Based on David Percival’s acclaimed play Girlfriend, Girl Stroke Boy is a one-of-a-kind comedy which tells of two everyday, middle-class parents who are confounded when their son brings home his new partner: an elegant, confusingly androgynous West Indian (actor and pop star Peter Straker in a pioneering performance).
Directed with an affectionate, light touch by Bob Kellet (Up Pompeii, Space: 1999) and featuring a superb cast, including Joan Greenwood (Mysterious Island, Kind Hearts and Coronets), Michael Hordern (The Missionary, Barry Lyndon), Patricia Routledge (To Sir, with Love), and Clive Francis (A Clockwork Orange), Girl Stroke Boy still packs a punch today thanks to Straker’s flamboyant performance (British cinema’s first gay leading role to be played by a black actor) and the prescient subject matter. Long out of circulation, this new, restored edition marks the film’s worldwide Blu-ray premiere.
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Supplements
- As Simple as That (2022, 14 mins): actor and pop star Peter Straker recalls his experience of making the film
- The BEHP Interview with John Scott (2018, 99 mins): far-reaching discussion of the composer’s work, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project
- Ahead of Its Time (2022, 17 mins): film historian and curator Alex Davidson considers the impact and relevance of Girl Stroke Boy
- A Couple of Beauties (1971, 29 mins): innuendo-laden comedy short starring Manchester-based female impersonator Bunny Lewis
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with new essay by Jane Giles, archival interview with Peter Straker, a look at the reception of the source play Girlfriend, an overview of contemporary critical responses, new writing on A Couple of Beauties, and film credits