The Boy Friend

The Boy Friend began life as Sandy Wilson's small-scale pastiche of British musical comedies of the 1920s. When the play was brought to America in 1954, its star was the teenage Julie Andrews. Because The Boy Friend requires a minimum of sets, props, and costumes, it has become a favorite of ...more

The Boy Friend is perhaps the most audience-friendly of Ken Russell's 1970s films; it is certainly the least intimidating and the most intentionally silly. It's also one of the more interesting adaptations of a stage musical, using the framework of a seedy troupe presenting +The Boy Friend and a famous Hollywood impresario imagining the work's film potential to supplement the original's coy spoofing. For a while, this works well, but by the midpoint, repetition sets in, especially in terms of ...more