Directed by:
Peter MedakCinematography:
Ken HodgesCast:
Alan Bates, Janet Suzman, Joan Hickson, Peter Bowles, Murray Melvin, Sheila Gish, Constance Chapman, Fanny Carby, Jill GoldstonPlots(1)
The plight of an English couple struggling to raise a disabled child is given a darkly humorous treatment in this English comedy. Based on the successful stage play by Peter Nichols, the film centers on the parents of Jo, nicknamed "Joe Egg," a mentally challenged invalid subject to violent seizures. The couple (played by Alan Bates and Janet Suzman) attempts to maintain a stoic and occasionally cheerful facade in the face of their daughter's condition, but they find themselves unable to cope with the strain. Faced with the imminent collapse of their marriage, they eventually agree that euthanasia may be the answer to their troubles. Some viewers may consider the subject matter inappropriate for comedy, but the film mines its uneasy laughter not from the child's plight but from the eccentricities of the parents' reactions. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Alan Bates
UK
Best movies:
The Rose (1979)
Alexis Zorbas (1964)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)
Janet Suzman
South Africa
Best movies:
And the Ship Sails On (1983)
The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Joan Hickson
UK
Best movies:
Trouble in Store (1953)
Man with a Million (1954)
Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987) (TV movie)
Peter Bowles
UK
Best movies:
Blow-Up (1966)
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Murray Melvin
UK
Best movies:
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Jonathan Creek (1997) (series)
H.M.S. Defiant (1962)
Sheila Gish
UK
Best movies:
Jonathan Creek (1997) (series)
Highlander (1986)
Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973)
Constance Chapman
UK
Best movies:
O Lucky Man! (1973)
The Patricia Neal Story (1981) (TV movie)
Hedda (1975)
Fanny Carby
UK
Best movies:
The Elephant Man (1980)
Florence Nightingale (1985) (TV movie)
Middlemarch (1994) (series)
Jill Goldston
Best movies:
Aliens (1986)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)