Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, (more)
- Director(s):
- Stephen Frears
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 110 mins
Complete Cast:
- Gary Oldman - Joe Orton
- Vanessa Redgrave - Peggy Ramsay
- Julie Walters - Elsie Orton
- James Grant - William Orton
- Janet Dale - Mrs. Sugden
- Simon Adams - Undertaker's Boy
- Rosalind Knight - RADA Judge
- Stevan Rimkus - Kenneth
- Neville Phillips - Man in Gallery
- Bert Parnaby - Magistrate
- Helena Michell - Orton's Friend
- Steven Mackintosh - Simon Ward
- James Duggan - Labourer
- Philippa Davies - Peggy Ramsay's Secretary
- Joanne Connelly - Stage Manager
- Mark Brignal - Beatles' Chauffeur
- Richard Wilson - Psychiatrist
- Sian Thomas - Marilyn Orton
- Max Stafford-Clark - Honourable President
- Stella Richman - Women in Gallery
- John Moffatt - Wigmaker
- John Kane - Director
- Robin Hooper - Mortuary Attendant
- Jonathan Phillips - Youth Outside Lavatory
- Charlotte Wodehouse - Janet
- Linda Spurrier - RADA Instructor
- Joan Sanderson - Anthea's Mother
- Karl Johnson - Douglas Orton
- Neil Dudgeon - Policeman
- Selina Cadell - Miss Datersby
- Alfred Molina - Kenneth Halliwell
- Wallace Shawn - John Lahr
- Frances Barber - Leonie Orton
- Lindsay Duncan - Anthea Lahr
- Dave Atkins - Mr. Sugden
- William Job - RADA Chairman
- Angus MacKay - RADA Judge
- Eric Richard - Education Officer
- Sean Pertwee - Orton's Friend
- Roger Lloyd Pack - Actor
- Charles McKowen - Mr. Cunliffe
- Christopher Guinee - Publisher
- Anthony Douse - BBC Actor
- Moktar Dagmouni - Moroccan Boy
- Antony Carrick - Counsel
- Jane Blackburn - Women in Gallery
- Garry Cooper - Actor
- Liam Staic - Brickie
- John Salthouse - Chauffeur
- Michael Mueller - BBC Actor
- Julie Legrand - Gallery owner
- Ahmed El-Jheur - Moroccan Boy
- Stephen Bill - George Barnett
- David Bradley - Undertaker
- Margaret Tyzack - Mme. Lambert
- Neville Smith - Police Inspector
- Spencer Leigh - Constable
- Richard Ireson - Man Outside Lavatory
- Noel Davis - Philip
- David Cardy - Brian Epstein
- Director(s):
- Stephen Frears
- Writer(s):
- Alan Bennett
- Producer(s):
- Andrew Brown
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Violence, Strong Sexual Content, Profanity, Adult Situations, Adult Humor)
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1987 - Prick Up Your Ears - Cannes Film Festival - Best Artistic Contribution
- 1987 - Prick Up Your Ears - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Supporting Actress






