A Taste of Honey

"We don’t ask for life. We have it thrust upon us."

1961 1h 40m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 118

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual.

“We don’t ask for life. We have it thrust upon us.”

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Cast

Rita Tushingham
Jo
Murray Melvin
Geoffrey Ingham
Paul Danquah
Jimmy
Dora Bryan
Helen
Robert Stephens
Peter Smith
Michael Bilton
Landlord
Eunice Black
Schoolteacher
David Boliver
Bert

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tony Richardson
Writers: Shelagh Delaney, Shelagh Delaney, Tony Richardson
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

65 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tony Richardson, shot by Walter Lassally. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Addison. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin and Paul Danquah carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "We don’t ask for life. We have it thrust upon us.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0055506 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tony Richardson directs. Walter Lassally behind the camera. John Addison scores. Antony Gibbs cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
265 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Tony Richardson, shot by Walter Lassally. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Addison. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin and Paul Danquah carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "We don’t ask for life. We have it thrust upon us.".
8IMDB entry: tt0055506 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "friendship", "single parent", "parent child relationship", "based on play or musical".

The technical file

Cinematography: Walter Lassally
Original score: John Addison
Editing: Antony Gibbs
Makeup / hair: George Frost
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Status: Released
Budget: $153,814
Original language: EN
IMDB: A Taste of Honey (1961)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Tony Richardson

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2022-11-09
★ 6/10
I guess this movie holds a strong place in cinematic history. It may have been the first movie where all the scenes, indoors and out, were filmed on location. And it was certainly bold with plot details such as having a gay main character and an interracial relationship for the main character. Mostly I liked A Taste of Honey just fine. The main character Jo had spunk and a quick tongue, neither of them are a bad thing, though I got a little tired of her woe is me attitude, especially where her mother was concerned. Clearly her mother put herself first when it came to choosing and giving preference to low life men, but she also showed at times that she loved Jo, who probably could have helped her own cause by not being such a royal pain the the butt in nearly every interaction with her. She could count her blessings: her classmates seemed to like her, she had a decent boss in her new job, and a new ally when she met Geoffrey, who she she also moped and complained to a lot of the time. To my ear, the soundtrack seems wildly inappropriate at times, not fitting in with my sense of the scenes, but it perhaps reflects the interests in music of the early 60s. The film was perhaps ahead of its time and can be commended on multiple fronts there, but I fear it will not make a lasting impression upon me.

Production companies