HotToastyRag Where do I start with Georgy Girl? There's so much to love about this movie. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, and for years, the name Georgina was at the top of my baby names list. In essence, it's about a girl, who isn't classically beautiful and who has very low self-esteem, learning who she is and what she wants out of life.Lynn Redgrave, in an Oscar-nominated role, stars as Georgy. She puts so much into her character to make Georgy likable and accessible to the audience. A modern Georgy would undoubtedly have so much attitude it would be sickening, but Lynn's attitude is almost farcical. She sasses Bill Owen, her father, but not because she has any real hatred or meanness in her heart; she's just acting like a kid who feels ashamed that her parent isn't proud of her. It's tricky to play a late-coming-of-age character without the audience thinking you're just enormously immature, and Lynn nails it. She's curious, afraid, self-deprecating, hopeful, and gutsy. Obviously, this is a very personal film to me, and obviously I'm partial to Lynn Redgrave's character rather than Charlotte Rampling's. Those who favor the other side might not like the movie as much.Charlotte Rampling plays Lynn's roommate and pseudo-friend. She's everything Lynn's character isn't: beautiful, thin, sexy, controlled, and calculating. She and her boyfriend Alan Bates are easy to hate, but since Lynn hasn't grown into her own yet, she insists on hanging out with them and comparing herself to Charlotte. While it is very black-and-white about which is the good and bad girl, Charlotte is still written as a realistic character. There are people out there who are just as vile and heartless as she is.James Mason, also in an Oscar-nominated role, steals the screen starting with the fantastic build-up to his entrance scene. In the original novel, James Mason's character is written to be very large and unappealing, which is the largest change from the page to the screen. James, even though he has a few miles on him, is enormously appealing. He's charming, witty, generous, patient, and above all, he appreciates Georgy in ways no one else does. He's so fantastic in this movie, it's impossible to dislike him, even though it's obvious he wouldn't have even been cast if it weren't for Lolita. Only James Mason's wonderfully imitative voice can deliver the lines with their full potential. "She was a beautiful woman . . . beautiful, tolerant, civilized . . . and about as exciting as a half brick." "Lace! Lots of, you know, lace!" And there's my favorite, a quote so famous in my house, we say it almost as often as we say "James Mason" in his own accent: "I'm forty-nine. Notice that, not fifty." Seriously, no one but James Mason can say "forty-nine" in such a quotable way.Everyone knows I'm partial to older men, but it's not my bias that adores James Mason in Georgy Girl. He's incredibly charming, powerful, and observant; the sparks fly between him and Lynn so much that even a benign peck on the cheek feels like a master seduction. Georgy Girl is a classic sixties comedy-drama, complete with awkward music, and a newfound focus on sex that ten years earlier wouldn't have been shown on film. Pregnancy, abortion, premarital sex-only in 1966 could these topics be so tactfully treated. Any earlier and they'd have to be written out of the script; any later and they'd be treated more explicitly and without tact. Any remake of Georgy Girl would have several gratuitous sex scenes, when the lengthy kiss scenes in the 1966 film are clear enough for the plot's purpose. Margaret Forster, authoress of the original novel, and Peter Nichols have written a timeless classic that doesn't shy away from taboo topics and treats them with the gravity they deserve.Whether you rent it because you've never heard of James Mason and are in the mood for a new celebrity boyfriend, or because you know what it's like to feel and be treated like you're ugly, or because you need inspiration to come out of your shell, you'll be in for a wonderful movie night. Plus, you'll get to see Lynn Redgrave doll up in full '60s splendor and belt, "It takes a whole lot of lovin' just to keep this baby happy!" while dancing her way down the staircase.

George Wright I saw this movie recently and realized I missed one of the most underrated shows of the 1960's. It was also a pleasure to see the talents of Allan Bates, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason and Lynn Redgrave together, with the backdrop of London in a time of change. I found Lynn Redgrave's performance was outstanding in the role of a likable girl we can all relate to: a diamond in the rough who cannot find romance because she isn't glamorous. Yet she has huge talent and interacts amazingly well in the scenes with the small children in her charge. Some of these scenes are absolutely delightful. Then there is the scene where she pops out of the background and does and solo performance for guests at a party. What an amazing talent! Charlotte Rampling was the opposite of Georgy--beautiful, popular, flitting around from party to party and yet, unhappy. She got along well with the stay at home Georgy and the two opposites were good friends. Allan Bates, as boyfriend to both, was superb in his role as a decent young man whose energy is totally out of control. Rampling and Bates represent the restless youth of the sixties and issues related to abortion, sex, and the conflict with London society. James Mason was his usual, restrained self, a pillar of the London scene, yet sexually frustrated and essentially unhappy. He thought he found a fix for his malaise in Georgy. But Georgy knew her own mind and was more than a match for the older man. Some loose ends are left untied and the movie does come to a surprising conclusion. All in all, fine entertainment and a movie that shows the currents of change in the 1960's.

st-shot This kitchen sink, Richard Lester hybrid with it's chart busting tune makes a mighty attempt to masque sad tragic and venal lives with frivolity in swinging London in the 60s.Frumpy, got no expectations Georgy (Lynn Redgrave) is pursued by parents recently widowed employer, James Leamington (James Mason ) to be his mistress. She opts out to make the scene with care free Joe (Alan Bates) and Merideth . When Merideth gives birth to Joe's child she rejects it. Georgy steps in and takes the child to raise along with Joe before returning to Mr Leamington with an ultimatum.The undercurrent of ugliness soon overwhelms the lighter moments of this film centered around four individuals operating at various levels of deceit between each other as well as themselves. They are all desperate in their own way and act accordingly.The four leads do a fine job of annoying with Mason adding to his formidable reputation as a pathetic cad. Bates is a touch too zany and Redgrave a tad too naive but Charlotte Rampling's coldness and contemptuous Merideth is both despicable and riveting.Stripped down Georgy Girl is a grim drama in a callous world as gray as the London sky that it's filmed in but it's smug carefree treatment discounts both the humanity and believability that is conveyed for most of the film's length in an ambiguous and uneven fashion.

Syl I do have complaints about the film but Lynn Redgrave's portrayal of outcast, Georgina better known as Georgy to her friends and family is absolutely wonderful. Lynn was truly a wonderful actress in film, stage, and television. In this film, she actually steals the spotlight from everybody else. Charlotte Rampling is also wonderful as her sister, Meredith. Bill Owen is great in his role as Georgy's father. We see little of Rachel Kempson, the lady of the house. Sir Alan Bates and James Mason play the men who entice Georgy's affections. The film is a British cinema classic of it's time and era. The cast is first rate but the writing could have been better as well. I kind of feel like the ending was a bit vague regarding her future and happiness. This film was really Lynn's best performance. She shattered the myth about the shy girl by making her multi-dimensional and alive. She is missed today and will always be.