The Leather Boys [Blu-ray]

Director: Sidney J. Furie Sidney J. Furie

Overview

Dot (Rita Tushingham) is a girl who marries motorcycle maven Reggie (Colin Campbell) to escape her parents' influence. The marriage gets off to a rocky start and completely slides downhill after the honeymoon is plagued by bad weather. Dot refuses to have anything to do with household responsibilities and cooks only canned beans. Reggie loses interest in sex with Dot because of her actions, and after moving in with his grandmother, he begins to hang around Pete (Dudley Sutton). The two friends ride their motorcycles and begin to spend even more time together, and eventually Reggie realizes that Pete is a homosexual. Dot tells Reggie she is pregnant in an attempt to get him back -- with no result, but when Reggie comes home to find his wife in bed with another man, he decides to go off to sea with Pete. Pete leaves Reggie shaken and alone when he goes off with a group of sailors out to satisfy their same-sex lust. The film was controversial at the time of its initial release.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/29/2021
UPC:	0814456023304
Original Release:	1963
Rating:	NR
Source:	American Genre Film
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	31,584

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Rita Tushingham	Dot
Colin Campbell	Reggie
Dudley Sutton	Pete
Gladys Henson	Gran
Avice Landone	Reggie's Mother
Lockwood West	Reggie's Father
Betty Marsden	Dot's Mother
Martin Matthews	Uncle Arthur
Johnny Briggs	Boy Friend
James Chase	Les
Geoffrey Dunn	Mr. Lunnis
Dandy Nichols	Mrs. Stanley
Valerie Varnam	Brenda
Jill Mai Meredith	June
Elizabeth Begley	Receptionist
Brian Phelan	Man-in-Jeans
Oliver MacGreevy	Merchant Seaman
Sylvia Kay	Schoolteacher
Sandra Caron	Schoolgirl
Tracey Rogers	Schoolgirl
Carmel McSharry	Bus Conductor
Joyce Hemson	Publican's Wife
Denholm Elliott	Actor
Avice Landon	Actor
Bill McGuffie	Composer

Technical Credits

Gillian Freeman

Sidney J. Furie	Director
Raymond Stross	Producer
Gillian Freeman	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Perhaps more fascinating as a time capsule than as a cinematic drama, The Leather Boys nevertheless deserves attention for daring to treat homosexuality "fairly" in 1963. Leather isn't about homosexuality: it's about friendship, relationships and maturity. But the fact that the film acknowledged one of the characters was gay and was interested in another of the leading characters is very progressive for the time. Granted, modern audiences will find the portrayal of subsidiary gay characters stereotyped and offensive; but the main gay character, Pete, is arguably the most well-formed of the trio of leads, which helps to counterbalance the later lisping. Leather also deserves credit for its "realist" aspirations and for its willingness to look at the bleak options available to many British youth of the period. What keeps Leather from being more effective as drama is a tendency to go overboard in its treatment of the material: a little more subtlety and nuance would have been most welcome. If director Sidney J. Furie can't correct this flaw in the writing, he does give the film an atmospheric look and presents the actors to good advantage. Rita Tushingham and Colin Campbell both do very well as the young marrieds, and Dudley Sutton is even better as the "third wheel."