Year: 1987
Running time: 110 min.
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Stephen Frears
Screenwriter: Alan Bennett. Biography: John Lahr
Cast: Gary Oldman as Joe Orton · Alfred Molina as Kenneth Halliwell · Vanessa Redgrave as Peggy Ramsay · Frances Barber as Leonie Orton · Janet Dale as Mrs
Music: Stanley Myers.
Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton
Producer: Zenith Productions, Civilhand
Genre: Drama. Comedy | Gay & Lesbian. 1960s
Synopsis: This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. (Hal Erickson: All Movie Guide)
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