Gregory's Girl

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Gregory's Girl

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bill Forsyth
Produced by Clive Parsons
Written by Bill Forsyth
Starring
Music by Colin Tully
Cinematography Michael Coulter
Editing by John Gow
Studio Scottish Television
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 23 April 1981 (1981-04-23) (UK)
Running time 91 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £200,000 [1]
Box office £25,786,112

Gregory's Girl is a 1981 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan. The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill district of Cumbernauld. Clare Grogan's performance helped promote her career, as she was in the band Altered Images at the time of the film's release.

Gregory's Girl was ranked #30 in the British Film Institute's list of the top 100 British films and #29 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high school movies.[2]

Plot

Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair) is an awkward teenager who plays in his school football team. They are not doing very well, so the coach (Jake D'Arcy) holds a trial to find new players, with Gregory being moved to goal. Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), turns up and, despite the coach's sexist misgivings, proves to be a very good player. She subsequently takes Gregory's place as centre forward, and Gregory in turn replaces his friend Andy (Robert Buchanan) as goalkeeper.

Gregory is all for her making the team, as he finds her very attractive. However, he has to compete for her attention with all the other boys who share the same opinion. Gregory initially confides in his best friend Steve (William Greenlees), the most mature of Gregory's circle of friends, and asks him for help in attracting Dorothy. Steve, however, is unable to assist him.

Acting on the advice of his ten-year-old sister, Madeleine (Allison Forster), he awkwardly asks Dorothy out on a date. She accepts, but Dorothy's friend, Carol (Caroline Guthrie), shows up at the rendezvous instead and informs Gregory that something had come up; Dorothy will not be able to make it. He is disappointed, but Carol talks him into taking her to the chip shop.

When they get there, she hands him off to another friend, Margo (Carol Macartney), and leaves. By this point, he is rather confused, but goes for a walk with the new girl. On their stroll, they encounter a waiting Susan (Clare Grogan), another of Dorothy's friends, and Margo leaves. Susan confesses that it was all arranged by her friends, including Dorothy. She explains, "It's just the way girls work. They help each other."

They go to the park and talk. At the date's end, Gregory is more than pleased with the girl he ended up with, and the two kiss numerous times on his doorstep before calling it a night and arranging a second date. Madeleine, Gregory's sister, who had been watching from the window, quizzes him on his date.

Gregory's friends, Andy and Charlie (Graham Thompson), are even more inept with girls but see Gregory at various times with three different apparent dates, and are envious of his seeming success. They try to hitchhike to Caracas, where Andy has heard the women greatly outnumber the men, but fail at that as well.

Cast

John Gordon Sinclair portrays awkward teenager Gregory.

Production

Many of the young actors were members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre, and had appeared in Forsyth's earlier film, That Sinking Feeling (1980), including Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, and John Gordon Sinclair. Hepburn was spotted by Forsyth dancing in a television commercial for a Scottish department store,[3] and after casting given six weeks of intensive football training at Partick Thistle F.C.[4]

Filming of exterior scenes at Gregory's school took place at Abronhill High School. As the film had a small budget, the actors supplied many of their own clothes; Hepburn's white shorts were borrowed from her sister. A person in a penguin costume is seen at various points in the film for no apparent reason. Inside the suit was Christopher Higson, son of production manager Peter Higson.

The film was re-dubbed with rather Anglicized Scottish accents for the original American theatrical release. Both versions are available on the American DVD release.

The films cast reunited for the 30th anniversary of its release in 2010,[5] and a clip from the film featuring Hepburn was part of the opening ceremony from the London 2012 Summer Olympics.[6]

Reception

Critical response

Film critic Roger Ebert liked the film's direction, and wrote "Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl is a charming, innocent, very funny little movie about the weird kid. ... The movie contains so much wisdom about being alive and teenage and vulnerable that maybe it would even be painful for a teenager to see it. ... Maybe only grown-ups should see this movie. You know, people who have gotten over the pains of unrequited love (hollow laugh)."[7]

The staff at Variety liked the work of the young cast and Forsyth's direction, and wrote, "Filmmaker Bill Forsyth, whose friendly, unmalicious approach recalls that of René Clair, is concerned with young students (in particular, a soccer team goalie, Gregory) seeking out the opposite sex. ... As Gregory, John Gordon Sinclair is adept at physical comedy. Hepburn is properly enigmatic as the object of his desire, with ensemble approach giving Greg's precocious 10-year-old sister played by Allison Forster a key femme role."[8]

Critic Richard Skorman wrote, "Forsyth does a good job of making light of the tender part in [Gregory's] teenage psyche, and his friends and little sister in particular are quirky and lovable. Unlike the film's American counterparts, Gregory's Girl is refreshingly free of mean-spirited characters and horny young studs bemoaning their virginity."[9]

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 92% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on thirteen reviews."[10]

Awards

Wins
Nominations

Sequel

A sequel, Gregory's Two Girls, was released in 1999, with Sinclair reprising the role of Gregory, who by then was a 35-year-old teacher in his former secondary school. It received mixed reviews and has never been released in North American cinemas or on DVD in this region.

References

  1. ↑ Norman, Barry. "Barry Norman's 101 greatest films: romance". Immediate Media Company Limited. Retrieved 12/11/2012. 
  2. ↑ "The 50 Best High School Movies". Entertainment Weekly (ew.com). 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Frances Hardy (9 February 2013). "Why Gregory's Girl Dee Hepburn turned her back on fame". Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Dee Hepburn". STV. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 
  5. ↑ Jane Graham (4 March 2010). "Gregory and his girls reunited in Glasgow". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 
  6. ↑ Tim Walker (29 July 2012). "Gregory's Girl goes for Olympic gold". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 
  7. ↑ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, January 1, 1981. Accessed: December 3, 2007.
  8. ↑ Variety, film review, January 1, 1982. accessed: December 3, 2007.
  9. ↑ Skorman, Richard. Off-Hollywood Movies, film review of Gregory's Girl, page 162. New York: Harmony Books, 1989. ISBN 0-517-56863-2.
  10. ↑ Gregory's Girl at Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed: March 25, 2008.

External links

Films directed by Bill Forsyth
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