Georgy Girl

Georgy Girl is a 1966 British black-and-white romantic comedy film directed by Silvio Narizzano and starring Lynn Redgrave, Alan Bates, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, and Rachel Kempson (Redgrave's mother). It was written by Margaret Forster and Peter Nichols based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Forster. The film tells the story of a virginal young woman in 1960s Swinging London, who is faced with a dilemma when she is pursued by her father's older employer and the young lover of her promiscuous, pregnant flatmate. Grossing $16.8 million, Georgy Girl was a box-office success, and it also spawned a hit theme song.

Plot
Georgina "Georgy" Parkin is a 22-year-old Londoner who has musical talent, is well-educated, and has an engaging, unpretentious character. She has an inventive imagination and loves children. At the same time, she believes herself to be plain and overweight, dresses haphazardly, and is incredibly naïve on the subjects of love and flirtation, having never had a boyfriend. Her parents are live-in employees of businessman James Leamington, who is in a loveless, childless marriage with the sickly Ellen.

Leamington watched Georgy grow up and treated her as if he were her second father, but as she has become a young woman, his feelings for her have become more than fatherly. On his 49th birthday, Leamington offers her a legal contract, proposing to supply her with the luxuries of life in return for becoming his mistress. Georgy sidesteps his proposal.

Her flatmate is the beautiful Meredith, who is a violinist in an orchestra. While she is out on dates with other men, Georgy entertains her boyfriend Jos Jones, on whom she has developed a crush.

When Meredith discovers that she is pregnant by Jos, they decide to get married, even though she tells him that she has previously aborted two of his children and only wants to marry because she is "bored". After the wedding, Jos moves in with Meredith and Georgy, becomes disillusioned with Meredith, and finds himself attracted to Georgy. Meanwhile, although she uses Leamington's interest in her to convince him to buy several expensive items for the baby, and Ellen dies suddenly, Georgy does not sign Leamington's contract.

In the midst of an argument with Meredith over her cavalier attitude to her pregnancy, Jos kisses Georgy and tells her that he loves her. Georgy flees the apartment, and Jos follows her into the streets of London, shouting his love for her. The two return to the flat, where they have sex, after which Peggy, a neighbor, tells Jos that Meredith has gone into labour, and he and Georgy go to the hospital.

Although Georgy feels guilty, she continues her affair with Jos while Meredith is in the hospital. Meredith has no interest in her daughter, Sara, and has tired of Jos, so she announces that she plans to put the child up for adoption. When Georgy sees Sara, she is smitten.

Georgy and Jos bring Sara back to the flat. It quickly becomes clear that Georgy cares more for the baby than for Jos, and their relationship ends when Jos tires of a father's responsibilities and abandons Georgy and his baby. Now that Georgy is the sole caregiver of a child to whom she has no blood ties, Social Services wishes to remove Sara from her care.

Leamington has been following the developments in Georgy's life. When he mentions modifying his contract to accommodate the recent changes, Georgy, seeing an opportunity to keep Sara, gets him to propose marriage. As the newlyweds are chauffeured away from the church on their wedding day, Georgy ignores Leamington, devoting all of her attention to Sara.

Locations
Several of the film's scenes were filmed in north London, in Belsize Park and Little Venice, notably outside a canalside house on Maida Avenue.

Title song
The title song, written by Tom Springfield and Jim Dale, was recorded by Australian band The Seekers. A single release of the song (with different lyrics) topped the singles chart in Australia, and was a top 10 hit in both the UK (#3) and the U.S. (#2 for two weeks). It was the 56th biggest British hit of 1967, and the 57th biggest American hit of 1967. The song became a gold record, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song.

Box office
The film was successful at the box office. By 1967, it had earned an estimated $7 million in the United States and $6 million in other countries. By the end of 1967, it had earned $7,330,000 in North America in rentals accruing to the distributors.

Critical
Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times: "Georgy Girl is a striking example of what could only be achieved with a uniquely right performer in the crucial rule. ... The screenplay is generously spangled with truly wonderful throwaway lines, delicious plot surprises and lovely quirks of character."

Variety wrote: "Miss Redgrave has a pushover of a part, and never misses a trick to get that extra yock, whether it's her first passionate encounter with Alan Bates or her fielding of Mason's amorous overtures. She's consistently on target, and hits the bullseye all along the line. Mason adeptly displays that wealth is an important factor in getting one's girl. Bates makes a breezy lover and husband, though the scene in which he pursues his quarry through London, stripping on the way, is rather way out, Charlotte Rampling is fine as the attractive, bitchy flat mate, Bill Owen and Rachel Kempson [sic] add effective contributions as the parents. A lively score, brisk editing and excellent lensing, contribute to a well-made commercial picture."

British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Frantic black farce which seemed determined to shock, but has a few good scenes once you get attuned to the mood. A censorship milestone."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote of the film: "Another swinging London story filled with people running through London late at night, dancing madly in the rain, and visiting deserted children's playgrounds to ride on the roundabouts. In style a poor imitation of various 'new wave' exercises, it has a slick line in repartee which amuses at first until its shallowness becomes apparent. The continual jokes about Georgy's size, for example, tend to pall after numerous repetitions. Nor does the film have much continuity. It proceeds in triangular jerks from scene to scene, linked tenuously and loudly by continuous snatches of music to keep the action going. The potentially excellent cast and the promising comedienne talent of Lynn Redgrave can do little in the face of such opposition from both script and direction."

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film four stars out of five, writing: "At the time a sexual showstopper, this can now be seen as an unconscious parody of Swinging Sixties chic. It is saved from mere shock novelty by Lynn Redgrave's performance as the dowdy girl pursued by older employer James Mason, who finds her own identity looking after the illegitimate baby of flatmate Charlotte Rampling. Former TV director Silvio Narizzano piles on the tricks of cinematic trendiness, but it's the acting that stabilises the story into something memorable from a boringly self-conscious era."

Adaptations in other media
The film was the basis for an unsuccessful 1970 Broadway musical titled Georgy.

In 2013, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 by Rhiannon Tise.