This film is part of Rentals
Boys and Girls Together
Extraordinary 1970s sexploitation film, groundbreaking in its portrayal of interracial and homosexual sex.
Director: Ralph Lawrence Marsden
Overview
A real curio of 1970s sexploitation, this tonally bizarre and often slapdash short feature is nevertheless groundbreaking in its portrayal of a sexually fluid, multiracial group of twentysomethings shacked up in a Hampstead boarding house. Sexual frustration builds, as Indian Lily, German Ilsa, Singaporean Jat, West Indian Leroy, American Dan and Brit Jenny eye each other up, masturbate, and eventually come together in 'surprising' combinations. Though brief, the gay scenes are remarkable since two men having sex was then unheard of in British porn. The film's climax sees the couples revert to heteronormativity in a softcore hippy orgy on Hampstead Heath.
The film is valuable for its locations too: elsewhere in Hampstead, look out for the King William IV, among London's oldest gay pubs, where Jat and Leroy watch a drag show; and a glimpse of 1970s Soho, then the hub of Britain's porn industry. Produced as a supporting feature by Welsh porn baron David Sullivan's Roldvale company, Boys and Girls Together was shown alongside Boney M's Disco Fever and Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions, but quickly sank without trace.
Related
The Pass The Pass
Drama 2016 86 mins Director: Ben A. Williams
Russell Tovey stars as a Premier League footballer who shares a fumbled pass (of the sexual kind) with a teammate (Arinzé Kene), changing everything - both on and off the pitch.
Entertaining Mr Sloane Entertaining Mr Sloane
Comedy 1970 94 mins Director: Douglas Hickox
Joe Orton’s delicious slice of suburban perversity, in which Beryl Reid’s lascivious landlady and her gay brother attempt to seduce their psychopathic tenant.
Entertaining Mr Sloane Entertaining Mr Sloane
1968 81 mins Director: Peter Moffatt
Surprisingly risqué TV adaptation of one of Joe Orton’s best known plays, filmed shortly after his murder.
Wild Flowers Wild Flowers
Romance 1989 68 mins Director: Robert Smith
Robert Smith's Wild Flowers is an exquisite drama set at the funeral for a daughter, where her mother remembers the passionate yet painful affair she once had with another woman in Scotland.
The Book of Gabrielle The Book of Gabrielle
Drama 2016 79 mins Director: Lisa Gornick
Lisa Gornick's funny and frank drama sketches the relationship between a sex-obsessed lesbian illustrator and a randy hetero author, who bond over their favourite subject.
50 Years Legal 50 Years Legal
Documentary 2017 77 mins Director: Simon Napier-Bell
Five decades on from the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, a range of LGBTQ+ stars (including Sir Elton John and Stephen Fry) reflect on Britain's history of prejudice, persecution and liberation.
No Other Land No Other Land
Documentary 2024 92 mins Director: Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
This powerful documentary from a Palestinian-Israeli collective might be one of the most important films of this year.
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.
Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
The Critic The Critic
Period drama 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).
Special People Special People
Comedy 2008 74 mins Director: Justin Edgar
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.