A Taste of Honey

Watch: A Taste of Honey

Unrated

4/30/19621h 40m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ We don’t ask for life. We have it thrust upon us. ~

Overview:

While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual.

Director:

Tony Richardson

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$153,814.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

friendship
single parent
parent child relationship
based on play or musical
family relationships
coming of age
interracial relationship
working class
single mother
teenage pregnancy
kitchen sink realism
free cinema
british new wave
independent film
depressing

Cast

Rita Tushingham

~ as ~

Murray Melvin

~ as ~

Geoffrey Ingham

Paul Danquah

~ as ~

Jimmy

Dora Bryan

~ as ~

Helen

Robert Stephens

~ as ~

Peter Smith

Michael Bilton

~ as ~

Landlord

Eunice Black

~ as ~

Schoolteacher

David Boliver

~ as ~

Bert

Margo Cunningham

~ as ~

Landlady

Rosalie Williams

~ as ~

Nurse

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Peter McGinn
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
I guess this movie holds a strong place in cinematic history. It may have been the first movie where all the scenes, indoors and out, were filmed on location. And it was certainly bold with plot details such as having a gay main character and an interracial relationship for the main character.

Mostly I liked A Taste of Honey just fine. The main character Jo had spunk and a quick tongue, neither of them are a bad thing, though I got a little tired of her woe is me attitude, especially where her mother was concerned. Clearly her mother put herself first when it came to choosing and giving preference to low life men, but she also showed at times that she loved Jo, who probably could have helped her own cause by not being such a royal pain the the butt in nearly every interaction with her. She could count her blessings: her classmates seemed to like her, she had a decent boss in her new job, and a new ally when she met Geoffrey, who she she also moped and complained to a lot of the time.

To my ear, the soundtrack seems wildly inappropriate at times, not fitting in with my sense of the scenes, but it perhaps reflects the interests in music of the early 60s. The film was perhaps ahead of its time and can be commended on multiple fronts there, but I fear it will not make a lasting impression upon me.