PRICK UP YOUR EARS (1986)

Cast

Plot

This touching film is a biography of gay '60s playwright Joe Orton. In his teens Orton was befriended by the older more reserved Kenneth Halliwell and, while the two began a relationship, it's fairly obvious that it wasn't all about sex. Orton loved the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms, while Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, didn't fare so well in those environs. While both longed to become writers, it was Orton who achieved fame, his plays "Loot" and "What The Butler Saw" became huge hits in the London of the 60s, and he was even commissioned to write a screenplay for the Beatles. Orton's success took him farther from Halliwell, whose response ended both his own and the life of the up-and-coming playwright.