This review gets away from the Lesbian content, and mentions a little more about the director Robert Aldrich. There are famous commentators on the cinema that make claims on his decline towards the end of his career. The Killing of Sister George is put into the same category as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. This I do not agree with (discounting Baby Jane and its own self-contained effectively Gothic world) as I believe Aldrich returns in Sister George to the same emotional depths of pain and endurance as films like Autumn Leaves and above all The Big Knife (perhaps his greatest masterpiece). In The Big Knife, an actor is burnt out of the media system in a similar way; Coral Browne as Rod Steiger. Even the howl of utter anguish at the end is similar if not the same as the cry of horror that Ida Lupino gives in The Big Knife. And the physical abuse that lovers inflict on each other: the cigar butt eating scene in Sister George mirrors the crashing of the typewriter on Joan Crawford's hands in Autumn Leaves. The Aldrich vision is stark and seemingly cold; but it is the burning coldness of fire. This is rightly a bold film on Lesbianism. It is an Aldrich view of it, as mental illness was in Autumn Leaves, and the picture of both are of their time. What is timeless is the consistency of vision and the contemplation of a flawed humanity

I find that some films of the 1960's are very difficult to watch because of their character shattering plot developments. Along with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", this is one of them. It happens to a very similar character here, who like Martha in "VW", has begun to isolate many people around her. June (Beryl Reid) is a lesbian soap opera actress in London who plays Sister George, a popular nurse on a serial. She lives with the "Baby Doll" like Katie (Susannah York), and emotionally abuses her when Katie, in her mind, acts up. On the set, June (called "Sister George" on and off screen) is more than a bit demanding, jealous of other actors whose popularity ratings are going up, and just a bit angry when it is insinuated by one of the crew members that her days are numbered. June gets rip-roaringly drunk, assaults two visiting nuns in a Taxi, and is reprimanded by Mercy Croft (Coral Browne) of the production staff. Her behavior gets more and more out of control until it all caves in on her and she is indeed prepared to be "killed off". Even that, June can't take with dignity, and makes funny faces at the truck drivers who "killed her off", which sets the cast and crew tittering. It's not apparent whether or not they love her or take pleasure in watching her downfall, but that's what happens here. Katie obviously has had enough, and Mercy, having visited June at a gay bar to tell her the news of her dismissal, sets her sights on Katie. From there it's just a matter of time before June ("Sister George") has her blowout, and ends up having a breakdown herself, much like Martha did in "Virginia Woolf".I think that you must be of an artistic, serious dramatic viewing mind, to watch "The Killing of Sister George", and familiar with having seen serious dramatic plays on stage. Every actor is outstanding, and the film is riveting to be sure, but it is deep, even if there is a lot of "black comedy" abound. Then, there is the lesbian issue. The films of the 60's have a bleak take on what living openly was like. Take a look at "Staircase" or "The Boys in the Band" to see the male version of this. These are not happy people. "Sister George" is only happy when she is the center of attention on the set, or when she is humiliating Katie, punishing her by forcing her to eat her cigar butt. Reid is simply amazing to watch with her boundless energy, York is enchanting, and you certainly won't confuse Coral Browne's Vera Charles ("Auntie Mame") with Mercy Croft. The film shows its theatrical routes which indicates why many plays did better on stage and felt like an acid trip when put on screen.

I don't give many movies 10/10, but this black comedy-drama gets my vote, for fine acting, production values, and of course its place in movie history in the frank portrayal of lesbian relationships.Others have & will comment on the latter, so I'll point out some of the other aspects of this fine film. The combination of comedy with personal tragedy poses difficult problems both for the writer & director; here they both succeed brilliantly.The three principals' performances are riveting. I particularly liked the ambiguity of Coral Brown's portrayal of Mercy Croft; watch her carefully in the tight closeups in the gay club, and notice how the down-turned mouth at times hides a hint of a self-satisfied smile.The cinematography deserves special mention. The use of colour is beautiful; I was reminded of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", but it never steps over the line into unreality. On the contrary, the alleys of London, the TV studio and above all the stairs and corridor of the flat are supremely realistic. Most unusual is the use of chiaroscuro, the interplay of light-and-shadow, seldom seen outside of black & white films. In so many colour films the light appears to come from some amorphous omnidirectional source out of science fiction; great for lighting everything and everybody evenly, but unrealistic and DULL. Look at the shadows as Beryl Reid ('George') enters the apartment building and climbs the stairs, or in some of the bedroom scenes. Apart from its other many virtues, this movie held my attention as a fine piece of film-making.All in all, a masterpiece; my one regret is that it was shown on TV in pan-and-scan. It IS now available in DVD - in several formats & regions - so I look forward to watching it again in its original form.

I did not see the stage play upon which this film is based (too young) but, based on its own merits, this film surely deserves a closer look.The central trio of performers (Reid, York, Browne) provide career "bests" and there are some amusing vignettes from the others (Fraser, in particular, as a truly odious soap actor).The much-discussed sex scene is, by today's standards (and, it would seem, even those of the 1960s stage play), tame, but its real value as a display of the shift of power between the three central characters is very neatly worked through in the closing quarter.The final five minutes of (self-) destruction is heartbreaking, with excellent use made of the music track.In short: miss it and miss out.