The Boy Friend (1971)

Why so much hype?

A different way of telling a story

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The Great Beast of British cinema ,the eccentrics' eccentric,the mavericks' maverick,Michael Winner with visual flair....whatever your opinion of Mr K.Russell he should be regarded as more than just a purveyor of "Ken Russell Films" In "The Boyfriend" he ventured far outside what may be considered his comfort zone and came up with what maybe considered the best British musical film ever made - although that maybe unintentionally damning it with faint praise. It parades his usual flamboyance without being rococo,his flair for mixing visual images with music and his ability - when he cares enough about a project - to get his cast to act out of their skins. In the 1950s Sandy Wilson,along with Julian Slade put provincial bums on seats in London theatres with tuneful,carefree shows and revues. Frothy and gay they might have been but we lapped them up. Leave the theatre,walk along the Embankment to a Hot Pie Stall,mingle with a few "real cockneys" then hurry back to Victoria to catch the midnight train, flushed with our own daring. The sort of people - in short - Mr Russell hated. He got his own back fifteen years later by deflowering our beloved"The Girlfriend" and many older theatregoers never forgave him for it. But he turned her into a smart,snazzy,funny,brash and entertaining film that will make you leave the cinema happier than when you went in. And to me that's the primary object of any film. Life's depressing enough without paying good money to get even more depressed....right?

strangely the 'Boyfriend' comes off as a sort of wholesome Hallmark Valentine's Day card. strange because the director Ken Russell is usually ANYTHING other than wholesome. it's not that the film isn't without a certain amount of farcical sophistication, but it's ultimately harmless and mostly comes off as sly wit and cartoonish humour. after all, this movie received a "G" rating when first released. a far cry from Russell's other film released around this time, 'The Devils', which received a controversial 'X' rating for a mainstream studio release.i've loved the 'Boyfriend' for so long and am well familiar with it, that i wondered when i bought the recent DVD release, if i would still have the same spontaneous enjoyment that the film elicits. well i loved it just as much and laughed just as hard as i usually do at the sardonicism of it's life philosophy. i always appreciate the sarcastic wit of this whole thing so much because basically, the intended outcome seems to be all sweetness and gooey cuteness. the contrasting result continues to strike me as thought provoking and lethally funny.'The Boyfriend' chooses to be lethal and unnervingly cynical about it's humour because the film chooses reality and realism for it's narrative. even though the musical numbers are often fanciful, most of them occur on stage or in the vivid imagination of the viewer and it's girl protagonist, with whom the viewer is mostly led to identify with. nothing is ever out and out far fetched. even the over the top, crazy behavior of it's ensemble of characters, isn't really all that exaggerated considering how crazy life gets for many. especially theater types. viewing 'The Boyfriend' from a perspective of realism, is part of why it's so funny.and boy oh boy is this one funny. at least for me. it's just about the funniest comedy i've ever seen. a lot of the humour is outright, but mostly i think it's appeal is as a thinking man's comedy. at least that's who i think would appreciate this movie most. thoughtful people willing to reflect on the movie's almost constant run of insights. but don't reflect too much because it really does get a little too funny too handle when thought about because of the way it dismantles so many preconceived notions on just about everything from philosophy to film and musical aesthetic. even it's idea of what's funny is often at the expense of society itself.but it is sweet. and very romantic. and in the long run nobody gets trumped beyond anything they can't deal with. except for maybe the play's hapless producer and director who is told his show ultimately disappoints.for me personally, the genius of Ken Russell is legendary. i don't always agree with his perspective or what i see, but it's always visually arresting and thoughtful and of great technical superiority. 'The Boyfriend' will always and forever be my very favorite film musical and film comedy. as well as one of my top favorites in general. i'm also hopelessly in love with the twig chick. Happy Valentines Day 2012.

Back in my college daze, we always got totally stoned to go see Ken Russell movies...I mean, so stoned that once you found your seat, you didn't dare get up, because you might never find your way back. And those Ken Russell movies always delivered quite a trip.Rewatching The Boyfriend on TCM (a much longer print that I had seen before) induced quite a flashback. The various levels of reality (from backstage melodrama to Busby Berkeley fantasias) act rather like a powerful hallucinogen...first you're giddy, then bored, then it's way too intense and you just want it to end, but you know there are hours and hours to go, then it gets groovy again, then tedious, and on and on and on.Surely the strangest sequence is the "Room in Bloomsbury" farrago where we're suddenly on the mushroom planet...and how the heck did we get here, and will we ever find our way back? It's sorta cool, but mostly creepy. More shrooms, dude?And rather like a bumpy drug trip, after it's finally over and you come down, you're not sure you'll want to do that again anytime soon.But...hey...anyone up for rewatching "The Devils"?

Ken Russell got the rights to an insignificant stage musical and respun it into this bizarre curio. He made it a show within a show, about a bunch of rotten actors over-performing "The Boyfriend" to a mogul who watches from the audience. It's atrocious, but it's like nothing you've ever seen before, having the same "what the hell is this?" quality of most of Russells work. It's hideously overproduced (with a wink) as a tribute to Busby Berkely. (Don't ask.) There are knowing goofs throughout, like taking the absurdly tall Tommy Tune and putting him in vertical stripes and a stovepipe hat - hysterical. It's nutritionally empty but what do you want... a straight version of the play had no better hopes.I have seen this exactly once on late night TV in the early 80s. And that's precisely its merit - a movie you would have been grateful to stumble across late at night. Although it was reviled at the time, I definitely remember laughing a lot. Where's the DVD?