The Go-Between

PG

Released Jul 29, 1971

1 hr. 56 min.

Drama

List

100%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In this period drama, British teenager Leo Colston (Dominic Guard) spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on the beautiful young aristocrat Marian (Julie Christie). Eager to impress her, Leo becomes the "go-between" for Marian, delivering secret romantic letters to Ted Burgess (Alan Bates), a handsome neighboring farmer. However, when Marian becomes engaged to Hugh Trimingham (Edward Fox), a local viscount, all their lives are altered.

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Premiered Jun 29

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Alec B

It always feels completely honest both in regards to the time period and the characters. Glad they had the good sense to incorporate the novel's outstanding first line.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/09/24

Full Review

gioconda d

Great art direction but moves very slowly

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/05/24

Full Review

Leaburn O

I was looking forward to this having picked up and just finished an old Penguin edition of Hartley's novel. The book is excellent despite the slowly unravelling plot. The film naturally omits large parts of the book but in so doing makes the whole thing feel even more overwrought. I'm not sure the film quite makes enough sense with the sections omitted and to leave out the sensational ending in the film was very frustrating. The way that Marian's conversations with an older Leo are interwoven simply doesn't work and feels confusing. That should have been an epilogue to the film as per the book. However, Pinter does a good job otherwise in being fairly true to the novel. Annoyingly like many other films, it simply doesn't live up to the original material. I bought this one on DVD a long time back and finally got round to watching. It is the penultimate film I have to watch on the BFI Top 100 British film list.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/27/23

Full Review

Mat L

Lucky you if you haven't seen it yet. All the best gathered to create this perfect movie, one of the very best ever made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolutely one of the most disconnected, pointless pieces of dreck I’ve seen in some time! Most of the scenes were strung together without any hint of coherency while the dialogue made virtually no sense. Oh, and the acting was absolutely contrived given the strength of the cast!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/01/21

Full Review

Tom M

Thoughtful romance/drama and rather typical of the British period pieces of the late sixties and seventies where everyone is left unhappy.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/16/21

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Joseph Losey

Director

Julie Christie

Marian

Alan Bates

Ted Burgess

Dominic Guard

`'Leo'` Colston

Margaret Leighton

Mrs. Maudsley

Michael Redgrave

Leo Colston

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Margaret Hinxman

Daily Telegraph (UK)

What I saw on the screen is, I think, a masterpiece: the peak toward which Losey has been striving, experimenting, discarding and overdoing it, during 20 odd stormy years as a film-maker.

Mar 11, 2020

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Joseph Losey's The Go-Between is about class distinction and its warping effect upon the life of one small boy... Losey and his screenwriter, Harold Pinter, are terribly observant about small nuances of class.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 7, 2018

Full Review

David Elliott

Chicago Daily News

The Go-Between, taken from L.P. Hartley's novel, is also facile but in the best sense, and more a work of genuine sensitivity. It's a vignette, nothing more -- but of the kind that changes a man's life forever.

Oct 3, 2023

Full Review

Brian Viner

Daily Mail (UK)

[A] powerful coming-of-age story.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 25, 2020

Full Review

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Both Losey and Pinter are less interested in the romance itself than in the way its illicit nature exposes the class divide.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 3, 2019

Full Review

Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

A script which feels both authentic and slightly edgy.

Sep 16, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

In this period drama, British teenager Leo Colston (Dominic Guard) spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on the beautiful young aristocrat Marian (Julie Christie). Eager to impress her, Leo becomes the "go-between" for Marian, delivering secret romantic letters to Ted Burgess (Alan Bates), a handsome neighboring farmer. However, when Marian becomes engaged to Hugh Trimingham (Edward Fox), a local viscount, all their lives are altered.

Director: Joseph Losey
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios, EMI Films Ltd.
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 1971, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 28, 2010

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