Gregory's Girl
Encyclopedia
Gregory's Girl is a 1981 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film
written and directed by Bill Forsyth
.
The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill
district of Cumbernauld
. It features Gordon John Sinclair
, Dee Hepburn
, and Clare Grogan
, among others. Grogan's role helped promote her career, as she was in the band Altered Images
at the time of the film's release.
Gregory's Girl was ranked #30 in the British Film Institute
's list of the top 100 British films
and #29 on Entertainment Weekly
s list of the 50 best high school movies.
Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair
) is an awkward teenager who plays in his school football team. They are not doing very well, so the coach (Jake D'Arcy) holds a trial to find new players, with Gregory being moved to goal. Dorothy (Dee Hepburn
), turns up and, despite the coach's sexist misgivings, proves to be a very good player. She subsequently takes Gregory's place as centre forward and Gregory in turn replaces his friend Andy (Robert Buchanan
) as goalkeeper.
Gregory is all for her making the team, as he finds her very attractive. However, he has to compete for her attention with all the other boys who share the same opinion. Gregory initially confides in his best friend Steve (William Greenlees), the most mature of Gregory's circle of friends, and asks him for help in attracting Dorothy. Steve, however, is unable to assist him.
Acting on the advice of his 10-year-old sister, Madeleine (Allison Forster), he awkwardly asks Dorothy out on a date. She accepts. However, Dorothy's friend, Carol (Caroline Guthrie) shows up at the rendezvous instead and informs Gregory that something had come up; Dorothy will not be able to make it. He is disappointed, but Carol talks him into taking her to the chip shop. When they get there, she hands him off to another friend, Margo (Carol Macartney) and leaves. By this point, he is rather confused, but goes for a walk with the new girl. On their stroll, they encounter a waiting Susan (Clare Grogan
), another of Dorothy's friends, and Margo leaves. Susan confesses that she had wanted to date Gregory and that it was all arranged by her friends, including Dorothy. She explains, "It's just the way girls work. They help each other."
They go to the park and talk. At date's end, Gregory is more than pleased with the girl he ended up with and the two kiss on his doorstep before calling it a night and arranging a second date. Madeleine, Gregory's sister, quizzes him on his date.
Gregory's friends Andy and Charlie (Graham Thompson), who are even more inept with girls, see him at various times with no fewer than three beauties, and are envious of his seeming success. They try to hitchhike to Caracas
, where Andy has heard the women greatly outnumber the men, but fail at that as well.
.
As the film had a small budget, the actors supplied many of their own clothes. Dee Hepburn's white shorts were borrowed from her sister.
The film was re-dubbed
with rather Anglicized Scottish accents for the original American theatrical release. Both versions are available on the American DVD
release.
Many of the young actors were members of the Glasgow
Youth Theatre, and had appeared in Forsyth's earlier film, That Sinking Feeling (1980), including Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, and John Gordon Sinclair.
A person in a penguin costume is seen at various points in the film for no apparent reason. Inside the suit was Christopher Higson, son of production manager Peter Higson.
liked the film's direction, and wrote "Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl is a charming, innocent, very funny little movie about the weird kid.... The movie contains so much wisdom about being alive and teenage and vulnerable that maybe it would even be painful for a teenager to see it.... Maybe only grown-ups should see this movie. You know, people who have gotten over the pains of unrequited love (hollow laugh)."
The staff at Variety
liked the work of the young cast and Forsyth's direction, and wrote, "Filmmaker Bill Forsyth, whose friendly, unmalicious approach recalls that of René Clair
, is concerned with young students (in particular, a soccer team goalie, Gregory) seeking out the opposite sex.... As Gregory, John Gordon Sinclair is adept at physical comedy. Hepburn is properly enigmatic as the object of his desire, with ensemble approach giving Greg's precocious 10-year-old sister played by Allison Forster a key femme role."
Critic Richard Skorman wrote, "... Forsyth does a good job of making light of the tender part in [Gregory's] teenage psyche, and his friends and little sister in particular are quirky and lovable. Unlike the film's American counterparts, Gregory's Girl is refreshingly free of mean-spirited characters and horny young studs bemoaning their virginity."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 92% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on thirteen reviews."
Nominations
, Gregory's Two Girls
, was released in 1999, with Sinclair reprising the role of Gregory, who by then was a 35-year-old teacher in his former secondary school. It received mixed reviews and has never been released in North American theaters or DVD.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
written and directed by Bill Forsyth
Bill Forsyth
Bill Forsyth is a Scottish film director and writer, noted for his commitment to national film-making.Forsyth first came to attention with a low-budget film, That Sinking Feeling, made with youth theatre actors and featuring a cameo appearance by the Edinburgh gallery owner Richard Demarco...
.
The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill
Abronhill
Abronhill is a suburb in the south-eastern quarter of Cumbernauld, a new town in North Lanarkshire, about 15 miles from Glasgow, Scotland. The suburb was possibly the last built using the same basic design guidelines employed by the rest of Cumbernauld...
district of Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire...
. It features Gordon John Sinclair
John Gordon Sinclair
John Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor most famous for playing Gregory in Gregory's Girl. He was born as Gordon John but took the stage name 'John Gordon Sinclair' because Equity already had a Gordon John registered....
, Dee Hepburn
Dee Hepburn
Dee Hepburn is a former actor.She trained in acting, and took a part as a school girl in the BBC's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She starred in Bill Forsyth's 1981 film Gregory's Girl, playing John Gordon Sinclair's love interest Dorothy...
, and Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan is a Scottish actress and singer. She is sometimes credited as C. P. Grogan.-Early life:...
, among others. Grogan's role helped promote her career, as she was in the band Altered Images
Altered Images
Altered Images were an early 1980s Scottish New Wave / post-punk band. Led by lead singer Clare Grogan, the band branched into mainstream pop music, and had a string of chart hits between 1981 and 1983.-Early career:...
at the time of the film's release.
Gregory's Girl was ranked #30 in the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's list of the top 100 British films
BFI Top 100 British films
In 1999 the British Film Institute surveyed 1000 people from the world of British film and television to produce the BFI 100 list of the greatest British films of the 20th century. Voters were asked to choose up to 100 films that were 'culturally British'...
and #29 on Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s list of the 50 best high school movies.
Plot
John Gordon Sinclair
John Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor most famous for playing Gregory in Gregory's Girl. He was born as Gordon John but took the stage name 'John Gordon Sinclair' because Equity already had a Gordon John registered....
) is an awkward teenager who plays in his school football team. They are not doing very well, so the coach (Jake D'Arcy) holds a trial to find new players, with Gregory being moved to goal. Dorothy (Dee Hepburn
Dee Hepburn
Dee Hepburn is a former actor.She trained in acting, and took a part as a school girl in the BBC's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She starred in Bill Forsyth's 1981 film Gregory's Girl, playing John Gordon Sinclair's love interest Dorothy...
), turns up and, despite the coach's sexist misgivings, proves to be a very good player. She subsequently takes Gregory's place as centre forward and Gregory in turn replaces his friend Andy (Robert Buchanan
Robert Buchanan
Robert Buchanan is the name of:* Bob Buchanan , American baseball player* Robert Williams Buchanan , Scottish writer* Robert Buchanan , Scottish footballer...
) as goalkeeper.
Gregory is all for her making the team, as he finds her very attractive. However, he has to compete for her attention with all the other boys who share the same opinion. Gregory initially confides in his best friend Steve (William Greenlees), the most mature of Gregory's circle of friends, and asks him for help in attracting Dorothy. Steve, however, is unable to assist him.
Acting on the advice of his 10-year-old sister, Madeleine (Allison Forster), he awkwardly asks Dorothy out on a date. She accepts. However, Dorothy's friend, Carol (Caroline Guthrie) shows up at the rendezvous instead and informs Gregory that something had come up; Dorothy will not be able to make it. He is disappointed, but Carol talks him into taking her to the chip shop. When they get there, she hands him off to another friend, Margo (Carol Macartney) and leaves. By this point, he is rather confused, but goes for a walk with the new girl. On their stroll, they encounter a waiting Susan (Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan
Clare Grogan is a Scottish actress and singer. She is sometimes credited as C. P. Grogan.-Early life:...
), another of Dorothy's friends, and Margo leaves. Susan confesses that she had wanted to date Gregory and that it was all arranged by her friends, including Dorothy. She explains, "It's just the way girls work. They help each other."
They go to the park and talk. At date's end, Gregory is more than pleased with the girl he ended up with and the two kiss on his doorstep before calling it a night and arranging a second date. Madeleine, Gregory's sister, quizzes him on his date.
Gregory's friends Andy and Charlie (Graham Thompson), who are even more inept with girls, see him at various times with no fewer than three beauties, and are envious of his seeming success. They try to hitchhike to Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, where Andy has heard the women greatly outnumber the men, but fail at that as well.
Cast
- John Gordon SinclairJohn Gordon SinclairJohn Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor most famous for playing Gregory in Gregory's Girl. He was born as Gordon John but took the stage name 'John Gordon Sinclair' because Equity already had a Gordon John registered....
as Gregory Sinclair - Dee HepburnDee HepburnDee Hepburn is a former actor.She trained in acting, and took a part as a school girl in the BBC's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She starred in Bill Forsyth's 1981 film Gregory's Girl, playing John Gordon Sinclair's love interest Dorothy...
as Dorothy - Clare GroganClare GroganClare Grogan is a Scottish actress and singer. She is sometimes credited as C. P. Grogan.-Early life:...
as Susan - Jake D'Arcy as Coach Phil Menzies
- Robert BuchananRobert Buchanan (actor)Robert "Rab" Buchanan is a former Scottish actor, most famous for playing in three films by director Bill Forsyth: That Sinking Feeling , Gregory's Girl , and Comfort and Joy . Buchanan, like other young actors in these films, had come to the notice of Forsyth while at the former Glasgow Youth...
as Andy - Graham Thompson as Charlie
- Allison Forster as Madeline Underwood
- William Greenlees as Steve
- Carol Macartney as Margo
- Allan Love as Eric
- Caroline Guthrie as Carol
- Chic MurrayCharles Murray (comedian)Charles Thomas McKinnon "Chic" Murray , was a Scottish comedian and actor. He appeared in various roles on British television and filmmost notably in the 1967 version of Casino Royaleand portrayed Liverpool Football Club manager Bill Shankly in a musical...
as Headmaster - Douglas SannachanDouglas SannachanDouglas Sannachan is a Scottish actor most widely known for playing Billy the window cleaner in Gregory's Girl. His famous line was "If I don't see you through the week, I'll see you through a window". He grew up in the Calton area of Glasgow and was a pupil at John Street Secondary School, Glasgow...
as Billy, the window cleaner
Production
Filming of exterior scenes at Gregory's school took place at Abronhill High SchoolAbronhill High School
Abronhill High School is a non-denominational, comprehensive, secondary school in Abronhill, a suburb of the Scottish new town of Cumbernauld. The school roll was 473 pupils in 2008...
.
As the film had a small budget, the actors supplied many of their own clothes. Dee Hepburn's white shorts were borrowed from her sister.
The film was re-dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
with rather Anglicized Scottish accents for the original American theatrical release. Both versions are available on the American DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release.
Many of the young actors were members of the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Youth Theatre, and had appeared in Forsyth's earlier film, That Sinking Feeling (1980), including Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, and John Gordon Sinclair.
A person in a penguin costume is seen at various points in the film for no apparent reason. Inside the suit was Christopher Higson, son of production manager Peter Higson.
Critical response
Film critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
liked the film's direction, and wrote "Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl is a charming, innocent, very funny little movie about the weird kid.... The movie contains so much wisdom about being alive and teenage and vulnerable that maybe it would even be painful for a teenager to see it.... Maybe only grown-ups should see this movie. You know, people who have gotten over the pains of unrequited love (hollow laugh)."
The staff at Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
liked the work of the young cast and Forsyth's direction, and wrote, "Filmmaker Bill Forsyth, whose friendly, unmalicious approach recalls that of René Clair
René Clair
René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist...
, is concerned with young students (in particular, a soccer team goalie, Gregory) seeking out the opposite sex.... As Gregory, John Gordon Sinclair is adept at physical comedy. Hepburn is properly enigmatic as the object of his desire, with ensemble approach giving Greg's precocious 10-year-old sister played by Allison Forster a key femme role."
Critic Richard Skorman wrote, "... Forsyth does a good job of making light of the tender part in [Gregory's] teenage psyche, and his friends and little sister in particular are quirky and lovable. Unlike the film's American counterparts, Gregory's Girl is refreshingly free of mean-spirited characters and horny young studs bemoaning their virginity."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 92% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on thirteen reviews."
Awards
Wins- British Academy of Film and Television ArtsBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
(BAFTA): Award for Best Original ScreenplayBAFTA Award for Best Original ScreenplayThe BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is the British Academy Film Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. It has been awarded since 1984, when the original category was split into two awards, the other being the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted...
, Bill Forsyth, 1982 - London Critics Circle Film Awards: Special Achievement Award, Bill Forsyth, 1982
Nominations
- BAFTA Award for Best NewcomerBAFTA Award for Best Newcomer-Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams...
, John Gordon Sinclair, 1981 - BAFTA Award for Best DirectionBAFTA Award for Best DirectionWinners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
, Bill Forsyth, 1982 - BAFTA Award for Best FilmBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
, Bill Forsyth, 1982
Sequel
A sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Gregory's Two Girls
Gregory's Two Girls
Gregory's Two Girls is a 1999 British film. It is the sequel to 1981's Gregory's Girl, which also starred John Gordon Sinclair and was written and directed by Bill Forsyth...
, was released in 1999, with Sinclair reprising the role of Gregory, who by then was a 35-year-old teacher in his former secondary school. It received mixed reviews and has never been released in North American theaters or DVD.
External links
- Gregory's Girl film at HuluHuluHulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
(free and complete) - Gregory's Girl trailer at You Tube