A Taste of Honey (1961)
Director Tony Richardson adapted the screenplay of A Taste of Honey from the kitchen sink stage play by Shelagh Delaney. Rita Tushingham plays a working-class British teenager, living with her drink-sodden, libertine mother Dora Bryan.
Denied affection by her selfish mother, Tushingham is pushed further in the background when Bryan impulsively marries her latest boyfriend Robert Stephens. The girl takes a job at a shoe store, then moves in with her kindly homosexual employer Murray Melvin.
The two lost souls live in harmony until Tushingham becomes pregnant after a casual affair with black sailor Paul Danquah. Melvin comes to the rescue by offering to look after the baby.
This relatively blissful state of affairs is short-lived; before long, Tushingham's hateful mother, having been kicked out by Stephens, descends upon her daughter and her family, with all her debilitating emotional baggage intact. A poignant denouement caps this riveting slice-of-life drama.
| Director: | Tony Richardson |
| Studio: | Continental Distributing Inc. |
| Cast: | Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Murray Melvin, Robert Stephens |
