Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2905 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-13
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Synopsis
Tony Richardson continued in the vein of kitchen-sink realism with this adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's novel of working-class life. Set in England in the early 1960s, A TASTE OF HONEY stars Rita Tushingham as the waifish Jo, a plain 17-year-old girl who is dragged from one shabby bed-sitter to another by Helen (Dora Bryan), her promiscuous, alcoholic termagant of a mother. When Helen and her current lover, Peter (Robert Stephens), take a holiday in Blackpool, Jo goes along and, while walking on the beach, meets Jimmy (Paul Danquah), a black sailor on leave. After they spend the night together Jimmy's ship leaves for points unknown. Helen and Peter have impulsively decided to marry, and they move into his flat, leaving Jo in the cold. She gets a job in a shoe store, where she meets gay and mild-mannered Geoffrey, and the two decide to move into a flat together. Jo soon discovers she's carrying Jimmy's child, news that depresses her. But Geoffrey couldn't be happier, and he begins knitting baby clothes, goes to a clinic for child-care instruction, and even offers to marry Jo. This moving film is exceptionally well acted and directed; it is a tribute to Richardson's boldness in taking on the theme of miscegenation, then a much more controversial issue.

Customer Reviews

No subtitles or commentary -- try to find the BFI version instead
A TASTE OF HONEY is one of the defining films of the early 60s British New Wave. Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan are absolutely marvelous in this film.

I treasure my DVD from the British Film Institute -- not only does it provide subtitles to the film, but there is also a hilarious commentary track by none other than Rita and Dora (with some additional comments by Murray Melvin, recorded separately).

I have nothing against this new DVD, released by Optimum Home Entertainment, but if you can find a copy of BFI's release, you'll be glad you did.

One of the greatest movies of the 60s!

Certainly one of the greatest, well-acclaimed and most significant pictures to come out of the early 1960s.

'A Taste Of Honey' is about a young teenage girl (Rita Tushingham) who's just left school and looking to 'escape' the unhappy and unfulfilled life she's had with her neglecting and man-loving mother. (Dora Bryan)

This film made Rita Tushingham a star, who then went on to make several more well-acclaimed movies during the 60s which saw the peak of her career. This also stars Murray Melvin, who plays the 'gay friend' of Tushingham's character, and at a time when such a role was something new, and pretty daring! When I was to ask Murray to talk about his making of the film and his role some thirty years later, (he was still being asked about it) he replied by saying that if he was to respond to all those who still wished to know more of how he felt about the role, he would have little time for anything else - and one can see why!

Every star in this surpasses themselves and with a great script this just had to be one of Britains biggest successes winning at the Cannes Film Festival.

Great stuff!

TRIVIA: Supposedly features Hazel Blears the MP as an extra at aged just five - but I don't spot her...

A TASTE OF LIFE
I grew up in this era and this picture, more than any other, takes me back to those times. I was only thirteen at the time but I knew about all of the themes and undercurrents which this flick portrayed. I can't say anything negative about this film at all because it left such an indelible imprint on my memory. A big thanks therefore to all of those people, whether on screen or not, who contibuted to this wonderful picture.