Review of Georgy Girl (1966) by Jonathan B — 30 Aug 2013

This has been a favourite movie of mine since I was a kid and started something of an obsession with Charlotte Rampling who is particularly horrible in this 1966 British 'New Wave' classic. Georgy Girl is an off-beat comedy that has a charm that belies the shock that it would have caused to many audience members at the time of release due to the nature of its subject matter.

Georgy is a bright, intelligent but socially awkward and slightly frumpy young woman who shares a flat with the glamorous and spiteful, swinging 60s girl Meredith. Georgy's family works for a millionaire businessman, Mr.

Leamington who is trapped in a sterile and loveless marriage. Leamington has something of a crush on Georgy and offers her a contract whereby he will support and look after her if she agrees to become his mistress.

However, Georgy rather fancies Meredith's cheeky, carefree sometime boyfriend Jos. Georgy is always being overlooked and stood-up but then, Meredith falls pregnant with Jos's baby. It has to be said that the story is rather dated in attitude and outlook but the central performances by Lynn Redgrave (Georgy), Alan Bates (Jos), Charlotte Rampling (Meredith) and James Mason (Leamington) make this a truly great piece of 60s cinema.

Both Redgrave and Mason received Academy Award nominations for this film and rightly so. Silvio Narizzano gives his directorial best here (gaining a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film) with some enchanting and genuinely funny scenes, making great use of Redgrave's comic talents.

The screenplay was co-written by Margaret Foster and based on her novel and shows us a slice of London life when England was trendy but still had a dour and grimy side. The theme tune (partly written by actor Jim Dale and also nominated for an Academy Award) became a huge worldwide hit for The Seekers and is instantly recognisable to those of my generation and older.

Whilst the tone it strikes is definitely of its time, especially in the attitude towards women's aspirations, this is still a hugely watchable and enjoyable film. A great slice of 1960s, British cinema and watching it again this evening, I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did when I first saw it some 30 odd years ago.