The Leather Boys

Infobox Film
name = The Leather Boys


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director = Sidney J. Furie
producer = Raymond Stross
writer = Gillian Freeman
narrator =
starring = Rita Tushingham
Colin Campbell
Dudley Sutton
music = Bill McGuffie
cinematography = Gerald Gibbs
editing = Reginald Beck
distributor = British Lion-Columbia
released = January 1964
runtime = 108 min.
country = United Kingdom
language = English
budget =
gross =
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amg_id =
imdb_id = 0057244

"The Leather Boys" is a 1964 British drama film showing a biker gang which had in it a gay member. This film is notable as an early example of a film that violated the Hollywood production code, yet was still shown in the United States, as well as an important film in the genre of queer cinema.

A hybrid of British kitchen sink realism and American biker film, it was considered daring in 1964 as it touched upon homosexuality, however obliquely. Some reviewers have noted that it contains naturalistic photography and [ [http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=1717 dOc DVD Review: The Leather Boys (1963) ] ] period locations [ [http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=6306&reviewer=325 Movie Review - Leather Boys, The - eFilmCritic ] ] .

The film is based on a novel commissioned by the London literary agent and publisher Anthony Blond. [ [http://www.trashfiction.co.uk/leather_boys.html The Leather Boys ] ] [ [http://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/article/107620/Book_Review_Jew_Made_in_England.html Book Review: Jew Made in England | Culture | Houses for sale, properties for sale - Country Life ] ] He suggested that Gillian Freeman write about a "Romeo and Romeo in the South London suburbs". [ [http://www.martinforeman.com/pages/mfrvleat.html Review of The Leather Boys (Gillian Freeman) by Martin Foreman ] ]

The film plot was changed considerably, presumably to make it more palatable to 1964 movie-goers. Only one of the main male characters is gay in the film (with Reggie leaving Pete upon finding out his sexuality at the film's end) but, while neither has a happy ending, in the novel there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the love between Pete and Reggie.

The book was published in 1961 under the pseudonym Eliot George [ [http://www.trashfiction.co.uk/leather_boys.html The Leather Boys ] ] --an inversion of the famous 19th century female author, Mary Ann Evans, who published as George Eliot. Freeman is credited in the film as the author of the screenplay based on the novel of Eliot George.

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*imdb title|0057244