Main Cast: Cindy Burrows, Emma Schlesinger, Kimi Tallmadge, Patrick Thornberry, Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft, Maurice Denham
Release Year: 1971
Country: UK
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
This British film examines the choices individuals must make when confronted with a romantic relationship which is rewarding but does not offer them everything they want. In this sympathetic and psychologically precise drama, Alexandra Greville (Glenda Jackson), "Alex" to her friends, has a younger man as her sometime lover, the young sculptor Bob Elkin (Murray Head). Elkin is completely open about the fact that he is also the lover of her acquaintance, Dr. Daniel Hirsch (Peter Finch). These relationships continue in some kind of equilibrium until Alex and Bob agree to house-sit the children of a couple known to the three of them. In their roles, neither Head nor Finch "swished," or otherwise catered to homosexual stereotypes, and theirs was considered to be a groundbreaking, sympathetic portrayal of this kind of relationship, not condescending in any way. One highlight of the film is a scene in which Dr. Hirsch attends the Bar Mitzvah of his nephew. This critically well-received movie was unexpectedly successful at the box office. The film's director and screenwriter, as well as Jackson and Finch, were nominated for Academy Awards. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
An honest look at the changing attitudes toward sexual identity in the early 1970s, Sunday Bloody Sunday rises above the standard hot-button topical melodrama, thanks to some sensitive performances from its leads. Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch are both outstanding as the two lovers of the same man; Finch in particular imbues his character with a quiet dignity. Though somewhat less skilled, Murray Head is still surprisingly effective as the center of the romantic triangle. Director John Schlesinger made his name with 1969's Midnight Cowboy, another film which dealt with controversial homosexual issues; Sunday is less urgent than Cowboy, but no less perceptive. Both Jackson and Finch garnered Academy Award nominations, as did Schlesinger and New Yorker film reviewer Penelope Gilliatt. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Vivian Pickles - Alva Hodson; Thomas Baptiste - Prof. Johns; George Belbin; Caroline Blakiston - Rowing Woman; Tony Britton - George Harding; June Brown - Woman Patient; Marie Burke - Aunt Astrid; Ellis Dale; Daniel Day-Lewis - [uncredited]; Gabrielle Daye; Edward Evans; Jon Finch - Scotsman; Ann Firbank - Party Guest; Harold Goldblatt - Daniel's Father; Peter Halliday - Her Husband; Douglas Lambert - Man At Party; Bessie Love - Answering Service Lady; Hannah Norbert - Daniel's Mother; Richard Pearson - Middle-Age Patient; John Rae; Robert Rietty - Daniel's Brother; Frank Windsor - Bill Hodson; Russell Lewis - Timothy Hodson; Richard Loncraine - Tony, Bob's Partner; Royce Mills; Joe Wadham; Cindy Burrows - Alex as a Child; Emma Schlesinger - Tess Hodson; Kimi Tallmadge - Lucy Hodson; Patrick Thornberry - Baby John Stuart Hodson
Credit
Norman Dorme - Art Director, Jocelyn Rickards - Costume Designer, Simon Relph - First Assistant Director, John Schlesinger - Director, Richard Marden - Editor, Ron Geesin - Composer (Music Score), Douglas Gamley - Musical Direction/Supervision, Freddie Williamson - Makeup, Luciana Arrighi - Production Designer, Billy Williams - Cinematographer, Joseph Janni - Producer, Simon Kaye - Sound/Sound Designer, Penelope Gilliatt - Screenwriter, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Featured Music
A Jewish doctor, Daniel Hirsh (Finch) and a young woman, Alex Greville (Jackson) are both involved in a love triangle with the same person, Bob Elkin (Head). Not only are Hirsh and Greville aware that Elkin is seeing the other, but they know each other through mutual friends. Despite this, they are willing to put up with the situation through fear of losing Elkin, who switches freely between them.
For Greville, the relationship is bound up with a growing disillusionment about her life, failed marriage and uneasy childhood. For Hirsh, it represents an escape from the repressed nature of his Jewish upbringing. Both realise the lack of permanence about their situation, and it is only when Elkin decides to leave the country that they both come face to face (for the first time in the narrative, and at the very end). Despite their opposed situations, both come to realize that it is time to move on.
The film is significant for its time period, in that Finch's character is normal and relatively well adjusted (aside from his being distraught over the impending departure of Elkin), and is not particularly upset by or obsessed with his homosexuality.
Alan Bates was the original choice made by John Schlesinger for the role of Daniel Hirsh, the homosexual doctor. However he was held up filming The Go-Between (1970) and was replaced first by Ian Bannen and later by Peter Finch. However, the role of Daniel was written as that of a much younger man.
Several actresses (including Dame Edith Evans and Thora Hird) politely refused the part of Glenda Jackson's mother, Mrs. Greville, because they thought the project was too risqué. Peggy Ashcroft accepted after the director explained to her the elements of the story and she gladly signed on.
Ian Bannen was fired from the role of Daniel Hirsh shortly after filming began. Apparently, he was so nervous about what kissing another actor on screen might do to his career, he could not concentrate enough to even get going with the part. He later said that losing the role set back his career, and regretted it till his death.
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis made his film debut at the age of 14 in this film as a vandal in an uncredited role. He described the experience as "heaven", for getting paid £2 to vandalize expensive cars parked outside his local church.
