Goodbye Gemini (1970)

The freak twins, Judy Geeson (Jacki) and Martin Potter (Julian) come to London to stay in a house in Chelsea and they immediately hit the party scene thanks to a meeting with Alexis Kanner (Clive) in a pub. Kanner is strange – he's a nasty conman who uses people but he's not as strange as the twins. Geeson and Potter are both child-like with Geeson laughing way too much at things that aren't funny and Potter being obsessively possessive about his sister. Worse, they love each other – and I mean actually love in an incestuous way that includes a physical relationship. So, it's uncomfortable viewing. The twins exact revenge on a couple of people. Are they untouchable? This film is way too weird and not particularly enjoyable. You watch because you don't know where it's going but once watched, I think you get rid. It reminded me a bit of "Beyond the valley of the Dolls" but set amongst a seedy London party scene. Both films are not good and dish out some horror as well as peculiar characters that are scary and hard to relate to. Scary in a sexuality scary kind of way. Michael Redgrave (James) pops up in this as a familiar face on TV whilst Mike Pratt (Rodd) is probably the best in the cast as a debt collector.As a Londoner, I recognized the locales – I spotted Cheyne Walk, Notting Hill Gate and Shepherds Bush Market and I know for a fact that there were hotels like that in Paddington in the 1980s. Dodgy ones. The central characters of the twins were just too weird.

"Goodbye Gemini" has Nehru shirts, large ties, hair helmets and sideburns, old guys hanging around with young birds, wall-to-wall partying, a dash of transvestitism, a little incest, and an atmosphere of anything goes as long as it's outrageous. It could only be the Swinging Sixties, and as they say, if you remember them, you weren't there.The film is hard to define. It's a thriller, but with a unique vibe. Julian (Martin Potter) and Jacki (Judy Geeson) are an unnaturally close twin brother and sister who play games and live in a make-believe world. As Michael Redgrave's character says, "They carry their own universe with them". But Julian has a stronger attraction towards his sister than she has for him.When they move to London to live in a large house arranged for them by their father, things start to unravel. We learn that all is not right when Julian viciously gets rid of the housekeeper who is in charge of the household. With the run of the house, they gravitate towards the London pub and party scene.They meet some unsavoury characters especially Clive (Alexis Kanner), a bi-sexual pimp whose sadistic streak threatens to destroy the pair. At a party, Jacki also encounters politician, James Harrington-Smith (Michael Redgrave) who helps her when her life spirals out of control. As Jacki and Julian attempt to free themselves from Clive, it leads to a violent murder and a bleak ending.I first became aware of this movie when I bought the soundtrack record for a few dollars back in the 1980's. Apparently it became a bit of a collector's item before it was eventually released on CD. The music and songs catch the flavour of the 60's, and composer Christopher Gunning's lyrical main theme weaves its way through the film. Gunning is a brilliant composer, mainly for television, and hasn't done many films - this was his first - but he had great range; under the right circumstances, he could have been another John Barry.If there is one reason to watch this film it is the delightful Judy Geeson. Cute and nymph-like, she breezes through the movie for much of the time in hip-hugging satin pants, captivating all the males around her whether young, old, or closely related.The mood in the film changes just a little too abruptly in places, but it has a similar feeling of accumulating decadence to Joseph Losey's "The Servant" - although it takes its own course towards it's depressing, typical late 60's ending.Beautifully filmed, "Goodbye Gemini" captures London at a certain time, but to be honest, with its offbeat story and slightly hysterical treatment, it's probably more of a novelty item these days.

Twins arrive in London on an overnight bus wearing matching fluorescent jackets and clutching a teddy-bear (always a sign of evil). They've not even unpacked their bags before they murder their new landlady and get invited to an inevitably swinging' party. Jacki (Judy Geeson) is the female half of the twins and looks lovely even in the aforementioned garment, which is more than can be said for Julian (Martin Potter). He's the possessive twin who swings both ways and whose love for his sister is less than wholesome. They attend a few parties, talk to their teddy and get mixed up with some menacing Earls Court transvestites, a liaison that leads to blackmail and murder.There's nothing here that can really be called a narrative, it's more like someone thought a swinging London movie with a psycho tilt would be really groovy. However, the film is based upon Ask Agamemnon by Jenni Hall (no, I've never heard of it, either). Despite the wavering storyline it's a strangely compelling film with an admirable wildness. The cast are game, except Michael Redgrave who has the air of an actor unaccustomed to such material. The camera-work from Geoffrey Unsworth is as exceptional as ever, tut the psychotic tone is best summed up by The Peddlers funky theme song: ('when the world comes knocking') Tell The World We're Not In.

Sweet, naive Jacki (a perky and appealing portrayal by the adorable Judy Geeson) and moody, petulant Julian (a solid and effective performance by Martin Potter) are a couple of rich, spoiled, and sheltered fraternal twins who live in their own odd fantasy world and have an extremely close and uneasy symbiotic relationship. Their fragile personal universe gets ripped asunder with dire consequences for everyone when sneaky and ingratiating small-time criminal Clive Landseer (excellently played with devilish charm to spare by Alexis Kanner) attempts to blackmail Julian. Director Alan Gibson and writer Edmund Ward not only offer a funky and flavorsome depiction of the seamy underbelly of the decadent Swingin' Mod London night scene (the soundtrack in particular is appropriately groovy), but also deliver a frank and disturbing exploration of the darker, more unhealthy, and suffocating side of sibling love and loyalty complete with a bold presentation of incest and a stunning sequence in which Jacki and Julian dress up in white bedsheets and challenge Clive to tell them apart. Geeson and Potter display a strong and totally convincing natural chemistry in the lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Michael Redgrave as smooth, kindly politician James Harrington-Smith, Mike Pratt as menacing hoodlum Rod Barstowe, Freddie Jones as pompous, sharp-tongued overaged partygoer David Curry, Marion Diamond as Julian's long-suffering girlfriend Denise Pryce, and Terry Scully as mincing homosexual Nigel Garfield. Kudos are also in order for Geoffrey Unsworth's crisp and vibrant cinematography and Christopher Gunning's sumptuous score. The startling downbeat ending packs a very potent punch. Worth a look.