| The Killing of Sister George | |
|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Original_movie_poster_for_the_film_The_Killing_of_Sister_George.jpg) Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
| Written by | Lukas Heller |
| Based on | The Killing of Sister George by Frank Marcus[1] |
| Produced by | Robert Aldrich[1] |
| Starring | [1] |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Michael Luciano |
| Music by | Gerald Fried[1] |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,550,000[2][3] |
| Box office | $5,325,000[2] |
The Killing of Sister George is a 1968 American film directed by Robert Aldrich and filmed at his Aldrich Studios in Los Angeles. It is based on the 1964 play by British playwright Frank Marcus. In the film, an ageing lesbian television actress, June "George" Buckridge (Beryl Reid, reprising her role from the stage play), simultaneously faces the loss of her popular television role and the breakdown of her long-term relationship with a younger woman (Susannah York). Although Marcus's play was a black comedy,[4] the film version was marketed as a "shocking drama";[5] it added explicit lesbian content that was not in the original play,[6] and was presented as a serious treatment of lesbianism.[7]
Along with the more campy films What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Killing of Sister George cemented Robert Aldrich's status as a cult-favorite director with queer audiences.[8]
- ^ a b c d e "The Killing of Sister George (1968)". Film Forever. BFI. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ a b "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses". Variety. 31 May 1973. p. 3.
- ^ Alain Silver and James Ursini, Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?, Limelight, 1995 p 376
- ^ Heilpern, John (2008) [2006]. John Osborne: The Many Lives of the Angry Young Man (Vintage Books ed.). New York: Random House. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-375-70295-2.
- ^ Hadleigh, Boze (2001) [1993]. The Lavender Screen: Lesbian Films: Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics (Citadel Press (revised and updated) ed.). New York: Kensington Publishing Corp. pp. 54–56. ISBN 0806521996.
- ^ Bourne, Stephen (2016) [1996]. Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema 1930–1971. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 212. ISBN 9781474291347.
- ^ Gross, Larry (2012). Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780231529327.
The Killing of Sister George (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) were presented by the producers and accepted by the critics as unflinching glimpses of gay life[.]
- ^ Farmer, Brett (2006). "Robert Aldrich". In Gerstner, David A. (ed.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture (1 ed.). Routledge. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9780415306515. Retrieved 5 July 2022.