Girl Stroke Boy
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Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
| Girl Stroke Boy | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bob Kellett |
| Screenplay by | Caryl Brahms Ned Sherrin |
| Based on | Girlfriend by David Percival |
| Produced by | Terry Glinwood Ned Sherrin |
| Cinematography | Ian Wilson |
| Edited by | Brian Smedley Aston |
| Music by | John Scott |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | London Screen[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 mins |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £50,000[2] |
Girl Stroke Boy (also known as Girl/Boy) is a 1971 British comedy-drama film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Joan Greenwood, Michael Hordern, Clive Francis, and Peter Straker, based on the play Girlfriend by David Percival.[3][4][2][5]
A middle-aged couple, author Letty and school teacher George, worry if their son Laurie will ever get married. Laurie brings home his new girlfriend Jo, the androgynous child of a West Indian politician, whose gender and sex Letty begins to question.
Cast
- Joan Greenwood as Lettice Mason
- Michael Hordern as George Mason
- Clive Francis as Laurie
- Peter Straker as Jo Delaney
- Patricia Routledge as Pamela Hovendon
- Peter Bull as Peter Hovendon
- Rudolph Walker as Mr Delaney
- Diana Hoddinott as wife / husband
- Elisabeth Welch as Mrs Delaney
Girlfriend
The film was based on the play Girlfriend. The cast included Margaret Leighton, John Standing (Lorn), Alan MacNaughton (George), and Michel Des Barres and was directed by Vivian Matalon. It was by first time author, school teacher David Percival.[6] It opened on 17 February 1970.[7]
The Daily Telegraph called it "an equivocal comedy balanced halfway between a wink and a snigger."[8] The Observer said "it dragged the you-can't-tell-them-apart-in-those-clothes joke over a lamentable evening in which you were asked to believe no one on stage could notice the fiance of title's Adam's apple. The most maddening thing about it was the waste" of the cast and the author's talent whose "lines were fine. They only needed a play."[9]
Production
The play had flopped but Ned Sherrin bought the film rights. The movie version was shot over two weeks at a cost of £50,000 (the low cost because fees were deferred). The film was sold to John Daly of Hemdale.[2]
It was the film debut of Peter Straker, who had been in Hair. He called the script "hysterical but it didn't turn out as well as it could have. But it was the chance of a lifetime."[10]