Film4 Productions
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Prick Up Your Ears
They shared everything... except success.
When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.
- Original title
- Prick Up Your Ears
- Language
- EN
- Country
- GB
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Jan 29, 2025 · via TMDB
Maybe now, a few decades after this was made and when the politically correct brigade advocate that only gay actors should play gay roles, they ought to watch this and see just how engagingly two straight blokes can do what it says on their CVs and act! This is quite a witty and telling retrospective on the turbulent lives of playwright John "Joe" Orton (Gary Oldman) and his general factotum, friend, confidante and part-time lover "Kenneth" (Alfred Molina) set at a time when homosexuality in the UK was starting to emerge from the shadows of illegaility and, even amongst the more theatrical fraternity, was still frowned upon. What now ensues sees their relationship vacillate wildly, temptation rear it's ugly head and an unattractive degree of thoughtless, even callous, behaviour creep into Orton's behaviour towards his obsessive friend. Jealousy and toxicity aren't far away either, especially when Orton starts to see the fruits of his labours and makes a few quid. It's quite possibly the most perverse of love stories and there's a palpable chemistry that straddles loving and loathing between these two men that's well delivered by Orton, yes, but more so by the emotionally cuckolded character played by Molina. It's entertainingly speculative in nature, but that's delivered plausibly and epitomises a great many relationships where success profoundly alters the dynamic with drastic effects. It's also an interesting glance at the hypocrisy of public attitudes in the UK in the late 1960s and though not quite so potently, still resonates today - long after the "Section 28" debate that was about to hit the UK shortly after this was made. Good soundtrack, too.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Gary Oldman
Joe Orton
Alfred Molina
Kenneth Halliwell
Vanessa Redgrave
Peggy Ramsay
Wallace Shawn
John Lahr
Lindsay Duncan
Anthea Lahr
Julie Walters
Elsie Orton
Frances Barber
Leonie Orton
Janet Dale
Mrs Sugden
Margaret Tyzack
Madame Lambert
Eric Richard
Education Officer
Rosalind Knight
RADA Judge
Angus MacKay
RADA Judge
Linda Spurrier
RADA Instructor
Sean Pertwee
Orton's Friend
Charles McKeown
Mr Cunliffe
Selina Cadell
Miss Battersby
Antony Carrick
Counsel
Neil Dudgeon
Policeman
Richard Wilson
Psychiatrist
Stevan Rimkus
Kenneth
Michael Müller
BBC Actor 1
Steven Mackintosh
Simon Ward
Garry Cooper
Actor 1 – Mr Sloane
Roger Lloyd Pack
Actor 2
David Cardy
Brian Epstein
Noel Davis
Philip
Neville Phillips
Man in Gallery
Jonny Phillips
Youth Outside Lavatory
Richard Ireson
Man Outside Lavatory
Sian Thomas
Marilyn Orton
Karl Johnson
Douglas Orton
David Bradley
Undertaker
Joan Sanderson
Anthea's Mother
Neville Smith
Police Inspector
Spencer Leigh
Constable
John Salthouse
Chauffeur
Robin Hooper
Mortuary Attendant
Derek Jarman
Patrick Proktor (uncredited)
Derek Lyons
Library Patron (uncredited)
Oliver Stapleton
Director of Photography
Stephen Frears
Director
Debbie McWilliams
Casting
Stanley Myers
Original Music Composer
Alan Bennett
Screenplay
FENNEL
The Tower of Lies
Pavlínka
O Silêncio Que Você Faz
A Night without Light
Life and Death in Flanders
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
The Eleventh Commandment
Sense and Sensibility
Cabaret
Gone Baby Gone
The Guns of Navarone
Tell No One
Beautiful Thing
Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
The Count of Monte-Cristo
The Thing from Another World
Mermaids
Moulin Rouge
May
Damage
Radioactive
Glamour Dolls
The War Is Over
Dossier 51
Fortune Comes at Nine o'Clock
The Sum of All Fears
Nightwatching
My Father Marianne
The Eternal Feminine
101 Reykjavik
My Child
Bang Bang Baby
Porn Theatre
Super 8½
Grande école
I Love You, I Don't
Read It and Weep
Heart of Darkness
Muscle
The Story of O
The Disco Years
The Malatily Bathhouse
Tell Me No Secrets
Release
The Best Men
The Passion of Ayn Rand
Postmortem
Into the Night
Diferente
Serene Hunter
No Locked Doors
Butterfly in the Typewriter
Sea Glass
Život a dílo skladatele Foltýna
Život a smrt malíře Petra Jana B.
No soy nadie
The Rest is Flowers
Refracción
Fight Club
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Mysterious Skin
The Danish Girl
Midnight Cowboy
Night and the City
Boys Don't Cry
The Basketball Diaries
Stuart: A Life Backwards
Moonlight
Rocketman
The Long Good Friday
Suffragette
Starred Up
The Doors
The Boys in the Band
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Pariah
The Boys in the Band
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
Bully
Nickel Boys
Cracks
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Querelle
Brave the Dark
Wilde
Apt Pupil
Breath
Crash
The Glorias
My Brother the Devil
Jasper Jones
Mammal
Sebastian
The Dresser
Pimp
I Am Woman
Borstal Boy
Stonewall
The Krays
King Cobra
Apr 17, 1987
