“Mr Rabbit’s Playboy Bunny Club” April 11, 2009

Event: “Mr Rabbit’s Playboy Bunny Club”, showcases the happy, the hoppy and the homo as we celebrate silly Easter style rabbits and the sadly romantic love story of straight girl and gay boy set in mid 60s Britain. “Mr Rabbit’s Playboy Bunny Club”, features bunny rabbits, cartoons, an Easter Parade from 1956, Hef’s Swingin’ Playboy Bunnies and a Ukrainian Easter Egg film. Films include “Hoppy the Bunny”, “Oswald Rabbit”, “All This and Rabbit Stew”(1941), the rare, censored Technicolor Bugs Bunny racist cartoon, and the feature film “A Taste of Honey”, acclaimed director Tony Richardson’s gritty, bittersweet taboo-breaking coming of age story set in working class Manchester in the 1960s.
Date: Saturday April 11th
Time: 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]
Anyone (male or female) dressed as a Playboy bunny or just a bunny(!) gets in for half price.
Web: http://oddballfilm.com/resources/events_parent

Mr. Rabbit’s
Playboy Bunny Club
+ “A Taste of Honey”
Screens at Oddball Films

On Saturday, April 11th at 8:00PM Oddball Films presents “Mr Rabbit’s Easter Bunny Club”, a featuring Bunny Rabbits, Playboy bunnies, camp cartoons, a Ukrainian Easter Egg film, Bugs Bunny and the bittersweet story of a straight girl and gay boy.

Shorts include “Hoppy the Bunny”, “Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunny Highlights”, “Oswald Rabbit”, “Ukrainian Easter Egg” and “All This and Rabbit Stew”(1941), the infamous censored Bugs Bunny racist cartoon. Also screening will be the acclaimed feature film “A Taste of Honey”, acclaimed director Tony Richardson’s gritty, bittersweet taboo-breaking coming of age story set in working class Manchester. Admission is $10.00, Anyone (male or female) dressed as a Playboy bunny or just a bunny(!) gets in for half price. Limited Seating, RSVP only to: [email protected] or 415-558-8117.

“Mr. Rabbit’s Easter Bunny Club” showcases the happy, the hoppy and the homo as we celebrate silly Easter style rabbits and the sadly romantic love story of straight girl and gay boy set in mid 60s Britain.

Acclaimed director (“Look Back in Anger”) Tony Richardson’s gritty coming of age story “A Taste of Honey” set in working class Manchester in 1961. This revolutionary British film examines class, domestic strife, sex, pregnancy, race and homosexuality and features award-winning performances by Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin who both won for best actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962. “A Taste of Honey” also features remarkable cinematography by Free Cinema veteran Walter Lassally
A key figure in the Free Cinema movement (England's answer to the French New Wave) of the late 50s, here Tony Richardson directs the quintessential kitchen sink drama. Britain today is still a society in many ways defined by class, but in the 1950s divisions were far more rigid. The 'new wave' films and the sources that inspired them gave a voice to a working-class that was for the first time gaining some economic power.
Previously, working-class characters in British cinema had largely been used for comic effect or as 'salt of the earth' cannon fodder. Here we see their lives at the centre of the action. That action, such as it is, details everyday dramas - hence 'the kitchen sink' tag as we see events through the emotional journeys of the characters.
The late fifties marked the beginning of the short lived New Wave in British Cinema. This was largely influenced by the burgeoning of the American cinema and stage as opposed to the staid outdated state of affairs in British culture. In that brief period a number of films were made which broke new ground in an effort to portray the often harsh reality of life for millions of Britons.

“A Taste of Honey” is strikingly shot, memorably scripted and strongly acted by Rita Tushingham in the best role of her career. “A Taste of Honey” hinges on the relationship between gamine teenager Jo (Tushingham) and her boozy, self-seeking mother, Helen (Bryan). A black sailor, Jo’s pregnancy and her gay companion go further to create a riveting, gritty slice of life in working class Manchester.

Writer and playwright Shelagh Delaney's characters are the film's greatest asset and there's a strong sense of the stigma associated with miscegenation and homosexuality.
The original play was admired by Morrissey of the band The Smiths, who used Delaney's photo on album artwork, and lifted some song lyrics directly from the play, most notably those of the songs “Reel Around the Fountain” and "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" which is effectively based on the play itself.

Images of the industrial landscape, the waterways and tenements are carefully composed, beautifully shot and form a valuable counterpoint to the social concerns.

In addition to the awards at Cannes “A Taste of Honey” won multiple British Film Academy Awards including Best Film (Tony Richardson), Best Actress (Dora Bryan), Best Screenplay (Shelagh Delany, Tony Richardson) and more.