Review of A Taste of Honey (1961) by Art S — 30 Apr 2018

A key film in the "kitchen sink" neo-realist movement in Britain in the early 1960s which took a hard look at living conditions for the poor and working class and the various social problems that affected them.

Director Tony Richardson worked with playwright Shelagh Delaney to adapt her recent 1958 play for the screen. Rita Tushingham makes her debut appearance as Jo, a high school girl with an irresponsible single mother who has to make it on her own when her mother abandons her for a new husband.

She falls in with a sailor (who happens to be Black from Birmingham) and eventually finds she is pregnant after he has shipped off. She finds steady support from Geoff (Murray Melvin) a young gay man who is also one of society's outcasts.

Richardson and DP Walter Lassally shoot the film in that fresh new wave style similar to what was happening in France at the time (but with echoes of the Italian Neo-realist period too). Tushingham does a fine job portraying a young girl managing a difficult time with aplomb and Dora Bryan is excellent as her negligent swinging mother.

For its time, this film tackled some key taboos with equanimity. A good effort and right up there with the other films in this movement (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1960; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, 1962; This Sporting Life, 1963; Billy Liar, 1963; and Kes, 1969; are the ones I've seen - all recommended).