A Taste of Honey

Taste of Honey is evocative of life in Lancashire in the 1960's. The scenes of what were called the "Whit Walks" must bring back memories to many Lancashire folk, as must the scenes of England's most famous seaside resort; Blackpool. The film made Rita Tushingham a houshold name. Her portrayal of the the schoolgirl "done wrong" is second to none. Her large wide eyes show the fear and her innocence at the same time. Dora Bryan is magnificent as the "couldn't-care-less" mother who's quest for a good time is at the expense of all others. The film is well worth a watch, particularly if you are a fan of British films of the 60's. Watch out for a continuity gaff in the scenes on the pier!

The 1960's brought about many of my favourite films about the English working class experience: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner; Saturday Night, Sunday Morning; This Sporting Life and - naturally - Kes. Coming from the North and being around - just - during the sixties helps naturally.

I dislike the term "kitchen sink" because it puts too many people off a film that while bleak remains so true it almost hurts. There isn't a word, phrase or scene in this movie that I don't believe and remember: I was there, although not in Salford!

A dimly lit world of booze, cups of tea, canals, seaside trips, bonfires, repressed emotions, unprotected sex (and what follows) and the limits and cheap thrills of the Northern English working class.

In 1961 this must have looked like the start of a new age of film. Real stories about real life. Almost a docu-drama in the modern parlance. However it never really happened. Why? Because there is more skill required than you might imagine and even this verges on going over the top. You could say it is tries to tick too many boxes. And isn't really true drama because it stops at a point in which so many threads remain loose.

(I suppose you could say it ends with the characters facing up to the realities that they have been so long running away from - but will they actually achieve it?)

Star of the show is Rita Tushington who never went on to do much with her career after being given the part of a lifetime to start it all off. Murray Melvin is also good as the homosexual boyfriend who wants to help out - although maybe in a misguided way.

A Taste of Honey has its limits and you could attack it for being snobbish. It is an artistic product born of the middle class - but it remains utterly true in a way that is mostly absent in cinema today.

Shelagh Delaney's screenplay for "A Taste of Honey," based on her play of the same name, remains a moving period drama. Beautifully directed by Tony Richardson, this film evokes all the stark realism of the famed English "New Wave/kitchen sink" dramas (made popular by John Osborne) of the late 50s/early 60s.

Rita Tushingham is striking as an working-class adolescent girl, growing into maturity--first through her pregnancy by a young sailor, played by Paul Danquah, and then by her association with a sensitive man, played by Murray Melvin. Dora Bryan is impressive Tushingham's mom.

The sparse photography, sets and score, all combine to make an unforgettable statement.

Jo's (Rita Tushingham) a daydreaming teen with a distracted mom (Dora Bryan) in search of Mr. Right or a reasonable facsimile. When ma hooks up with a guy she leaves Jo to fend for herself. Jo enters into a romance with a boat cook who ships out to sea after impregnating her and she forms a living arrangement with a gay man (Murray Melvin) to make ends meet and for moral support. When mom returns the two lock horns, debating who is the better fix for Jo and her family way.

What might pass for a very dark Hallmark domestic drama today was a groundbreaking event in 1961. Interracial relationships were scarce on the screen and homosexuality would be a crime until the law was relaxed in 67. Director Tony Richardson met the controversy head on in Honey, softening neither the outcome or its characters. Tushingham is exasperatingly brilliant as the independently minded Jo. You sympathize with her but she can be trying and stubborn. Murray Melvin is also sympathetic, avoiding caricature flamboyance with a low key sensitivity, stating his case as an outsider. Dora Bryan as Jo's floozy mom is abrasively outstanding as she lectures Jo with challenged nurturing skills on the ugly reality of her class and future.

Director Richardson captures the bleak industrial landscape of Manchester, England, managing to romanticize it in moments between the lovers but refusing to sell out the story with its sober, somber climax.

A glum well played drama.

'A Taste of Honey' provides a grim slice-of-life look at the working class poor in early 1960's England. Teen pregnancy, an openly homosexual companion, a negligent single mother and homelessness are featured- mainstream topics in today's movies, but this was released in 1961, folks (beats me how they got it past the censors). This sensitive, remarkable film should be required viewing for junior high schools.