THE GO-BETWEEN Movie Review

In the early 1900s, Leo (Dominic Guard), a young boy spending the summer with an aristocratic family on their British estate, becomes involved in an affair between a beautiful young member of the household (Julie Christie) and her lower-class, secret lover (Alan Bates). Leo is persuaded to carry notes between the two lovers—there is a price to pay, however, for what at first seems to the boy simply a game. Caught up in the secrecy of his mission, and eager to be a slave to the exquisite, enchanting Christie, Leo pursues his mission with zeal, unaware of how seriously the society around him regards class differences—and unaware of what a dangerous game he is really playing. L.P. Hartley's novel was adapted by Harold Pinter (who can't seem to resist tossing in his patented technique of tinkering with chronology, recently parodied on Seinfeld) and directed with restraint and admirable clarity by Joseph Losey. Bates and Christie are remarkable (it could be your only chance to hear Bates sing Gilbert and Sullivan), as is young Dominic Guard. But the show belongs to Margaret Leighton as Christie's quietly terrifying mother, waging war to protect the privileges of her class at all costs. The film is beautifully photographed by Gerry Fisher, and Michel Legrand's score is, unfortunately, overbearing.

NEXT STOP… Betrayal, Butley, Howards End

1971 (PG) 116m/C GB Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard, Margaret Leighton, Michael Redgrave, Michael Gough, Edward Fox; D: Joseph Losey; W: Harold Pinter; C: Gerry Fisher; M: Michel Legrand. British Academy Awards ‘71: Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Fox), Best Supporting Actress (Leighton); Cannes Film Festival ‘71: Best Film; Nominations: Academy Awards ‘71: Best Supporting Actress (Leighton). VHS COL