The Killing of Sister George (1968)
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75% of critics liked it
(12 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(637 ratings)
A year after helming The Dirty Dozen, director Robert Aldrich took on this controversial drama based on the play of the same name by Frank Marcus. Beryl Reid stars as soap opera star June, an alcoholic lesbian who spends most of her time with her younger lover, Alice (Susannah York). When vindictive… More A year after helming The Dirty Dozen, director Robert Aldrich took on this controversial drama based on the play of the same name by Frank Marcus. Beryl Reid stars as soap opera star June, an alcoholic lesbian who spends most of her time with her younger lover, Alice (Susannah York). When vindictive television executive Mercy Croft (Coral Browne) takes a liking to Alice, she arranges to have June's character, Sister George, killed off the show. Drunk and paranoid, June struggles to keep it together or risk losing Alice. Because of its exploration of a subject as taboo as homosexuality, The Killing of Sister George earned an X rating. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Aldrich
- Written By
- Lukas Heller, Frank Marcus
- Genres
- Drama, Television, Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Dec 12, 1968 Limited
- On DVD
- Aug 23, 2005
- Studio
- Anchor Bay Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Pat Graham, Chicago Reader
Robert Aldrich's "daring" 1968 mating of lesbianism and commerce was, as I recall, considered pretty tame even then; lord knows what it looks like today.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Because of its outre subject of lesbianism and one sexually graphic scene, Aldrich's well acted, lurid melodrama was slapped with X-rating upon its release.
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Leo Goldsmith, Reverse Shot
Melodrama, slapstick, romance, exploitation, and psychological horror all vie for dominance throughout the film, giving it an air of fickle, feminine hysteria, which the graphic sex scene at the end of the film makes still more difficult to pin down.
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Talky, exploitive (for 1968) drama focusing on lesbianism.
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Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Quase um Quem Tem Medo de Virginia Woolf? lésbico, este é um filme denso, muitas vezes desagradável como sua protagonista (Reid, fantástica), mas sempre instigante e corajoso.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Beryl Reid
as June (Sister George)
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Susannah York
as Alice McNaught
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Coral Browne
as Mercy Croft
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Ronald Fraser
as Leo Lockhart
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Patricia Medina
as Betty Thaxter
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Hugh Paddick
as Freddie
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Cyril Delevanti
as Ted Baker
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Sivi Aberg
as Diana
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William Beckley
as Floor Manager
- Cyril Elaine Church
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Elaine Church
as Marelen
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Brendan Dillon
as Bert Turner
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Jack Raine
as Deputy Commissioner
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Byron Webster
as Jack Adams
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Meier Tzelniker
as Mr. Katz
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Cicely Walper
as Mrs. Coote
