‘I would like a Romeo and Romeo story about simple young men, working-class young men’ ~ Anthony Blond, Publisher

In 1964 London’s biker culture was still in vogue, kitchen sink drama was all the rage and 1957’s Wolfenden Report had recommended the decriminalization of private homosexual acts between consulting adults. Those acts would not be legalized till 1967, putting Gillian Freeman’s The Leather Boys ahead of the curve.

The story tells of a love triangle between a naïve working class lad, his brassy wife, and a friendly biker who comes to his aid. The excellent cast finds the vulnerability within their often abrasive characters. The plot is too slight to sustain 108 minutes but the snappy dialogue holds up and the respectful treatment of homosexuality gives the film historic significance.

Want to learn more? Here’s my spoiler filled recap.

Act One: Dot

Scene 1. The Wedding
DOT (A brassy tart): I’m glad we got married when we finished high school. Now mum can’t talk me into gettin’ a job!
REGGIE (A teenager in love): Cor blimey.
REGGIE’s MUM: Won’t be as much money for your motor bike if you try and keep her.
REGGIE’s UNCLE: Drink up! Beer makes you queer! Whiskey makes you frisky!
REGGIE: I’ll have a beer.

Scene 2. The Marriage.
REGGIE: Get me grub and do me washing!
DOT: Oh shut up! Let’s shag.
REGGIE: I don’t feel like it.
DOT: You never do. I ain’t becoming a nun.
(DOT dyes her hair blonde and gets drunk.)

Scene 3. The Biker Club 
PETE (A flirty biker): Is that your bike? It looks older than the Mayflower.
REGGIE: You’re a nutcase. Fancy a race?
(They race motor bikes. PETE wins.)
PETE: Join me for a drink at my favorite spot.
(The drive to the trash dump, where PETE works, and light fireworks.)

Scene 4. A Funeral.
REGGIE’s MUM: Your Grandfather is dead and your Gran can’t live alone.
REGGIE: We’ll move in with Gran.
DOT: No we bloody well won’t. Why not put the old cow in a home?

Act Two: Pete

Scene 5. Gran’s House
PETE: Don’t be sad. Come join my friends when we race to Edinburgh.
REGGIE: That’d be great Pete. Thanks for agreeing to live with me Gran.
PETE: I’m a lovely tenant. I make a great cuppa tea and I always wash me feet.
(The boys strip to their underwear and share a bed.)
REGGIE: I wish me wife wasn’t a brassy tart with dyed hair and a drinking problem.
PETE: Fancy a f@g? And by f@g I mean a cigarette.

Scene 6. The Seaside.
REGGIE: Let’s chat up some birds! And by birds I mean young women.
PETE: Nah they’re terrible. You wanna get stuck with another shrew?
BIRDS: HAHAHA! Everything boys say is hilarious!

Scene 7. The Biker Club
DOT: Come back to me Reggie. I’m going to have a baby.
REGGIE: Well it’s clearly not mine. It’s probably Brian’s. (Punches BRIAN)
BRIAN (A rival biker): What the hell?
PETE: Let her go. I’ll look after ya Reggie.
REGGIE: All I wanna be’s a normal married guy. Why can’t I talk to Dot like I can to you?
DOT: You look like a couple of queers.
REGGIE: Pete’s not queer. Are ya Pete?
PETE: … I’m gonna get a refill for my lipstick.

Act Three: Reggie

Scene 8. The Race to Edinburgh.
(REGGIE’s riding with PETE. DOT’s riding with BRIAN.)
REGGIE: I’m glad you stopped dyeing your hair. But riding’s bad for the baby.
DOT: Tee-hee. There’s no baby.
REGGIE: You lied to win me back? You naughty girl! (They kiss.)
PETE and BRIAN: Booo!

[spoiler title=Spoilers]
Scene 9. Big decisions.
PETE: Sail with me to New York! I can get us work on a ship.
REGGIE: No. I choose Dot!
DOT: Too late. I’m shagging Brian.
REGGIE: How dare you!? Then I choose Pete!
PETE: Yea! Let’s wait at the pub till the ship comes.
GAYS AT THE PUB: Ooh Pete he’s lovely. It’s so nice to watch a gay movie with a happy ending. Fancy a foursome?
REGGIE: Wait… You really are queer?
(PETE makes a guilty puppy face.)
REGGIE: How dare you!?
(REGGIE storms off, leaving PETE behind.)

THE END[/spoiler]

 The Novel

“When you kiss me . . . you don’t pretend I’m a girl or anything?”
“Don’t be daft…  ’ow could I pretend you was a girl? You’re the wrong shape.”

Gillian Freeman published the original novel under the pseudonym George Elliot. It was a success and was later credited with “liberalizing British attitudes to homosexuality.” In that story the mens’ relationship is explicitly sexual and their fate is far sadder.

[spoiler title=Spoiler] Reggie attempts a robbery without including his biker gang. They beat him to death when they find out.[/spoiler]

Her screenplay balances Dot and Pete’s roles and removes the crime element. These bikers simply go on races. At the end Reggie has rejected two people who care for him. Is the tragedy that they aren’t right for him or that he’s afraid to change for them? Could he have adjusted to Dot’s cold independence? Or Pete’s warm affection? Are they better off without him? Freeman continued to write novels and screenplays about social issues and underrepresented groups including the transgendered protagonist of 1972’s I Want What I Want. She passed in February of 2019.

You can watch the trailer for The Leather Boys here. It mistakenly paints Pete as the antagonist (“A gay, good time bachelor and Reggie’s best friend… Or was he?).  For more reviews of LGBT+ media click here.

Up next: I’ll recap the 1961 film Victim. The first English language film to use the word homosexual!