"The Leather Boys": A Gay Love Story Rides the Brakes

The Leather Boys (1964)

Missed opportunity to center a gay awakening in a world that punishes tenderness.

• Country: England

• Genre: British Social Realism

• Director: Sidney J. Furie

• Cast: Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton

Film Still from The Leather Boys (1964), Courtesy of Bryanston Films

Clinical Overview

Newlyweds Reggie and Dot discover marriage is a drag. To escape its drudgery, teenage Dot dyes her hair blond and flirts with strangers; Reggie races motorcycles with his friend Pete, who seems to be offering something more than friendship.

Diagnosis

The film vividly depicts the bitterness and meanness of life lived along the poverty line, but the gay love story that should lie at its heart is pushed to its margins.

Prescription

Everyone needs to recognize Reggie’s feelings for Pete before he does, but when he does, this needs to feel like the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to him.