The Killing of Sister George

Customer Reviews:

"But I am Margaret De Lorca!".......2005-08-06

By the time 1964 came around Bette Davis was having career resurgence. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? was a huge hit for her and Joan Crawford; therefore, it was only logical that both actresses would be offered a variety of quasi horror and gothic-like roles. While Dead Ringer isn't really a horror film, it certainly has enough spooky and unnerving elements to involve the viewer and create an atmosphere of foreboding.

Is Dead Ringer a piece of B grade junk designed as a vehicle for a fading star's last gasp at glory? Or is it a cleverly wrought psychological thriller, made redeemable by the presence of a true star and great actress? Well, the answer is probably a bit both - theres no doubt that movie has elements of a second rate melodromatic thriller, but the film is also surprisingly tense and in the end provides a perfect showcase for the glamorous Ms. Davis to do what she does best.

Dead ringer is ultimately a campy gothic thriller about estranged twin sisters Margaret and Edith (Davis, playing both roles). The film begins with a funeral for Margaret's husband who has just died of heart failure. When the wealthy Margaret invites Edith back to her mansion in Westwood it is soon revealed that the insensitive, social-climbing Margaret actually stole Edith's insanely rich beau away from her and has since been living the high-life while Edith struggles to keep her run-down nightclub afloat.

With her rent three months in arrears and frantic for money, Edith hatches a desperate plan to murder her own sister by making it look like suicide. Thinking that she can just walk in and take over her life, Edith scrambles to carry off the masquerade, pretending she knows Margaret's safe combination by heart, or that she can differentiate between the mansion's hundred rooms, all the time trying to figure out what sort of person Margaret really was.

There are lots of surprises as Edith gradually discovers that Margaret possessed a lot of dark secrets that she was desperate to hide. Murder, betrayal, and infidelity all follow with Edith ultimately learning a hard lesson: when you adopt someone's assets, you must also accept their liabilities, for better or for worse. Viewers are in for such side attractions as Davis slapping checkbooks across rooms, contemplating burning her own hand with a red-hot fire poker, and even shoving herself backwards into a chair.

The supporting cast is strong with Carl Malden competently playing an affable, nice-guy cop who is in love with Edith, and just can't believe that she'd ever commit suicide. Jean Hagen absolutely chews up the scenery as a blithely indecent social butterfly and Estelle Winwood is terrific as a dour, doily-wearing Bible-thumper.

But in the end, Dead Ringer totally belongs to the commanding Bette Davis. This is one of her campiest and most ham-fisted roles ever, and where she's at her chain-smoking, eye popping, and out of control best.

Excellent doppleganger thriller with the Queen of the genre.......2001-01-18

Clever and well acted horror with Bette Davis playing the roles of Dead Ringer sisters. Imitated since many times, it has a Hitchockian sense of inevitability as Davis' conniving is unravelled in short order by the maid, her twin sister's lover and the policeman. Lots of delicious irony,and the acting is first rate- an excellent morality tale. Davis fans (without spoiling it) will love the hairbrush scene. The acting of Marlden is first rate and there are deliciously camp cameo roles from the supporting cast.

The Killing of Sister George [1968] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Groundbreaking!
Beryl Reid's finest hour
Moooooooo
BERYLLIANT !!
Disappointing

The Killing of Sister George [1968] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Beryl Reid , Susannah York , Coral Browne , Ronald Fraser , and Patricia Medina
Director: Robert Aldrich
Manufacturer: MGM
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009X7BGY
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Amazon.co.uk Review

"Sister George" within The Killing of Sister George is Britain's best-loved soap opera character, played by actress June Buckeridge (Beryl Reid). Buckeridge has become so identified with her character--a sweet old Miss Marple-ish nurse who putters around her quaint little village on a motor scooter--even her friends call her George. But outside the studio she's a hard-drinking, hot-tempered, foul-mouthed lesbian living with an immature young thing she's nicknamed "Childie" (Susannah York, who makes her memorable entrance in a sheer baby-doll nightie). At her worst Sister George is an abusive monster (in a moment of rage she forces Childie to eat the butt of her cigar) but beneath the bluster is an insecure television actress. When the studio decides to kill her character off and an executive makes a play for Childie, the soap star desperately clings to her young lover. Director Robert Aldrich, best known for his tough action films and gothic thrillers, brings his fierce vision of human nature to Frank Marcus's play . In its best moments the film simmers in angry suspicion and helpless frustration, brought to life by Reid's vivacious performance but other scenes are overlong and stage-bound and would have benefited greatly from judicious trimming and tightening. The caricatured portrayals of lesbian life have aged rather poorly--an inevitable sign of the times--but this acidic show-biz drama still carries a hefty emotional punch. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Groundbreaking!.......2006-10-14

This film is absolutely brilliant and completely groundbreaking. It's hard to believe that it takes a small country like Great Britain to produce the best movies but we certainly showed Hollywood a thing or two back in the sixties when we were the centre of the universe. The performances and storyline in this faultless piece of celluloid make it unmissable and one that anybody would be proud to own in their DVD collection.

Beryl Reid's finest hour.......2006-05-16

This is a film which is very much a product of its time (1968)and yet also seems more innovative and contemporary than most of today's movies. Beryl Reid's portrayal of an alcoholic soap star whose career and personal life are falling apart is flawless and she is more than ably supported by her co-stars Susannah York and Coral Browne.

This film is memorable on so many levels. Along with vividly recapturing 1960's 'Swinging' London, it also gives a rare and fascinating insight into the lesbian scene, as the scenes were filmed in the famous Gateways Club. However, the most striking aspect of this film is the harrowing and moving portrayal by Reid and York of two women in a disintegrating relationship.

Beryl Reid manages to strike the right balance between tragedy and comedy, managing to be fearless and outrageously funny in one scene, whilst seeming broken and pathetic in the next.

One trivia fact: this film was made with the proceeds from Robert Aldrich's previous film, 'The Dirty Dozen'. This may seem an unlikely successor, but remember that Aldrich also directed the wonderful 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'

Moooooooo.......2004-11-17

As a young teenager back in 68 or 69, I sneaked into the theater to see this film; a film I had read about as being very controversial. It caught me and I've never been free of it since. I cannot say much more than this; a film which I saw back in 1968/69 as a 14/15 year old, which I continue to watch over and over again is a very powerful film. Sister George and Alice "Childie" McNaught will always be with me. I was shocked by the scene where Alice must show her contrition for having caused George unnecessary aggravation, loved the Laurel & Hardy skits, opened up my mind at the Gateways Club, and felt wretchted at the final scene. The Killing of Sister George, a film which has been with me for 35 years.

BERYLLIANT !!.......2004-08-02

Don't let the fact this film deals with lesbianism put you off; it is about any couple who have been together too long and moved apart with time and events: the principals could just as well have been two gay men or an heterosexual couple.

Messrs. Reid, York and Browne turn out superlative performances, and Beryl Reid as the lead gets my vote as one of the best screen portrayals of all time. Certainly it is hard to sympathise with Reid's character (June Buckridge/Sister George), but you have to be dead from the feet up not to be moved by the heart-rending finale, largely brought about by her own inability to cope with the break-up of her world and, it has to be said, her self induced destruction.

George's language is quite strong at times, and the one sex scene has us sharing Mrs. Croft's (Coral Browne) dry throat and pounding heart as she gives way to her awakening sexuality. Only the depiction of the lesbian club looks really dated but, hey, it WAS nearly 40 years ago, and all the spot-on dialogue and situations could just as well happen today (and probably do within many a relationship, gay or otherwise) and stand up well!

Previous reviewers have rather missed the point, focusing on the relatively unimportant role stereotyping (butch v pretty) and the heavy make-up typical of the era, the fact being that this is not a "pretty" film, and wasn't meant to be; hopefully, anyone having read them has given it a chance anyway, and been glad they did.

The DVD is crisp and clear, and the lack of extras (inevitable in a film of this age), though regretable, does not detract. A "must have" for anyone genuinely interested in character acting at it's best, and one that transcends time.

Disappointing.......2003-08-12

Beryl Reid was a fine comedy actress, but a little unrestrained in this film. Wearing what seems to be the same tweed suit all the way through the movie, she's not very convincing as Susannah York's lover. Sadistic, self obsessed George isn't as sympathetic a character as Aldrich would like her to be. Reid, York and Coral Browne's faces are shot too close up; their make up looks sticky and they're badly lit.Some of the supporting cast are good, but the huge Aussie PA should have been replaced the minute she opened her mouth! The gratuitous "sex" scene is a joke, Browne "tweaks York's naked chest like she's looking for Radio 3" as some reviewer said at the time of the film's release.On the plus side, Mrs Croft arriving at Gateways is wildly funny and Reid shines in the scene where George realises they've written her out of a couple of shows. No extras on DVD except cast/crew bios, what a shame.

Average customer rating:

Groundbreaking!
Beryl Reid's finest hour
Moooooooo
BERYLLIANT !!
Disappointing

The Killing Of Sister George [1968]
Starring: Beryl Reid , Susannah York , Coral Browne , Ronald Fraser , and Patricia Medina
Director: Robert Aldrich
Manufacturer: Prism Leisure
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059RMT
Release Date: 2002-04-08

Amazon.co.uk Review

Customer Reviews:

Groundbreaking!.......2006-10-14

Beryl Reid's finest hour.......2006-05-16

Moooooooo.......2004-11-17

BERYLLIANT !!.......2004-08-02

Disappointing.......2003-08-12

The Killing of Sister George [1968] (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Groundbreaking!
Beryl Reid's finest hour
Moooooooo
BERYLLIANT !!
Disappointing

The Killing of Sister George [1968] (NTSC)
Starring: Beryl Reid , Susannah York , Coral Browne , Ronald Fraser , and Patricia Medina
Director: Robert Aldrich
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video

All Gay & Lesbian | Gay & Lesbian | Categories | DVD | Video

Comedy | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video

Comedy | Classics | Categories | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004KHDT
Release Date: 2000-02-22

Amazon.co.uk Review

Customer Reviews:

Groundbreaking!.......2006-10-14

Beryl Reid's finest hour.......2006-05-16

Moooooooo.......2004-11-17

BERYLLIANT !!.......2004-08-02

Disappointing.......2003-08-12

Killing of Sister George (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Killing of Sister George (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Manufacturer: Mgm Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0792867874
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Average customer rating:

Daniel Steele's Kaleidoscope [1990]
Starring: Bruce Abbott , Angelo Celeste , Claudia Christian , Colleen Dewhurst , and Patricia Kalember
Manufacturer: Starz/Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0013NAMIS
Release Date: 2008-04-08

Average customer rating:

Killing of Sister George (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Beryl Reid
Manufacturer: Video Treasures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305757887
Release Date: 2000-02-22

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