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.

An interesting kitchen sink film that alludes too, rather than tackling homosexuality. Worth watching for the location shots and the fine performance of Dudley Sutton. The final quarter of an hour is really quite poignant and there is an excellent final scene.

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

Sidney J. Furie's 1964 Leather Boys was way before its time. Touching on the then controversial subject of homosexuality. The young cast of Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell and Dudley Sutton are outstanding. Filmed in black and white, the story is a realistic look at relationships between a husband and wife, and between two friends, one who turns out to be gay. Even the title of the film seems to tell it all, yet there aren't any scenes in any "Leather" bars. Watching the film you can figure out that one of the two friends is gay, but I guess in the early 1960s it was more difficult to figure out. The movie is interesting to look at, as it captures the norms of the society for those days. Now, it's clearly out-dated and if the viewer can not figure out the historical significance of the film, than the movie will only be fair.

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!