Prick Up Your Ears

1987
R
1h 45m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

6.6K

YOUR RATING

Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, and Vanessa Redgrave in Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.

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Biography Drama

Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, ... Read allBiographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

6.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards
- 5 wins & 8 nominations total

Trivia
As well as being an actor, Wallace Shawn (John Lahr) is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. Until her 1991 death, his theatrical agent was Margaret Ramsay, who was also Joe Orton's agent, and is portrayed in this movie by Dame Vanessa Redgrave.

Goofs
When Joe's agent first meets him in 1964, she asks him how he's been supporting himself. He tells her he's on public assistance, getting £3.10 per week. New pence weren't introduced until 1971. However, in the pre-decimal era, "Three pounds ten" would have been understood as "Three pounds and ten shillings", the present-day equivalent being £3.50. For example, "Maggie Mae", recorded by the Beatles in 1969 but based on a much older traditional song, includes the line "Two pounds ten a week, that was my pay."

Quotes
[Halliwell puts his hand on Orton's leg. Orton brushes it off]
Joe Orton: No. Have a wank.
Kenneth Halliwell: Have a wank? Have a wank? I can't just have a wank. I need three days' notice to have a wank. You can just stand there and do it. Me, it's like organizing D-Day. Forces have to be assembled, magazines bought, the past dredged for some suitably unsavoury episode, the dog-eared thought of which can still produce a faint flicker of desire! Have a wank, it'd be easier to raise the Titanic.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Making Mr. Right/Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn/Secret of My Success/Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Soundtracks
Dancing Hearts
Music by Stanley Myers
Lyrics by Richard Myhill
Arranged by Richard Myhill

User reviews36

Review

Featured review

Essential Joe Orton Bio

The single best biographical film I've ever seen. Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, and Vanessa Redgrave are all brilliant. (Check out Simon Callow's book "Love Is Where It Falls" for more information on the Vanessa Redgrave character.) Much of the last third of the film is difficult to take, but it is nevertheless essential viewing for anyone interested in Joe Orton. And it needs to be said that there is real joy in the film as well -- particularly in the mischievous looks that cross Oldman's face while cruising tea rooms. Has any other het actor played gay so utterly convincingly?