Dan Ireland on Women In Love

Oliver Reed (who was once considered to replace Sean Connery as James Bond) had already played Debussy and Rossetti for director Ken Russell in a couple of his BBC biopics, and went on to topline his greatest film, The Devils. The director's usual flamboyance is somewhat muted in his third theatrical feature, resulting in his only Oscar nomination. Larry Kramer's smart adaptation, coinciding with the sexual revolution and bohemian politics of the late sixties, utilizes much of D.H. Lawrence's original dialog.