Two Gentlemen Sharing
{{Short description|1969 American-British film by Ted Kotcheff}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Two Gentlemen Sharing
| image = Two_Gentlemen_Sharing_(1969).jpg
| caption =
| director = Ted Kotcheff
| producer = J. Barry Kulick
| screenplay = Evan Jones
| based_on = {{based on|Two Gentlemen Sharing|David Stuart Leslie}}
| starring = Robin Phillips
Judy Geeson
Esther Anderson
| music = Stanley Myers
| cinematography = Billy Williams
| editing = Derek York
| studio = Epstein-Kulick Productions
| distributor = Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors {{small|(UK)}}
American International Pictures {{small|(US)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1969|09|17|New York, US}}
| runtime = 105 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
United States
| language = English
| budget = £380,000Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974, p. 407–8. Another figure given in this book was £315,000 with Walker commenting "Some necessary re-recording expenses as well as deferred payments may account for the difference."
| gross =
}}
Two Gentlemen Sharing is a 1969 American-British drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff, starring Robin Phillips, Judy Geeson, Esther Anderson, Hal Frederick, Norman Rossington and Rachel Kempson.{{Cite web |title=Two Gentlemen Sharing |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150045874 |access-date=21 February 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/55665|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116222530/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/55665|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-16|title=Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969)|publisher=}} It was written by Evan Jones based on the 1963 novel of the same name by David Stuart Leslie.
Ted Kotcheff called it "the best film of what you might call my British period" and felt "it had a negative statement. It said that whites and blacks can't get along, mainly because we have too many misunderstandings, too many illusions and myths about each other." He felt this hurt it commercially as "people wanted an upbeat statement about the brotherhood of man."{{cite book|page=144-145|year=1989|title= Film directors on directing|last=Gallagher|first= John}}
The film was not theatrically released in the UK.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-four-cohen-vs-bryan-forbes-1969-71/|magazine=Filmink|access-date=24 January 2025|date=24 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Forgotten British Moguls – Nat Cohen Part Four: Cohen vs Bryan Forbes (1969-71)}}
Plot
An upper-class white Englishman is forced to confront his own feelings and prejudices when the London flat he advertises for sharing is taken up by an Oxford-educated black Jamaican.
Cast
- Robin Phillips as Roddy
- Judy Geeson as Jane
- Esther Anderson as Caroline
- Hal Frederick as Andrew
- Norman Rossington as Phil
- Rachel Kempson as Mrs. Ashby-Kydd
- Ram John Holder as Marcus
- Hilary Dwyer as Ethne
- Daisy Mae Williams as Amanda
- Philip Stone as Ethne's father
- Elspeth March as Ethne's mother
- Avice Landone as Roddy's mother
- David Markham as Roddy's father
- Shelagh Fraser as Jane's mother
- Earl Cameron as Jane's father
Production
The film was one of two movies jointly financed between Paramount and the National Film Finance Corporation, the other being Negatives.{{cite magazine|date=6 June 1968|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|url=https://archive.org/details/KineWeekly3165/page/128/mode/1up?|page=129|title=Production}}
Filming took place from May to June 1968. Garfield Sobers doubled for Hal Frederick in a cricket scene.{{cite news|title=Gary bats for the cameras|newspaper=Evening Post|date=31 May 1968|page=11}}
According to film critic and historian Alexander Walker, "Differences of opinion began almost as soon as it [the film] was finished, with Paramount insisting that the makers had not delivered the film ‘as scripted,’ and the latter asserting that it was essentially the same, allowing for the ‘inevitable’ changes in shooting due to second and presumably better thoughts, or the reshaping of scenes that did not work."Walker p 407
Jones commented, "I suppose they wanted another Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a film where white and black go off together into the sunset."Walker p 408
Paramount put the film up for sale. In August 1969 it was announced the film would be distributed in the US by AIP and in Britain by Nat Cohen's Anglo Amalgamated.{{cite news|newspaper=Edmonton Journal|date=6 August 1969|page=42|title=Studio acquires film rights}}
The film was selected for screening at the Venice Film Festival. However it does not appear to have been released in cinemas in Britain.Walker p 409
Critical reception
Variety wrote: "Film boasts a solid and well-chosen cast, strong physical values for such a medium-scaled item, and a racial story [from a novel by David Stuart Leslie] delivered with unhysterical acumen and, at times, with considerable barbed humor."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/two-gentlemen-sharing-1200421757/|title=Two Gentlemen Sharing|work=Variety|date=1 January 1969|publisher=}}
John Coleman wrote in the New Statesman: "Another stab at that colour problem. ... it was a pleasure to have a couple of laughs. Evan Jones's script is very alert at the beginning, when the posh black comes to share a flat with the posh white.{{Cite journal |date=12 September 1969 |title=Is Venice Sinking? |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1306938532/ |journal=New Statesman |volume=66 |pages=351 |via=ProQuest}}
Boxoffice wrote: "Chosen as the official British entry to the [1969] Venice Film Festival, this J. Barry Kulick productiona strong, adult story for mature audiences. It should click extremely well with art house clientele."{{Cite journal |date=29 September 1969 |title=Two Gentlemen Sharing |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1476048134/ |journal=Boxoffice |volume=95 |issue=24 |pages=a11 |via=ProQuest}}
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "There are few surprises on offer, but the film is competently acted."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=970}}
References
External links
- {{IMDb title|0065133}}
- [https://letterboxd.com/film/two-gentlemen-sharing/ Two Gentlemen Sharing] at Letterbox DVD
{{Ted Kotcheff}}
Category:American International Pictures films
Category:Films about race and ethnicity
Category:Films based on British novels
Category:Films scored by Stanley Myers
Category:1960s English-language films