Gregory's Girl is a 1981 coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth. Like many of Forsyth's movies, it is set in his native Scotland.

The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill district of Cumbernauld. It features John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Clare Grogan, among others. Grogan's role helped promote her career, as she was in the band Altered Images at the time of the film's release.

Gregory's Girl was ranked 30th in the British Film Institute's list of the top 100 British films and 29th on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high school movies.

Plot

Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair) is an awkward teenager who plays football. His team is not doing very well, so the coach (Jake D'Arcy) holds a trial to find new players, with Gregory being moved to goal. Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), turns up and, despite the coach's sexist misgivings, proves to be a very good player. She subsequently takes Gregory's place as centre forward and Gregory in turn replaces his friend Andy (Robert Buchanan) as goalkeeper.

Gregory is all for her making the team, as he finds her very attractive. However, he has to compete for her attention with all the other boys who share the same opinion. Gregory initially confides in his best friend Steve (Billy Greenlees), the most mature of Gregory's circle of friends, and asks him for help in attracting Dorothy. Steve, however, is unable to assist him.

Acting on the advice of his 10-year-old sister, Madeleine (Allison Forster), he awkwardly asks Dorothy out on a date. She accepts. However, Dorothy's friend, Carol (Caroline Guthrie) shows up at the rendezvous instead and informs Gregory that something had come up; Dorothy will not be able to make it. He is disappointed, but Carol talks him into taking her to the chip shop. When they get there, she hands him off to another friend, Margo (Carol Mccartney) and leaves. By this point, he is rather confused, but goes for a walk with the new girl. On their stroll, they encounter a waiting Susan (Clare Grogan), another of Dorothy's friends, and Margo leaves. Susan confesses that she had wanted to date Gregory and that it was all arranged by her friends, including Dorothy. She explains, "It's just the way girls work. They help each other."

They go to the park and talk. At date's end, Gregory is more than pleased with the girl he ended up with and the two kiss on his doorstep before calling it a night and arranging a second date. Madeleine, Gregory's sister quizzes him on his date.

Gregory's friends Andy and Charlie (Graham Thompson), who are even more inept with girls, see him at various times with no less than three beauties, and are envious of his seeming success. They try to hitchhike to Caracas, where Andy has heard the women greatly outnumber the men, but fail at that as well.

Cast

• John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory Underwood, an awkward high school football player
• Dee Hepburn as Dorothy, the first girl on the high school football team, despite the coach's sexism
• Clare Grogan as Susan
• Jake D'Arcy as Coach Phil Menzies, the sexist football coach
• Robert Buchanan as Andy, Gregory's friend/goalkeeper
• Graham Thompson as Charlie
• Allison Forster as Madeline Underwood, Gregory's wise 10-year-old sister who convinces him to ask Dorothy out
• William Greenlees as Steve, Gregory's mature cookery-loving best friend
• Carol Mccartney as Margo
• Allan Love as Eric
• Caroline Guthrie as Carol
• Chic Murray as Headmaster, the high school's laconic headmaster

Production

As the film had a small budget, the actors supplied many of their own clothes. Dee Hepburn's white shorts were borrowed from her sister.

The film was re-dubbed with rather Anglicised Scottish accents for the original American theatrical release. Both versions are available on the American DVD.

Many of the young actors were members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre, and had appeared in Forsyth's earlier film, That Sinking Feeling (1980), including Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, and John Gordon Sinclair.

A person in a penguin costume is seen at various points in the film for no apparent reason. Inside the suit was Christopher Higson, son of production manager Peter Higson.

Critical reception

Film critic Roger Ebert liked the film's direction, and wrote "Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl is a charming, innocent, very funny little movie about the weird kid...The movie contains so much wisdom about being alive and teenage and vulnerable that maybe it would even be painful for a teenager to see it...Maybe only grown-ups should see this movie. You know, people who have gotten over the pains of unrequited love (hollow laugh)."

The staff at Variety liked the work of the young cast and Forsyth's able direction, and wrote, "Filmmaker Bill Forsyth, whose friendly, unmalicious approach recalls that of Rene Clair, is concerned with young students (in particular, a soccer team goalie, Gregory) seeking out the opposite sex...As Gregory, John Gordon Sinclair is adept at physical comedy. Hepburn is properly enigmatic as the object of his desire, with ensemble approach giving Greg's precocious 10-year-old sister played by Allison Forster a key femme role."

Critic Richard Skorman wrote, "...Forsyth does a good job of making light of the tender part in [Gregory's] teenage psyche, and his friends and little sister in particular are quirky and lovable. Unlike the film's American counterparts, Gregory's Girl is refreshingly free of mean-spirited characters and horny young studs bemoaning their virginity."

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 92% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on thirteen reviews."

Sequel

A sequel, Gregory's Two Girls, was released in 1999, with Sinclair reprising the role of Gregory, who by then was a 35-year-old teacher in his former secondary school. It received mixed reviews and has yet to be released in the US either in theatres or on DVD.

Awards

Wins

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA): Award for Best Original Screenplay, Bill Forsyth, 1982
• London Critics Circle Film Awards: Special Achievement Award, Bill Forsyth, 1982

Nominations

• BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer, John Gordon Sinclair, 1981
• BAFTA Award for Best Direction, Bill Forsyth, 1982
• BAFTA Award for Best Film, Bill Forsyth, 1982

References

1. .
2. Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, January 1, 1981. Last accessed: December 3, 2007.
3. Variety, film review, January 1, 1982. Last accessed: December 3, 2007.
4. Skorman, Richard. Off-Hollywood Movies, film review of Gregory's Girl, page 162. New York: Harmony Books, 1989. ISBN 0-517-56863-2.
5. Gregory's Girl at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: March 25, 2008.

External links