Girl Boy

Based on a play called 'Girlfriend', which had a brief West End run in 1970, the most remarkable change made to the film version is that the mysterious partner has been made a West Indian yet that particular revelation is shown not to bother Laurie's parents in the slightest.

There's an awful lot of talk but little is actually said - some of it witty, some of it crass. Michael Hordern looks suitably embarrassed, while Joan Greenwood at 50 has aged considerably, yet, aided by a stylish short haircut, still looks and sounds amazing as only Joan Greenwood could. Clive Francis is the fey son, while 'Straker' with a soft-pitched voice and an afro towers over him as the androgynous Jo. (As with 'Jean Arless' in William Castle's 'Homicidal', the billing of the player was aimed to generate confusion in the mind of the viewer while they both looked strange enough to form a hunch; but Hordern would have been able to tell the difference on the two occasions they kiss.)

It's difficult to tell from the grainy VHS recording which all that is presently available if the sound was originally as muffled or the nighttime exteriors as impenetrable in the original cinema prints; but parts of the film currently sound like the work of Ken Loach. The poor sound operators seem unable to cope with the constant low angles favoured by director Bob Kellett, since the microphone appears several times at the top of the frame. The exaggerated visuals, claustrophobic setting (the action takes place almost entirely in a house where the heating has become stiflingly jammed at full blast), fast pans and unflattering extreme close-ups of Joan Greenwood's perspiring face all look as if Sergio Leone may also have been in attendance.

In 1971, when this film "came out,"(pun intended) I went to see it and I remember laughing almost non-stop. I'm unable to say why as I've not seen it since that one time. It's almost as if it's vanished off the face of the planet. Were the filmmakers ashamed of it, I wonder? I doubt I would find much in its content to laugh at were I to see it today, almost twenty-five years on. It doesn't strike me as a particularly funny film at this late stage in the film's life.

However, on to the film(not that I intend to let loose any "spoilers" since I can't remember any particular incidents). Three of the stars are my favourites and I have seen them in many other films/TV plays. The late and lamented Sir Michael Hordern, Joan Greenwood and, in an early role, Hyacinth Bucket(pronounced "Bouquet") herself, Patricia Routledge.

For me Sir Michael gave easily the best performance in the whole movie. His look of stunned insensibility dominates from the moment he's introduced to his son's "friend." Since they--and we--never discover if it's a boy or a girl that their son has brought home, they don't know if he is gay or straight. The fact that the one phone call that could have cleared the puzzle up only makes matters worse is the final nail in the coffin of this relationship--at least as far as us and the unfortunate parents are concerned. The children, at least, will go blithely on as if nothing out of the ordinary has occurred.

The mystery surrounding the actor/actress playing the boy/girlfriend was solved, for this reviewer, some years after I saw the film. Again I'm not going to give out a spoiler but I did find out the sex of the person who played the boy/girl. So I have a whole new slant on the movie and should I see it again, I'll look at it with the knowledge of what was revealed many moons ago.

All in all this was a film that no-one understood(despite being adapted from a stage play--was it successful, I wonder?). But I enjoyed the performances, especially by the three I've mentioned. Of course, at the time, I never knew that Patricia would go on to play the ultimate snob in TVs 'Keeping Up Appearances' but the woman has gone up in my estimation and, I have no doubt, will continue to do so.

I give this film 8 stars out of 10 as it's been almost twenty-five years since I saw it last and, as we all know, tastes do change. The 8 stars are for what I remember of Sir Michael Hordern's performance. To me he is a consummate actor who never turned in a bad performance in his life.

SO many funny, edgy films are done in europe first, where the viewing audience isn't so squeamish about discussing LGBT topics. (The Ritz, Cage aux Folles, Girl Stroke Boy, Queer as Folk). Girl Stroke Boy came five years before Norman, Is That You? similar plot. in england, son Laurie (Clive Francis) brings home his girlfriend, or boyfriend (Straker)... the parents aren't quite sure which. and because the furnace won't shut off, it's already hot and uncomfortable in the house. Mom (Joan Greenwood) acts completely inappropriately the entire film, and the husband without a backbone (Michael Hordern) gets nagged into going along with it. some clever lines, but mom said so many rude things, the son Laurie should have told the mother to mind her own business. I personally would have stood up for the girlfriend or boyfriend and returned to my own home. Laurie has more patience, and stays to argue it out with his parents. an awkward and painful scene where mom and dad actually call Jo's parents to try to figure out if he/she is really a boy or girl. there are some surprises in here, and some clever turns of phrase. Patricia Routledge (Hyacinth from Keeping Up Appearances!) is the neighbor who pops in here and there. directed by Bob Kellett, who also did Space 1999 and Are You Being Served, the film. this seems to have started out as a play by David Percival. not much out there on him. the film is good, if you have the patience to sit through all the bickering.

As of May 2018, this odd movie is available to stream for free on FilmRise and on Fawesome.tv. The transfer looks quite a bit better than my VHS cassette but the sound problems are the same. Roku search results state HD but I think it isn't really.

Did Bill Murray steal the comb-over in Kingpin from Michael Hordern?