Customer Reviews

The Killing of Sister George [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It is a very good example of this type of cinema from the late sixties when directors loved to take all kinds of chances with their subject matter, not like today's pre-packaged films. That three such outstanding actresses as Beryl Reid, Coral Browne and Susannah York were willing to go along with Aldrich for the ride I find just amazing. Beryl Reid in particular shines, although all three put in stupendous performances. I have heard people criticize the film for being dated, but I don't find that a real criticism at all. The enlightened film-goer has to be receptive to other times, other mind-sets, other ways of feeling. If any film invites the viewer to cross those barriers, this one does. Yes, it is overly long, and could probably have been cut down to half its present length. That is the films great flaw, but like most good films which seem overly long upon first viewing, it's impact stays with you. If you can make it past the two-hour mark, I don't think you will find that this film is lacking anything in quality, sensitivity, or the cumulative power to move. Just excellent.

This movie is a lot of fun if you do not take it too seriously. It is set in the late 60's London and features the late great Beryl Reid as a soap star under threat at work and home. Great scenes of the Gateways club in London and the owners - Gina and Smitty as well as some of the regulars, who are used as extras. It is not for the faint at heart; there is a very funny scene involving an intoxicated Beryl Reid (George) and a couple of nuns in a taxi cab! If you are looking for a movie depicting a healthy lesbian relationship/love story then this is not for you!

The Killing of Sister George (1968) is Robert Aldritch's masterpiece: one of the most harrowing films ever made on the subject of show business and masochistic relationships. Cynical yet painfully human, it is far superior to his much more well-known Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. Beryl Reid, Susannah York & Coral Browne are magnificent and their performances pack an intense emotional wallop. The fact that the movie's principals are lesbians likely prevented people from appreciating the film for its immense merits. Beryl Reid stars as June Buckridge, an aging, overweight actress who plays Sister George, a beloved character on a hokey British soap opera about village life. Susannah York is Alice, or 'Childie' as George refers to her, George's younger, live-in lover who likes to play with dolls and act coy. Their complex, love-hate relationship provides the crux of the film, while George's career hitting the skids in conjunction with increasingly outrageous behavior and growing alcoholism moves the characters towards emotional and personal disaster. Coral Browne gives the performance of her career as Mrs. Croft, the BBC executive who vies for the affections of Childie over George. One particularly memorable scene showcases George & Childie attending a local lesbian bar as Laurel & Hardy, with Mrs. Croft coming over to deliver George the bad news that she has been removed from the show. The notorious sex scene between Childie and Mrs. Croft is both explicit and remarkably restrained and psychologically revealing. Note must also be made of Patricia Medina's sensitive performance as Betty Thaxter, the owner of a local house of prostitution and a personal confidante of George.

Beryl Reed is gives an amazing performance as the lecherous Sister George. Many people have condemned this film as being anti lesbian, but I feel it is a study in abusive behavior and the insecurities that feed it. It's also very campy and a hoot. Susannah York as Childie and Coral Browne ( Vera Charles in Auntie Mame) also give very brave and wonderful performances considering this movie was made in the sixties. The story is of a lechorous lesbian who plays a nun on a British Soap Opera.On screen she is kindly and a total humanitarian; offstage is something else altogeher. George is an alcholic lesbian who abuses her younger lover and comes on to real nuns in their taxi cabs. When the BBC threatens to write her out of the soap opera due to her scandalous off-screen behavior, a paranoid lesbian becomes even more abusive. See it for the wonderful performances and sixties sensibilities of gays.

Beryl Reed singlehandedly saves this movie. She manages to take a character that could have so easliy slid into camp caricature and make her an actual human being. At all times she projects the humanity in George, even when she is acting like a schreechy seven year old with ADD: boozing it up, being needlessly abusive to her girlfriend, huffily walking out on her TV show (even though she's in a precarious position on it). She's shrill, foolish, self-destructive and a bit mean, but Reed manages to make her also charming and sometimes even sweet.

Not that the ham-handed direction by Aldrich helps. We're presented with mega-closeups of Reed and especially Coral Browne that seem designed to make them look as bad as possible. Not that he does better by the heterosexuals in the cast: the people involved in her BBC program are presented little better than circus freaks, or predatory animals in the big bad TV jungle.

In some ways, the movie is hilariouly dated. We are treated to a long sequence in might have been an actual lesbian bar- which is presented as if it were the most shocking think in the world. It seems rather sweet, looking back at it 30-odd years later, and about as threatening as a high-school sock hop.

There is one sex scene that would most likely be rated light R today, other than that, this is an overlong TV movie. Worth seeing as a historical document to the time when merely the fact that Lesbians exist was enough to be "shocking"!

I saw this film many years ago (at least 30) and thought it was pretty interesting the first time. Now, having recently seen it again, I realize that it is quite a high quality film with an original and well written story. It's not just interesting for the lesbian plot (although that certainly is an intriguing part of it). The overall plot, and the stuggles of a very middle aged TV actress with a significantly younger lover are interesting and heart rending. Beryl Reid and Carole Brown both give wonderful performances, and I am a big Susannah York fan, and loved her in this movie... she gives a unique and unforgettable performance. What can I say... see this film, you won't ever forget it.

Beryl Reed is fantastic as sister George and Susanna York's lover in this story within a story.
One has to sometime question the Acadamy Awards with the oversights they've made.
This is certainly one of them

video was in excellent condition. the story is still fascinating and well-acted as i remember it. worth keeping in personal library.

The Killing of Sister George is an exciting story with a well written plot. The acting is good and the pace keeps the watcher on the edge of her seat.

Teresa Schoenberg-Johnson

The blurb on the packaging reminds the viewer that THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE comes to us "from the makers of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE." If you had not known that Robert Aldrich directed and that Lukas Heller was responsible for the script, you still might have guessed as much. Both films are lurid, over the top and are nowadays considered to be camp classics. Neither is a cinematic masterpieces, to be sure, but both have their moments.

SISTER GEORGE came by its notoriety legitimately. A number of gay and lesbian themed movies were coming out in the late 60s. Unlike, say, THE FOX or THERESE AND ISABELLE, though, KSG was unabashedly garish. No literary pretensions here. Whether it was simply trading in stereotypes is a subject of some debate. It is clear that ultimately, "George" is meant to be a sympathetic character; her plight--losing her job and her lover on the same day--is one we're supposed to identify with. Some will, of course, but the failure of the movie is that many more will not. Aldrich and co. mean to portray George in all her complexity, but we never really find out what makes her tick.

And that is much of the trouble with "camp classics": characters like George are supposed to be sympathetic and ridiculous at the same time. To say nothing of being bitchy, bitchy, bitchy. It's a lot to ask of any script writer, or any actress.

Beryl Reid's acclaimed performance is indeed the best thing about the movie. She does suggest some of the character's inner conflicts and self-doubt. But she is all too often in full-harangue mode. It's ultimately wearying. As for Susannah York, she never mangages to project the vulnerability that her child-woman character is supposed to possess. The doll collection notwithstanding, she actually comes off as savvy and sassy in a Julie Christie sort of way. She looks uncomfortable in those ridiculous teddies. Actually, she looks pretty uncomfortable throughout the whole movie.

Watching the movie some 34 years after its release is an odd experience. It's hard to see why it was so shocking at the time (one of the first commercial films to earn an "X" rating). But that's only part of it. What's even stranger is how little fun this camp classic turns out to be. I wonder if others will catch themselves thinking, "Well, this is certainly the guilty pleasure, isn't it? I wonder if it's almost over?"