The Killing of Sister George

June Buckridge (Beryl Reid) is an audience favourite on British TV soap Applehurst, yet she is the complete opposite of her staid television character Sister George: she smokes cigars, drinks heavily, causes offence with her brazen manner, and is in a butch-and-femme relationship with the much younger “Childie” (Susannah York), a relationship which appeals to a powerful BBC producer (Coral Browne). Aldrich’s first production for his own studio caused controversy with its open portrayal of a lesbian relationship. The mainstream press and sections of the (pre-)LGBTQ+ movement rejected the tragicomedy, while others hailed it as a pioneering work, not least for the authentic scenes set at legendary London lesbian nightclub Gateways. What was overlooked was what Aldrich considered his “perhaps finest directorial work:” the multi-layered portrait of a defiant outsider in a hostile world of corrupt “normality.” Although it was the first X-Rated film to top the box office in the US, THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE did not make enough money. Aldrich blamed the new rating, against which he sued, spending $75,000 out of his pocket on legal fees in vain: “So there was a curtain in front of that picture. No matter how good it is, it was dirty because it was an X film.” (Christoph Huber)

Courtesy of the Finnish National Audiovisual Archive.

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