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Two Gentlemen Sharing
Two Gentlemen Sharing
Directed by	Ted Kotcheff
Screenplay by	Evan Jones
Based on	Two Gentlemen Sharing; by David Stuart Leslie
Produced by	J. Barry Kulick
Starring	Robin Phillips; Judy Geeson; Esther Anderson
Cinematography	Billy Williams
Edited by	Derek York
Music by	Stanley Myers
Production; companies	American International Productions; Epstein-Kulick Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK); American International Pictures (US)
Release dates	17 September 1969 (New York, US);
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States
Language	English

Two Gentlemen Sharing is a 1969 American-British drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff, starring Robin Phillips, Judy Geeson, Esther Anderson, Hal Frederick, Norman Rossington and Rachel Kempson.^[1]^[2] It was written by Evan Jones based on the 1963 novel of the same name by David Stuart Leslie.

The film cost an estimated £380,000 to make.^[3] It was not theatrically released in the UK.^[1]^[3]

Plot

An upper-class white Englishman is forced to confront his own feelings and prejudices when the London flat he advertises for sharing is taken up by an Oxford-educated black Jamaican.

Cast

Robin Phillips as Roddy
Judy Geeson as Jane
Esther Anderson as Caroline
Hal Frederick as Andrew
Norman Rossington as Phil
Rachel Kempson as Mrs. Ashby-Kydd
Ram John Holder as Marcus
Hilary Dwyer as Ethne
Daisy Mae Williams as Amanda
Philip Stone as Ethne's father
Elspeth March as Ethne's mother
Avice Landone as Roddy's mother
David Markham as Roddy's father
Shelagh Fraser as Jane's mother
Earl Cameron as Jane's father

Critical reception

Variety wrote: "Film boasts a solid and well-chosen cast, strong physical values for such a medium-scaled item, and a racial story [from a novel by David Stuart Leslie] delivered with unhysterical acumen and, at times, with considerable barbed humor."^[4]

John Coleman wrote in the New Statesman: "Another stab at that colour problem. ... it was a pleasure to have a couple of laughs. Evan Jones's script is very alert at the beginning, when the posh black comes to share a flat with the posh white.^[5]

Boxoffice wrote: "Chosen as the official British entry to the [1969] Venice Film Festival, this J. Barry Kulick productiona strong, adult story for mature audiences. It should click extremely well with art house clientele."^[6]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "There are few surprises on offer, but the film is competently acted."^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b "Two Gentlemen Sharing". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969)". Archived from the original on 16 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974, p. 407–8.
^ "Two Gentlemen Sharing". Variety. 1 January 1969.
^ "Is Venice Sinking?". New Statesman. 66: 351. 12 September 1969 – via ProQuest.
^ "Two Gentlemen Sharing". Boxoffice. 95 (24): a11. 29 September 1969 – via ProQuest.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 970. ISBN 9780992936440.