Ragazzi di cuoio

... shabby, grimy and smoky. And gran's house is full of relics from the Edwardian era. Her son tries to persuade her that it is a "dump" and she should go into an old people's home. Typical kitchen sink drama in that the working classes are portrayed as constantly shrieking and flying off the handle - especially Rita Tushingham. Oh, I'd forgotten those "bouffant" hairstyles that took such a lot of work. I'd forgotten "ton-up" boys too.

A fascinating film which shows you just how fast the 1960s was waking up in 1964. Some say the homosexuality in the film is referred to obliquely. I disagree. Unless you are 13 years old, it should be very obvious that Reggie's mate is gay about half way through the film. Other than that it is fascinating to see how the film was used as a template for Quadrophenia (1979). I can think of at least 10 similarities. 1) Our hero is working class teenager with a broad cockney accent. 2) All his mates ride motorbikes. 3) The main character takes a road trip to Brighton 4) The argument in the café in Brighton between the two key male characters. 5) The same shot of the massed bikes facing the camera as they head off down a London road. 6) Jimmy in Quadrophenia has a close mate who works as a car engineer. Reggie works as a car/ bike engineer. 7) One of the main characters (Chalkie?) stands out by wearing a traditional tweed hat with a feather in it - the character who calls the start of the endurance race in Leather Boys wears one too. 8) Jimmy encounters his old biker school mate (played by Ray Winstone) when both are stark naked in the baths...need I say more. 9) Reggie/ Jimmy are unable to sustain a relationship with their girlfriends. 10) ..and this is the clincher. The final scene has Jimmy/Reggie walking towards the camera after their whole world has fallen apart, with the audience left guessing what will become of them. Especially liked Rita Tushingham's performance in Leather Boys, she does angry much better than Lesley Ash in Quadrophenia.

Rita Tushingham and Colin Campbell get married. Things don't work out. He expects sex , a clean home and meals on time. She...seems vaguer on what's entailed. They quarrel constantly and he walks out to live in his grandmother's house with his motorcycle buddy, Dudley Sutton.

There's a lot of gay subtext in this movie, what with the leather motorcycle togs, the men sharing a bed in Gladys Henson's house. Both of the principals seem lost and clueless as to what marriage entails, and fall into old habits. It's one of those kitchen-sink dramas that were popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the performances under under-rated director Sidney Furie are terrific, but it's a movie in which there is no one to root for. The camerawork by Gerald Gibbs seems purposefully gray and gloomy, with a constantly foggy outdoors.

I caught this film on TV earlier this summer after having first seen it 30 years ago and it was every bit as good as I remembered it.

It gains a great deal by not being overt about its gay subtext. This does a lot to increase its poignancy. Beautifully shot and edited ,it also fascinating for the various location shots around south west London. It also to my mind has a undermining sniggering tone to the fairly wooden dialogue amongst the family in the first part of the film..very reminiscent of a Mike Leigh film. Did anyone out there ever remember seeing it in the cinema, as I imagine people would have got more of the references and picked up its satirical tone more acutely then.

Music by BillMcGuffie.He also did some arrangements for Sinatra.

Check out Dudley Sutton on you-tube

Captures the atmosphere of the 60s biking scene brilliantly. Why in the reviews here does no-one mention the motorcycles??!!! The only reason I wanted to see this was to drink in the atmosphere of the Ace Cafe and see the bikes! It was a bonus that the film had Rita Tushingham and a good story.

Everyone seems to be getting excited about the 'gay' element, yes, it was pretty out there for the film made in the 60s, but it's really about society. It's about being an outsider, in more ways than one.

I saw an old interview with the director, Sidney J Furie; he said whilst filming at The Ace, all the locals completely ignored the cameras and even Rita Tushingham, because they were far more interested in their own scene than a load of actors.

It's hard to find this film now, but if you can, it's well worth a look. It might not be sophisticated as today's films, but that doesn't matter - it has the one thing they don't - originality!