming movie that aided the careers of all concerned, GEORGY GIRL was also helped by the Oscar-nominated title song, which became a hit for the Seekers on two continents.

Georgy Girl (1966)

Directed by silvio narizzano.

AllMovie Rating 4
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Description by Wikipedia

Georgy Girl is a 1966 British film based on a novel by Margaret Forster. The film was directed by Silvio Narizzano and starred Lynn Redgrave as Georgy, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason. The movie also features the well known title song performed by The Seekers.

The plot follows the story of a virginal woman in 1960s Swinging London who is faced with a dilemma when pursued by both her father's older employer and the young lover of her promiscuous and pregnant flatmate.

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Emanuel Levy

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Georgy Girl (1966): Silvio Narizzano Oscar-Nominated Comedy, Starring Lynn Redgrave, James Mason, Alan Bates, Charlotte Rampling

In Silvio Narizzano’s charming romantic dramedy, Lynn Redgrave plays the title role, a plain and plump girl who decides to raise the illegitimate child of her roommate (played by Charlotte Rampling).

Grade: B (*** 1/2* out of *****)

Georgy Girl

For the part of “Georgy Girl,” a young woman who has just “missed” on being beautiful, the producers tried to get every girl in London, including Vanessa Redgrave, who turned it down because of other commitments.

In the process, she gains the attention of her employer (James Mason), an older, married man harried by a nagging and sickly wife, and the boyfriend of her roommate (Alan Bates).

At the time, the film, scripted by Margaret Forster and Peter Nichols (based on Forster’s novel), was considered outré and risqué due to its subject matter (the Production Code was still ruling Hollywood), but the picture has not dated particularly well.

Even so, the acting is uniformly good, and the comedy serves as a time capsule, reflecting swinging London and the changing mores, music, and fashion. This is the screen role that catapulted Lynn Redgrave to international stardom.

The melodic title song, which was nominated for an Oscar, became very popular, almost independently of the film.

“Georgy Girl” belongs to a cycle of new British films, set in swinging London, which also included “Morgan! (starring Vanessa Redgrave), “Darling” (starring Julie Christie), and “The Knack, and How to get It” (with Rita Tashingham).

Vanessa and Lynn received their first Best Actress Oscar nomination in 1966, the former for Morgan! , the latter for Georgy Girl .

The movie was a huge commercial hit–made on a low budget of $400,000, it earned $16.8 million at the global box office.

Oscar Nominations: 4

Best Actress: Lynn Redgrave

Supporting Actor: James Mason

Cinematography (black/white): Ken Higgins

Song: Georgy Girl, music by Tom Springfield, lyrics by Jim Dale

Oscar awards: None

Oscar Context

The winner of the 1966 best Actress Oscar was Elizabeth Taylor for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The Supporting Actor winner was Walter Matthau for “The Fortune Cookie.”

The Best Song Oscar went to john Barry and Don Black’s title tune from “Born Free.”

The Redgraves Acting Clan

The Redgraves represent one of England’s most renowned acting dynasties, consisting thus far of five generations of players. Sir Michael Redgrave’s grandfather and both of his parents were actors, and he was married to Rachel Kempson, known for her stage and TV work. All of Michael and Rachel’s children, Vanessa, Lynn, and Corin pursued acting careers.

On the evening of Vanessa’s birth, Michael was playing opposite Olivier in Hamlet at the Old Vic. Olivier was so excited by the event that in his curtain speech he announced: “Tonight a lovely new actress has been born. Laertes (played by Redgrave) has a daughter.” Olivier’s prophecy turned out to be self‑fulfilling, when Vanessa made her first screen appearance in “Behind the Mask,” in which she played the daughter of her real‑life father.

Talent has been in abundance in the Redgraves clan, and some of which was certified by the Academy with Oscar nominations and awards. Three family members have been nominated, beginning with Sir Michael, as Best Actor for the 1947 film version of Eugene O’Neill’s “Mourning Becomes Electra.”

The nomination of Vanessa and Lynn in the same year was taken in stride by the two sisters, who both made sure to dispel any feelings of rivalry or animosity.

Lynn told reporters: “We like each other’s work and each other as people. Vanessa takes the spotlight one week, I get it the next.” In the following decade, however, it was Vanessa who distinguished herself as a performer. Regarded as one of the best actress in the English‑speaking world, Vanessa has been nominated five times, winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1977 for Julia .

As for Lynn, after a long dry period, she bounced back with a comeback performance in “Gods and Monsters” (1998), as director James Whale’s (played by Ian McKellen) Hungarian housekeeper, for which she received a second Oscar nomination, this time around in the supporting category.

Directed by Silvio Narizzano Written by Margaret Forster, Peter Nichols, based on Georgy Girl by Margaret Forster Produced by Robert A. Goldston, Otto Plaschkes, George Pitcher (assoc. producer) Cinematography Kenneth Higgins Edited by John Bloom Music by Tom Springfield, Alexander Faris Color process Black and white

Production company: Everglades Productions

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

Release dates: October 17, 1966 (USA), October 21, 1966 (UK)

Running time: 99 minutes Budget $400,000 Box office $16.8 million

PROFESSOR / CRITIC / AUTHOR

Georgy Girl

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Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, silvio narizzano, james mason, lynn redgrave, charlotte rampling, photos & videos, technical specs.

Georgy Parkin is a plump and somewhat forlorn creature who partially disapproves of her parents working as servants in the palatial London home of middle-aged James Leamington and his ailing, forever-complaining wife. Resigned to her fate as one of life's misfits, Georgy shares a flat with a beautiful but cold and amoral violinist named Meredith, who regards Georgy as little more than an unobtrusive convenience who keeps the apartment neat and tidy. In return, Georgy is able to share vicariously in Meredith's numerous love affairs, particularly a long-standing affair with Jos, a madcap Cockney. One day, to her astonishment, Georgy is informed by Mr. Leamington that he would like her to become his mistress and that he has taken the trouble to have legal papers drawn up on their "agreement." Georgy, however, chooses to remain a virginal observer in her flat with Meredith, who reveals that she has become pregnant for the third time by Jos. On the previous occasions Meredith had undergone abortions, but this time Jos persuades her to marry him and have his child. Georgy is thrilled to stay on at the flat and keep house for them. While Meredith is at the hospital giving birth, Jos--first playfully, then seriously--seduces Georgy, and in the days that follow they live together idyllically. Consequently, when Meredith, who intends to put her unwanted baby up for adoption, learns of the love between Georgy and Jos, she gladly turns the infant over to them and blithely returns to her former life. For a time Georgy and Jos are happy, but Jos soon becomes restless and a little annoyed at Georgy's lavishing all of her love upon the baby. In an attempt to regain Georgy's undivided love, Jos takes her on a boat trip and clowns about pathetically in the hope they can recapture their lighthearted intimacy. Both realize, however, that something has gone out of their love, and when Jos eventually moves out, Georgy knows that the authorities will soon come and take her beloved baby away from her. All is not lost, however; for Mr. Leamington, whose wife has since died, comes to the rescue. If Georgy will marry him, he will adopt the child. Mr. Leamington thus wins his "Georgy Girl," and Georgy happily keeps her baby and prepares for a life of upper-class matrimonial comfort.

Clare Kelly

Rachel kempson, denise coffey, dorothy alison, peggy thorpe-bates, dandy nichols, terence soall, jolyan booth, peter allwork, alexander faris, harold fletcher, margaret forster, betty glasow, robert goldston, ken higgins, brian hunter, carl mannin, wally milner, peter nichols, george pitcher, otto plaschkes, nolan roberts, marjory sigley, tom springfield, tony woollard, photo collections.

Award Nominations

Best actress, best cinematography, best supporting actor, georgy girl - georgy girl.

Georgy Girl on DVD

Rachel kempson, 1910-2003, sir alan bates (1934-2003).

I'll tell you what this pregnancy's taught me: It's taught me to look like the back end of a bus and sit around every night with nothing to do! - Meredith

Vanessa Redgrave backed out of the role of Georgy just before shooting started. Lynn Redgrave (her sister) picked it up.

Opened in London in October 1966.

Miscellaneous Notes

Lynn Redgrave voted Best Actress of the Year (tie with Elizabeth Taylor) by the 1966 New York Film Critics Association.

The United Kingdom

Voted One of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1966 National Board of Review and the 1966 New York Times Film Critics.

Released in United States 2000

Released in United States Fall November 1966

Released in USA on video.

Released in United States 2000 (Shown in New York City (Film Forum) as part of program "The British New Wave: From Angry Young Men to Swinging London" October 27 - November 16, 2000.)

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The Stage is Yours

Georgy girl (1966) movie review.

Starring: Lynn Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates

Written by: Margaret Forster, Peter Nichols

Directed by: Silvio Narizzono

Georgy Girl tells the story of a young woman discovering her way through a sharp society. Georgy (played by Lynn Redgrave) is an innocent woman whose passion drives her to help people. Her approachable behavior allows her to become very whimsical with her actions. Her friend Meredith (played by Charlotte Rampling) is a selfish and controlling woman who takes advantage of Georgy. Her rude behavior causes her desperate husband Jos (played by Alan Bates) to become very indecisive towards her needs as he develops a liking to Georgy.

When Meredith becomes pregnant, her oblivion causes Georgy to become protective of the unborn child, as Jos convinces Georgy to be with him and raise the child together. As Georgy agrees, her love for the child increases, as she decides to do what is best for the baby.

Writers Margaret Forster and Peter Nichols create compassionate characters who are self absorbed in their pursuit to accomplish their goals. This compassion allows them to become rowdy with each other when they don’t get what they want. Director Silvio Narizzono creates a whimsical environment where the characters become skeptical of each other’s decisions. This skepticism causes them to notice their insecurities as they make an effort to focus on what is important to them.

Tuesday 21 January 2020

1960s movie: 'georgy girl'.

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is...

was part of the trend in which British cinema shifted the focus from provincial life and back to the metropolis, celebrating new freedoms and social possibilities. Narizzano, influenced by the French New Wave and his chic contemporaries Richard Lester, John Schlesinger and Tony Richardson, explored such "shocking" subjects as abortion, illegitimacy, adultery and sexual promiscuity with a light touch.”

's Obituary for director Silvio Narizzano, 2011

My sincere apologies for this way overdue review. My paid work rate suddenly flared up and we ran into Christmas and well, you know. More apologies if the ridiculous title to this review is meaningless to you. Unless you are as old as I feel, you won't know who Mary Quant is and why her clothing designs were as emblematic of the 1960s as the Beatles were. The following lyric is woven throughout my pre-teen life almost as much as the Thunderbirds' 'Dun du-du-duh' main theme. " Hey there, Georgy girl. Swinging down the street so fancy-free. Nobody you meet could ever see the loneliness there inside you… " Written by the Carry On star (and Harry Potter US audio book voice artist) Jim Dale and performed by The Seekers and sung by Judith Durham (a Jennifer Lawrence lookalike in her youth) with a near-as-damnit perfect voice, the song zoomed past 'catchy' over fifty decades ago. This is the king of the ear-worms and if the song wasn't so damn nice and folksy, I'd probably resent it but no. Its movie lyrics (carefully altered for a single release back in the day) are actually pretty dark but that melody could soften an audiobook of Mein Kampf . So it's a thrill to be finally seeing the movie it was written for and a bigger thrill to find that said movie works so well.

In the mid sixties, as London was starting to swing (whatever in God's name that meant), Georgy is a down dressing, 'plain', slightly overweight and normal young woman. She's hopelessly awkward, spends money on ridiculous hair dos that she then washes out as soon as she can find a public loo with a sink, and returning home, this dowdy Bridget Jones transforms in the company of the right people – children, natural, honest, non-judgemental children. Revelling in creative play and the abandonment of all of her insecurities, she leads a group of pre-teens in many creative exercises. If you see this scene, imagine what it would take to re-educate adults to have as much honest fun as these children are having. I think that Sir Ken Robinson was oh so right when he said that we are educated out of creativity. Google his TED talks and get great insights on education. It's clear that every one in the room is having such a great time. I knew from this early scene that I was on Georgy's side and whatever hurdles she faced, I'd be supporting her. To make matters worse, her father, who is trying hard to make his own daughter live up to his own narrow definition of womanhood, underlines Georgy's outsider status in the family. In an utterly charming and disarming moment, she undercuts his efforts and merrily takes the piss out of him with an extemporaneous medley of different tunes on the piano, a playful soundtrack to her father's pomposity. We then move through her dealings with stunning but stupefyingly selfish flat-mates, flighty boyfriends and sugar daddies until she chooses to accept herself on her own terms and gets her way, of a sort. The ending of the film is somewhat contentious but I won't be spoiling that here even though it's worth a 'sexual politics themed paragraph' all of its own.

The actors are all having a ball. There is energy in the film that the cutting maintains but with such exuberant performances, it's sometimes necessary to slow things down a bit. Lynn Redgrave winningly plays Georgy in a role that almost defined her entire career. It's a tough ask for any actor to play dowdy. The entire film of The Devil Wears Prada was almost scuppered by asking a rational audience to accept that actress Anne Hathaway was a frumpy, unattractive mess. OK, with a fully coiffured Emily Blunt playing the beauty game next to her, the filmmakers were obviously trying their best but it takes a little more than a grey pullover to mask the evident appeal of this oddly maligned actress. Redgrave, whose more famous sister was first approached to play the role, found herself personally affected by it. In the movie she shares a flat with Meredith played by a frankly stunning Charlotte Rampling (I'm smitten, apologies) in her second credited of four roles thus far in her career. She was twenty-two and again, 60's London iconography would be the poorer without her participation but I'm not sure as a professional violinist she could afford all those Mary Quant designer outfits. She is very much cast as the opposite of Redgrave's Georgy but she's also pretty nasty. A good-time girl who seems over burdened with selfishness and self-regard, she was the perfect 'Heather' of her day. In fact, she could be regarded as the original 'Heather' albeit alone in her 'Heatherness' without obsequious acolytes. In short, she's a cast iron 'not nice' person. The word almost rhymes with 'beach' but I still can't use it with any confidence despite the fact I can label a man behaving badly as a bastard without breaking a sweat. Rampling's Meredith is everything self-serving about great beauty, the absurd idea that you win a genetic lottery and so automatically have carte blanche superiority over other people's feelings and needs. The best you could say about her is that she's always honest. Post birth, she's stunningly vile about her baby and about as unpleasant as a human being can be without committing actual violence. In between the two flat sharers exists a character, Jos, (an attractive if extra-fidgety Alan Bates) whom I uncomfortably recognise as too damn close to someone I know all too well. That constant need to be the centre of attention, that inexhaustible energy and surface charm that sends him to a children's playground briefly in love with the idea of becoming a father, riding a roundabout and then sliding down a slide and as he literally falls to Earth, his reality is sharply emphasised by a short gaze into a future he suddenly re-evaluates in the blink of an eye. He sees a stern man looking on disapprovingly with two young children (expertly cast). That's not the fatherhood he's looking for.

First billed is James Mason as the businessman James Leamington with a Rolls Royce and the dubious honour of being the first on screen character to my knowledge who openly grooms a young girl with the blatant ambition of seduction. James is decades older than Georgy. He's aided in this rather sordid desire by his butler who happens to be Georgy's hypercritical father. Played by Bill Owen, a few hundred miles from his most famous character, Compo in BBC TV's comedy flagship Last of the Summer Wine , we get the sense that Georgy's father, who dotes on Mason's character (more than is psychologically good for him) is severely conflicted. He wants Georgy married off but to his older boss? Mason, who took a drop in salary because he loved the story, plays the role with his original northern accent. It's a fairly dark part to play but Mason performs it admirably. There is a sense that he's going to pay for his interest in the younger woman by having to acquiesce to her desire to be a mother to someone else's unwanted child. This is given metaphorical weight by the pram he's forced to push up a staircase, helping Georgy prepare for her new arrival and the hordes of children he tries to navigate through on another staircase as they swarm from Georgy's drama class.

The film is full of small but potent gems. Planned or not, as a funeral line of black vehicles pulls away from the church, a dog on the right of frame sits impassively in the road and despite the roar of engines and close car movement, it stays defiantly put. At a registry office, Alan Bates lets two women in and then promptly walks into the door frame, a bit of business that would have seemed like the character just showing off but it's cut away from so smartly that we might give Bates the benefit of the doubt and think this to be a genuine moment of confusion. At a few minutes over the hour, editor John Bloom experiments with intercutting ever-decreasing timings of big close ups to indicate a spiral of potential intimacy. It's extremely effective, just one of Bloom's many contributions to the film not planned in advance by the director. This is why your editor has to be your best friend if only for the length of post-production.

postscript

I recently took delivery of an entire collection of the BFI's Monthly Film Bulletin from 1965 to 1991 so it seems a crime not to look up how this august organ reacted to Georgy Girl at the time. The specific publication, costing all of two shillings (10p at the time of decimalisation) but more like £1.67 in today's value, was December's issue. Listed in the index, the film gets relegated to the 'Shorter Notices' section where a single damning paragraph (with no writer's credit) awaits your attention…

"…It proceeds in triangular** jerks from scene to scene, linked tenuously and loudly by continuous snatches of music to keep the action going. The potentially excellent cast and the promising comedienne talent of Lynn Redgrave can do little in the face of such opposition from both script and direction."

**What? No, me neither.

Nevertheless, I beg, on my humble knees, to differ.

sound and vision

Presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Georgy Girl looks solid even if its grading is not as strident with the contrast as other black and white restorations. It's also a tiny percentage softer and grainier but this again never detracts from the drama on offer. There are a few night sequences where the shadow detail is still evident, the specifics of which I may have been happy to sacrifice for a more dynamic black and white. I'm a sucker for contrast but again, it hardly mars the film.

The original mono soundtrack is rendered with great fidelity with nothing hard to discern and nothing recorded and mixed inexpertly.

There are new and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

extra features

Audio commentary with Diabolique magazine's editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger This is a terrific commentary with a more rolling political edge, one that does the film proud. Ellinger's early insight that characters are deepened in novels by their revealed inner lives and have a rough ride without that interior voice in movies is a brilliant point as it refers to all filmed books. Meredith (Charlotte Rampling) is the vilest creature despite her heavenly good looks and in the movie, she is vilified rather than understood as she may have been more on a page. It's Cordelia's path through Buffy but stopping short of showing any humanity whatsoever. Apparently, body conscious Lynn (the face of 60's Weightwatchers) wanted to become a comedian to escape her own body. Our so-named civilised society is anything but when it comes to gender expectations. Ellinger also remarks on how subversive and confrontational the film is with the throwaway but devastating line from Meredith to Jos, "Got rid of two of yours already," referring to two abortions, a line that may have slapped the 'X' certificate on the film before a square inch of flesh was revealed. Jos and his new kind of masculinity is mentioned (it was new at the time, a sort of sixties metrosexual). We get a heartfelt appreciation of Dandy Nichols (Elsie Garnett of course from the classic sitcom Til Death Do Us Part ). The news that Peter Wyngarde and Alan Bates lived together and may have been lovers was an eye-opener to me. Ellinger mentions that Georgy is far from a victim in the final moments of the film, which I will not spoil and she suggests that she may be manipulating all those concerned to get her own way. An anti-romance romance film just about sums up Ellinger's take at the end of a terrific, lively and informative commentary.

The Guardian Interview with Charlotte Rampling (2001): an archival audio recording of a career-spanning interview conducted by Christopher Cook at London's National Film Theatre (59' 56") Rampling is erudite, engaging and informative. She's certainly not too talkative, often answering questions with brief answers which allows there to be a few dead patches where the obviously smitten Christopher Cook was expecting a little more detail. Of note from the interview, Rampling talks about learning the art of being still on screen, an art that few actors have perfected. You can then channel your performance through your eyes. She talks about working with a plethora of Europe's finest directors and the best bit of advice from Dirk Bogarde (even if you're exhausted, never show it. You may be asked to do a minute's scene of a shot that will be eternal on film so you always have to be ready to shine). Rampling is not a fan of rehearsals and never done any research. She "…dares to believe it's in me… Hasn't been too bad, has it?" she says of a wonderful career. Cook is outed as a Zardoz fan and Rampling is surprised it's the one film of her career he picks. She represented Woody Allen's 'ideal woman' and found Paul Newman to be an "exquisite human being." She warmed to success indicating that a performance must have made real contact if so many people pitch up and pay for their ticket. Not a garrulous interviewee but a considered one. Swift to laugh and make fun of her image, she is nonetheless very self aware or rather aware of her gifts as an actress and as a corollary comes across as supremely self-confident. But then this could be the result of great acting.

The Tempo of the Time (2018): a new interview with author, playwright and co-screenwriter Peter Nichols (7' 14") The famed playwright of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg describes how he was brought in to rewrite the original novelist Margaret Forster's first draft. He describes the heady style of filmmaking in the mid to late sixties – fast cutting as typified by commercials and the directors who moved from advertising to features. It was a style in which 'meaning' was a difficult commodity to communicate, fun to watch but the difference between popcorn and a three course meal. Good writers like three course meals... Nichols talks about how Alan Bates and his contemporaries couldn't keep still… "It went on for about ten years, a crazy time!"

A Wonderful Sense of Freedom (2018): editor John Bloom discusses his work on the film (28' 20") It's always a thrill to hear the editor's point of view, the craftsperson that is crucial to the success of the emotional power of a film. Bloom is of course (or was as the director is alas no longer with us) the film editor of choice of Sir Richard Attenborough and edited his films Magic and Ghandi . Bloom says that the director of Georgy Girl Silvio Narizzano gave him enormous freedom. An older editor chose to take a directing opportunity, a choice that paved the way for 31 year-old Bloom to try his luck. Safe to say that the success of the film didn't do Bloom's career any damage at all. He delineates the almost forced creative marriage that exists between a director and editor and what an extraordinary marriage it can be. Having said that he grew to dislike dissolves or mixes. This is a film editor after my own heart. Bloom takes us through certain scenes and the decisions made on how they were cut. He remembers telling the producer that losing Vanessa Redgrave due to schedules and gaining sister Lynn was a blessing in disguise. I'd never realised (until Kat Ellinger's commentary and this extra) that James Mason was a northerner and could at last, use his original accent in a part. Bloom also underlines Walter Murch's dictum that continuity comes low on the importance of editorial decision-making and that emotion overrules everything. There's a heart-warming Columbia executive story and a nod to the huge technological upheaval that occurred in the late 80s that changed the way we edit forever. On his editing practice, Bloom quotes Lena Horne on her own art and craft… "I just sort of stand there and just sort of do it…" Editing is so hard to get a handle on because you cannot teach instinct. Every movie is a prototype so therefore every editor's job is utterly mysterious and instinctive. You 'feel' what's not right and almost know for certain when something works… God, I love editing. Georgy's Geography (2018): a new interview with art director Tony Woollard (3' 02") Just a short catch up chat with Georgy Girl 's BAFTA nominated art director. Woollard describes the slightly different craft of designing for a black and white or colour film and points out that his director was great to work with. This is obviously a small extract from a much longer interview presumably to be used as an extra on whatever movie Woollard worked on that's getting a Blu-ray release.

Going for a Song (2018): lyricist Jim Dale and editor John Bloom reveal the origins of Georgy Girl's famous theme song (5' 10") Editor and lyricist take us through the evolution of the king of the earworms, the main theme to Georgy Girl . It's fascinating to hear that editor John Bloom laid the main theme to Funny Girl as a temp. That main theme, mood-wise could not be further than the happy-go-lucky, whistley folk smash hit that ended up in its place. For Bloom, this must have gone from a T-bone steak to a marshmallow. But he got over his initial reluctance and was beaten into submission by its energy and outstanding popularity.

Original radio spot (00' 31") A straightforward US 30 second radio ad for the movie… "This year's Darling …" referencing the film that came a year earlier starring Julie Christie.

Original theatrical trailer (2' 32") This one's a real curio… salacious, saucy (as we Brits say) and with more than a tad of misrepresentation. Focussing on Redgrave, we fly through the film as if she was picking up and discarding partners over the trailer's running time. Charlotte Rampling gets pasted as a bad girl the moment we clap eyes on her and Alan Bates reveals his playful side stripping as he pursues Georgy through the streets and underpasses of London. I have no clue what the average punter thinks they'd be getting but the music edits in the last ten seconds are rather alarming including a lyrical spoiler of a sort.

Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material Here we find 17 black and white production stills and 2 (shown on one screen) publicity shots of Alan Bates. Then on one screen are two posters, an Italian version and a US 'quote' poster featuring pertinent lines from all sorts of glowing reviews. Finally we get the US release poster with the image of the carefree girl (I've not been able to find a photographic model of the artwork and I submit that this is not a faithful rendition of Lynn Redgrave in the part). There's a Frances Ha poster feel to the image, which I like but while Greta Gerwig just happened to be photographed in that striking pose, right arm high, left hand in skirt pocket, hair wild and right leg straining against a pencil skirt with both feet off the ground, the coloured artwork on Georgy Girl has the right mood but is it supposed to be Lynn Redgrave?

Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Leanne Weston, Howard Maxford on the film's making, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits It is with a huge smile that I find our once ace Cineoutsider reviewer Leanne Weston now contributing to the booklets of films she would have loved to have reviewed while still with Outsider. And her essay – Good Girl. Bad Luck: Gender, Morality and Performance in Georgy Girl – is a fine one. Leanne gives the context in which the film was made and puts forward the idea that Georgy and Meredith represent two extreme examples of womanhood at the time, the 'it' girl with all the social choices available to her and her dowdy flatmate destined to pick up the leftover crumbs. Leanne says that "Thematically and tonally speaking, it perhaps hasn't aged well." But I think it's been directed so artfully that those elements didn't bother me at all. Dare I say from a woman's perspective, the lens may be very different from my own. Making Georgy Girl by Howard Maxford is a deft selection of quotations from those involved in the making of the film collected in 1996 by Maxford himself. The idea that at an early screening there were no comments at all and Redgrave and Bates just left for a downcast meal is oddly touching. There are extracts from the critical response at the time and as ever, they make for hugely entertaining reading. A great booklet.

summary

A light-hearted and intelligent examination of significant human issues capturing an era that promised so much, Georgy Girl is a superior slice of sixties entertainment. There are vibrant and engaging performances with Lynn Redgrave's awkward heroine front and centre in a film that manages to air some contentious concerns that still divide people today. But it's all done so skilfully that you never get any impression that 'issues' are being raised. It's certainly one of the best of the sixties' crop. Warmly recommended.

* https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/28/silvio-narizzano-obituary

Georgy Girl

UK 1966

99 mins

Silvio Narizzano

Robert A. Goldston

Otto Plaschkes

Margaret Forster

Peter Nichols

Margaret Forster

Ken Higgins

John Bloom

Alexander Faris

Tony Woollard

James Mason

Alan Bates

Lynn Redgrave

Charlotte Rampling

Bill Owen

Clare Kelly

disc details

region ABC

1.85:1

LPCM 1.0 mono

English

English SDH

Kat Ellinger audio commentary

Guardian Interview with Charlotte Rampling

Interview with co-screenwriter Peter Nicols

Interview with editor John Bloom

Interview with art director Tony Woollard

Lyricist Jim Dale and editor John Bloom on the theme song

Radio spot

Trailer

Image gallery

Booklet

Indicator – Powerhouse Films

26 November 2018

8 January 2019

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Top Ten Lists

GEORGY GIRL

Post author: eenableadmin
Post published: August 5, 2019
Post category: Uncategorized

GEORGY GIRL ( director: Silvio Narizzano; screenwriters: novel by Margaret Forster/Margaret Forster/Peter Nichols; cinematographer: Kenneth Higgins; editor: John Bloom; music: Alexander Faris/Tom Springfield; cast: Lynn Redgrave (Georgy Parkin), Alan Bates (Jos Jones), James Mason (James Leamington), Charlotte Rampling (Meredith), Bill Owen (Ted Parkin), Clare Kelly (Doris Parkin), Rachel Kempson (Ellen Leamington); Runtime: 99; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Robert A. Goldston/Otto Plaschkes; Columbia; 1967-UK) “An empty film posing as something more substantial.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The hit theme song sung by The Seekers tells in a nutshell the whole bittersweet story of Georgy Girl. Director Silvio Narizzano (“Blue”/”Loot”/”Fanatic”) sets the comedy/drama sexual shocker in the ‘Swinging London’ of the 1960s, in the midst of the ‘Sexual Revolution.’ It’s based on the novel by Margaret Forster and cowritten by Forster and Peter Nichols. Though considered bold at the time of its theater release, by today’s standards it’s tame and outdated. Also it relies too heavily on its shocks over promiscuity, its glibness and self-professed cleverness. In reality, it’s not much more than the fashion of the day–an empty film posing as something more substantial. Thanks to the splendid performances of the stars, the comedy of manners at least still retains enough bite, charm and comedy to get over as light entertainment.

Georgy Parkin (Lynn Redgrave) is a 22-year-old kindhearted but low self-esteemed, unattractive, overweight dance teacher, who has never been kissed. She’s living with her popular bitchy attractive concert playing violinist roommate Meredith (Charlotte Rampling), who takes pleasure constantly putting her down as a loser. The amoral and cynical Meredith is an unapologetic hedonist, who doesn’t give a damn about anyone else.

The married wealthy 49-year-old employer of Georgy’s servant parents, James Leamington (James Mason), who always looked fondly with paternal interest on the servant’s daughter, suddenly finds himself attracted to Georgy and asks her to sign a business contract to be his mistress.

Shortly afterward, the unmarried Meredith becomes pregnant. The father is one of her many boyfriends, the playful and irresponsible Jos (Alan Bates). He’s a flautist who works in a bank, but at heart is a slacker. Though Meredith aborted two of her other pregnancies, on a whim she decides to have the child and marry Jos. Georgy stays on in the flat as cook and housekeeper. During a bitter row between the trio in the cramped flat, Meredith leaves and Georgy and Jos kiss. It results in them falling in love.

When Meredith has her baby girl, she has a fit over being a mum and frets about from now on always being bothered caring for the brat. So she lets hubby, who is living with Georgy, keep the baby. Georgy radiantly glows in her new motherhood role. When the immature Jos decides this domestic scene isn’t his cup of tea, he splits. But Mr. Leamington saves day, as his nagging, sickly wife Ellen dies and the widow asks Georgy to marry him and if she accepts promises to adopt the child. Leamington now also has the child he always wanted, but wonders if having the child was a wise decision. It might not be true love on her part but the manipulative Georgy, who can only be fulfilled by motherhood, ruthlessly gets what she wants, as she marries a clueless millionaire who thinks with his penis.

REVIEWED ON 3/23/2009 GRADE: B-

Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”

Black narcissus, soldier in the rain, never on sunday.

Cast & crew
User reviews

Georgy Girl

A traditional girl resists the advances of a swinger, who wants her as his mistress in 1960s London.
A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employer while striving to capture some of the glamorous life of her swinging London roommate. — Rick Ferncase <[email protected]>
Georgy has resigned herself to being one of life's accidents. She disapproves somewhat of her father's butlering James Leamington. She's tall, plump, sloppy, and wistfully envious of what she conceives to be the life led by her beautiful, but icy roommate. Where her roommate, Meredith, is cool and calculating, Georgy gets so involved with the people around her she behaves like an affectionate puppy. Most of all, she burns to be a mother. But it is Meredith that is in the hospital having an unwanted child. — filmfactsman
Twenty-two-year-old Georgina Parkin, Georgy to her friends, is a Plain Jane of a woman who beats to her own drummer. She grew up in the household of wealthy James Leamington, Georgy's parents being the household domestics. Middle-aged Leamington, who had provided for Georgy's every need while she was growing up, offers Georgy a business proposition, all written in a formal contract. He will provide for her whatever she wants if she becomes his mistress. She never really directly provides him with an answer. Meanwhile, Georgy shares a flat with Meredith Montgomery, a beautiful, but self-absorbed woman. Partying all the time without him, Meredith is dating Jos Jones, who hangs around with Georgy while Meredith is out partying. Jos and Georgy have a good time together. Georgy secretly loves her flatmate's boyfriend. Solely out of boredom, Meredith, who is pregnant with Jos' child, proposes she keep this one (she's previously had two abortions without much thought on the matter) and that she and Jos get married. The plan is for Jos to move into the flat, then Georgy is free to do as she pleases. As Meredith's pregnancy progresses, and after the baby arrives, the life of Georgy, Jos, and Leamington adjust to accommodate the change. By choice, Meredith's life is the one that doesn't. — Huggo
Georgy (Lynn Redgrave) appears to be heading for spinsterhood: She's well past "marrying age", is overweight and frumpy, and her parents have low expectations of her. However, her natural ability and empathy with children make her shine. Mr. Leamington, her father's boss (James Mason), is stuck in a loveless marriage with a sickly wife (Rachel Kempson) and believes he has found a lonely woman in Georgy whom he can set up as his mistress. Some of the most clever scenes are when Georgy successfully stiff-arms Mr. Leamington and keeps him at bay. She is at her most vulnerable juxtaposed with her pretty roommate, Meredith (Charlotte Rampling), a tramp who has had many boyfriends and abortions. When Meredith turns up pregnant once again and decides to have the baby, Georgy's path in life becomes clear even to Georgy, despite a coming-of-age detour with Meredith's boyfriend-cum-husband Jos (Alan Bates).

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Screen: Angry-Young-Man Fairy Tale; 'Georgy Girl' Arrives at the Fine Arts Lynn Redgrave Stars in Tragicomic Film

By Michael Stern

Oct. 18, 1966

THERE is a moment a little more than half way through "Georgy Girl" when Lynn Redgrave, the improbably fey heroine, complains that "God always has another custard pie up his sleeve." View Full Article in Timesmachine »

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DVD Review: Georgy Girl (1966)

I always assumed Georgy Girl was shot in colour; I guess it’s simply how I imagined it based on the setting, the titular song and the mid-60s which brought with it a wide array bright imagery. Although, that’s not to say the film doesn’t work in black and white, in fact, the film is shot exceptionally well and captures the energetic vibe of the era. Also, the film is far from a frivolous affair; there’s a lot of substance within the story, which makes a strong statement about society’s paradigm of what is attractive or the ‘ideal woman’. Georgy doesn’t have the “looks”, but she’s good-natured and very warm. However, due to our lead being labelled as “unattractive” she feels pigeonholed and is encourage by father to be grateful for any opportunities presented, particular from his boss, James (James Mason), a wealthy man who makes a somewhat flattering yet underhand proposal. Flatmate, Meredith (Charlotte Rampling), is in many ways the polar opposite of Georgy, whose party-filled and implied promiscuous lifestyle is stalled by an unexpected pregnancy with casual boyfriend, Jos (Alan Bates): a young man who can’t decide what he wants. This dynamic trio embodies the struggles of finding one’s path in life (or one’s resistance to it), and while they share genuine moments of happiness, their individual attitudes, mainly Meredith and Jos, brings a profound sadness in relation to their choices. Performances are terrific from the film’s four stars, especially Lynn Redgrave and James Mason who were both nominated for Oscars. Mason is very charismatic as he balances the fine line between a gentleman and dirty old man during his scenes with Georgy, who Redgrave portrays convincingly with a broad spectrum of emotion. Charlotte Rampling is perfectly sultry as the abrasive Meredith while Alan Bates can’t switch off as the indecisive and exhausting Jos.

VIDEO AND AUDIO

I suspect Georgy Girl has been lingering around the vaults at Columbia for quite some time, venturing out for only TV broadcasts, which were regular during my parent’s first subscription to Foxtel in the late 90s. It’s a decent digital scan, but the B&W 1.78:1 image is noticeably soft for DVD standards, although some scenes show up better than others. NTSC formatted and region 4 encoded, the sound is in Dolby 2.0, producing a nice classic stereo acoustic, doing justice to the Seekers’ signature track which appropriately opens the film. English, and uniquely, Japanese subtitles are included.

I’ve reviewed a good amount of Via Vision’s DVD releases over the past 18 months and I think it’s worth mentioning the overall quality of their packaging, which is better than it has a right to be. However, in relation to film’s blurb on the back, I must caution customers not to read as it spoils everything and I do mean everything. I assume the text was supplied by the licence holder, but it’s an oversight nonetheless that could hinder your enjoyment.

Georgy Girl means well and is an enjoyable romantic comedy, but its lasting message doesn’t land too well in today’s society. Nevertheless, it’s a genre staple within Britain that translates well to its former penal colony now known as Australia.

GEORGY GIRL (1966, director Silvio Narizzano)

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I use the best, i use the rest, review: “georgy girl” is no feminist statement.

By Mark Fraser

Viewed with a proverbial pinch of salt, Silvio Narizzano’s Georgy Girl (1966) is what UK-based media commentator Leanne Weston aptly calls “a comedy of manners turned social critique set amidst the backdrop of ‘Swinging London’”.

It is also, Weston adds in her 2018 essay on the film, “about a world and a girl in transition”, in which the titular character Georgina “Georgy” Parkin ( Lynn Redgrave ) is portrayed at different times as either “an object of inspiration, affection or ridicule”.

More to the point, though, she is also seen as an object of desire, and it’s this treatment of the protagonist that gives the film’s narrative a sinister undertone as it pretends – in line with The Seekers’ song on which it is partly based – to be a tale about liberation and individualism when in fact, behind its genial facade, it is really one concerning incarceration and servitude.

Or, to put it another way, there’s quite a bit of unpleasant subtext at work in this movie.

Sure – the awkwardly individualistic Georgy has undergone something of a transformation by the end of the film as she achieves what appears to be a form of compromised marital bliss.

But how she gets there does, at times, touch upon the highly dubious.

During the first third of the story, for instance, Georgy’s father’s rich employer James Leamington ( James Mason ) – a childless businessman who insists he always looked upon her as a daughter while she was growing up in his house – suggests they enter a written contract whereby she becomes his mistress (this while his wife Ellen, played by Rachel Kempson , is dying). Oddly, despite balking at this generous offer to effectively be his whore, by the movie’s conclusion she has ended up marrying the man – an act which allows her, in the words of The Seekers at least, to become “a new Georgy girl”.

Meanwhile, Georgy’s in-residence butler dad Ted ( Bill Owen ) more or less pimps her off to his boss (admittedly this is only suggested in a brief exchange of dialogue; nevertheless the implication is there), reaffirming his and his wife Doris’ ( Clare Kelly ) fear that their lone offspring is an awkward loser whose only real hope in life is to attach herself to some well-to-do gent.

And, before she eventually ties the knot with Leamington, the hitherto virginal heroine has an affair with Jos Jones ( Alan Bates ), who has just married her roommate/best friend Meredith ( Charlotte Rampling ) after the latter becomes pregnant.

To complicate matters, following the baby’s arrival a bitterly post-natal Meredith – who has already aborted previous pregnancies with Jones – decides she will adopt the infant out, at which point Georgy steps in as the surrogate mother. In effect this not only allows her to strengthen her connection with the soon-to-be divorced father, but also forces her to lie to the UK Government’s social services agency in order to keep her “daughter” Sara (actor unknown).

But when her happy-go-lucky lover irresponsibly throws caution to the wind by quitting his stifling job at the bank, Georgy has to reassess everything and, it’s at this point, she decides the lecherous old Leamington (who’s actually only 49) is the better option. Unfortunately, this development looks like it too may eventually be fraught with difficulty when – just as the newly-weds are being driven away from the church ceremony – her husband’s face seriously drops as it dawns on him that he hasn’t just secured a new (and much younger) squeeze who he has known since she was a baby, but will now have to compete with someone else’s child for his bride’s affections.

Thus, how their life of marital bliss will pan out becomes one of the story’s big unknowns as it’s here that the end credits roll. If anything, it is likely much of the above-mentioned unsavouriness dogging Georgy’s existence will continue as she embarks on what is in no way a certain future.

Mixed message

While this might sound like a grimly sanctimonious interpretation of a movie which, in many ways, tries to pass itself off as a melodramatic comedy, the conclusion is still inescapable – the ugly duckling heroine may have become something of a swan, but she ultimately looks set to remain stranded in the same stagnant pond. Or, to put it bluntly (and contrary to what the plot might otherwise be suggesting), it’s highly unlikely there will ever be a completely satisfactory existence for this woman.

In her above-mentioned essay on the film, which is included in the promotional material accompanying Powerhouse Films Ltd’s Blu-ray release of Georgy Girl , Weston acknowledges it does not treat its leading character “with warmth or hold her in such high regard” as audiences of the day did. Rather, “she is side-lined in her own story”; an interesting observation given Redgrave, in real life (and, one might add, quite unfairly) received third billing behind Mason and Bates.

“From today’s vantage point, Georgy just seems like an ordinary girl: vivacious, flawed, yet lovable – someone we could be friends with,” the critic says. “And that’s what makes the film so interesting.”

Perhaps. However, it’s also arguable that much of the movie’s intrigue stems from the fact its outlook is decidedly brutal. No one in the film, for instance, seems to have a particularly strong moral compass. Furthermore, at the end of its cinematic day, Swinging London is portrayed as a dead end; a place where wanton hedonism may be commonplace, but the privileged class still gets what it wants so long as it’s willing to pay the price. Thus, as a commentary about what was then the emerging youth culture’s attempt to distance itself from a stuffier (read older) generation, Georgy Girl actually turns out to be quite pessimistic.

This begs the question: is this what the film makers – particularly screenwriters Margaret Forster (who wrote the novel on which the movie is based) and Peter Nichols – set out to do?

Possibly, but it is quite difficult to ascertain as the quirky and upbeat feel of the whole narrative doesn’t seem to have an overtly ironic (or tragic) bone in its bubbly celluloid body.

Interestingly, Redgrave more or less agreed that the film’s portrayal of her character was not exactly positive when being interviewed by journalist Howard Maxford back in 1996.

“George (sic) is quite ruthless really,” she said. “So it is an immoral story, but George was such a survivor that people identified with her.”

Survival, though, comes at a cost – something, it seems, which may have been lost on progressive audiences of the day. As for contemporary viewers who embrace the values of the Me Too movement, they no doubt will find very few redeeming values in this ultimately sexist tale.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leanne Weston : “Good Girl, Bad Luck: Morality and Performance in Georgy Girl”, Powerhouse Films Ltd promotional booklet, 2018, pp 5-13

Howard Maxford : “Making Georgy Girl”, Powerhouse Films Ltd promotional booklet, 2018, p 28

Source: Review: “Georgy Girl” Is No Feminist Statement

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