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The Killing of Sister George

Play trailer Poster for The Killing of Sister George R 1968 2h 17m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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59% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
June is an actress who portrays the popular Sister George in a British soap opera. The actress spends her time drinking and engaging in lesbian sex with her much younger lover Alice. A television executive decides she likes Alice and wants to write Sister George off the show. June watches as her behavior and insecurity drives Alice away.

Critics Reviews

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Melissa Anderson Film Comment Magazine 03/19/2018
Aldrich's film endures not because it's an example of bad, pre-Stonewall homo images but because of its sly way of celebrating. Go to Full Review
Pat Graham Chicago Reader 04/24/2009
Robert Aldrich's "daring" 1968 mating of lesbianism and commerce was, as I recall, considered pretty tame even then; lord knows what it looks like today. Go to Full Review
Harold Clurman The Nation 10/03/2023
The spurious seriousness of the picture spoils the comedy, while its brave assault on convention is little but hollow show. Go to Full Review
Barbara Grier The Advocate 05/24/2022
The Killing of Sister George... has almost as much relationship to the life of the ordinary Lesbian, as Donald Duck has to the ordinary man. Go to Full Review
Harvey G. Cox Tempo (National Council of Churches) 01/07/2021
The acting is uneven. The camera work and direction is listless. Some scenes drag on endlessly. The film is utterly forgettable. Go to Full Review
Penelope Houston The Spectator 07/18/2018
It's Beryl Reid and Susannah York drifting dismasted towards caricature. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Alec B 02/28/2024 Reid gives a brilliant performance (we're very lucky that more famous people passed on the role) which doesn't shy away from the character's uglier tendencies while, at the same time, getting you to at least partially sympathize with her alienation. See more PridePosterStudios 09/20/2023 Psycho. Lesbian. Trope. See more 03/02/2021 This groundbreaking movie was released December 1968. The Children's Hour with Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn had been released seven years before. Marlon Brando portrayed a closet a homosexual in 1967's Reflection in a Golden Eye the year before. "...Sister George" is a sincere attempt by director Robert Aldrich to show culture of people, not a social or psychological "problem" film. The movie could have been trimmed in places to speed up the action. The love scene between Coral Brown and Susannah York is shot like a thriller. However the performances are florid and vivid. Beryl Reid is heartbreaking. The story is fascinating. Most importantly of all, there is no suicide or conversion to "normal" heterosexuality at at the end. All the characters develop and move on. This film is worth a look. Just keep it in context. See more steve d 07/17/2020 Shocking at the time, now the performances hold it together. See more 01/27/2014 aldrich's attempt at tackling controversy considered tame by today's standards. See more 04/07/2013 very groundbreaking for its time, landmark of a movie. a should-watch, quite the cult classic. See more Read all reviews
The Killing of Sister George

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Movie Info

Synopsis June is an actress who portrays the popular Sister George in a British soap opera. The actress spends her time drinking and engaging in lesbian sex with her much younger lover Alice. A television executive decides she likes Alice and wants to write Sister George off the show. June watches as her behavior and insecurity drives Alice away.
Director
Robert Aldrich
Producer
Robert Aldrich
Screenwriter
Lukas Heller, Frank Marcus
Distributor
Cinerama Releasing Corporation [us]
Production Co
Palomar Pictures, The Associates & Aldrich Company Inc., American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 12, 1968, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Aug 23, 2005
Runtime
2h 17m