Brimstone and Treacle (1982)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1982
Running Times: 87 mins
Format: Technicolor
Ratio:
Sound: Dolby

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Namara Films / Pennies From Heaven Films / Sherwood
Executive Producer: Naim Attallah
Producer: Alan E. Salke, Herbert F. Solow, Kenith Trodd

SCRIPT
Script: Dennis Potter

DIRECTION
Director: Richard Loncraine
1st Assistant Director: Jonathan Benson
3rd Assistant Director: Terence Fitch

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Peter Hannan
Grip: Dennis Fraser
Gaffer: Roy Rodhouse
Electricians: Brian Sullivan, Toby Tyler, Les Weighell
Chargehand Electric: Reg Parsons
Camera Focus: Colin Davidson
Clapper Loader: Stefan Stankowski
Stills: David Farrell
Camera Equipment: Joe Dunton Cameras
Lighting: Lee Electrics

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Paul Green

MUSIC
Music: Sting, Michael Nyman
Music Recorded At: Anvil-Abbey Road Studios, London

SONGS AND ADDITIONAL MUSIC
"Only You"
Performed by Sting

"How Stupid Mr Bates"
Performed by The Police

"A Kind of Loving"
Performed by The Police

"I Burn For You"
Performed by The Police

"We Got the Beat"
Performed by The Go-Gos

"Up the Junction"
Performed by Squeeze

"Spread a Little Happiness"
Composed by Vivian Ellis
Lyrics Clifford Grey & Greatrex Newman
Sung by Sting
Published by Chappell Music Ltd.

SOUND
Sound Recording: Tony Jackson
Sound Editor: Alan Bell
Dubbing Mixer: Hugh Strain
Boom Operator: John Ralph
Sound Assistant: Rosie Straker
Assistant to Dubbing Editor: Jacques Leroide
Dubbing: Delta Sound Services Ltd

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Elaine Carew
Hair: Maureen Stephenson
Costumes: Shuna Harwood
Wardrobe: Brian Cox

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Milly Burns
Art Director: Norman Garwood
Set Construction: Lee Apsey, Dennis Bovington, Alan Grenham, Robert Harper, Craig Hillier, Ron Lenoir, John McGuigan, Roy O'Connor
Property Master: Ray Perry
Standby Props: John Cole
Property Storeman: Ray Rose

OTHER CREW
Continuity: Penny Eyles
Production Accountant: Bob Blues
Assistant to Producer: Kathy Sykes (uncredited)
Assistant to Director: Maria Apodiacos
Production Assistant: Jean Hall
Unit Publicist: Linda Levy

LOCATIONS
Locations: Shepperton Studio, England, UK
Location Manager: Joanna Collins

CASTING
Casting: Simone Reynolds

CAST
Sting (Martin Taylor)
Denholm Elliott (Thomas Bates)
Joan Plowright (Norma Bates)
Suzanna Hamilton (Patricia Bates)
Benjamin Whitrow (businessman)
Dudley Sutton (stroller)
Mary MacLeod (Miss Holdsworth)
Tim Preece (clergyman)
Elizabeth Bradley (passer-by)
Hugh Walters (man)
Christopher Fairbank (drunk)

PLOT SUMMARY

Tom and Norma Bates, a middle-aged couple living in suburban Britain, care for their teenaged daughter Patricia, paralysed in a traffic accident. Tom - who caused the accident that left his daughter an invalid - meets a mysterious young man, Martin, who charms his way into the Bates household, suggesting that he be allowed to look after Patricia. But is Martin all he seems to be?

CAPSULE REVIEW

A typically black and controversial tale from the pen of Dennis Potter, perennial enfant terrible of British television. The performances are uniformly impressive (even Sting), but Denholm Elliott is particularly excellent as the guilt-ridden father, spitting out Potter's venomous outbursts on God and faith as if he really believes them. But Brimstone and Treacle never really overcomes its roots as a television play (the BBC version remains far superior), director Richard Loncraine trying to compensate for the restrictions of the script with some wholly inappropriate camera trickery.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: United Artists Classics

Finland
Rating: K-16

Norway
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: R

1982
Montréal World Film Festival
Grand Prix des Amériques (Richard Loncraine) - winner (tied with Tiempo de revancha (1981))

1983
February
25: Finland - theatrical release

Brimstone - working title

REMAKE OF
Brimstone and Treacle (1976)

MAGAZINES

Films In Review January 1983 pp.47-48 (USA)
review

Total Film September 1998 p.98 (UK)
review (by Dan Rider)

BOOKS

Fight and Kick and Bite: The Life and Work of Dennis Potter p.350
credits

Horror and Science Fiction Films III pp.37-38
credits

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

morality, paralysis, rape, religion, remakes

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008