“They had me in bed making love to the girl…close, like baked beans”
Susannah York, Beryl Reid and Coral Brown at The Gateways 1968
In a book originally put together by Hunter Davies in the late sixties called The London Spy – A Discrete Guide To The City’s Pleasures, there are two chapters written specifically for gay and lesbian visitors to London.
The first, entitled ‘Men For Men’, notes around twenty venues where men could meet ‘soul or bed-mates and/or escape the attentions of the fat girls with whom you flew over on your chartered 747′. One of these clubs, under the sub-title of ‘non-dancing clubs’ was called Gigolo at 328 King’s Road (now a carpet shop) and was described by the book as an “Aptly named, hot, incredibly packed coffee bar. A frotteur’s delight. Lots of Spanish waiters and terrified Americans. The Rolls-Royce outside could be the one to whisk you away from it all.”
However in the second chapter called ‘Women for Women’, written by the novelist Maureen Duffy, there is mention of just one venue – the famous Gateways Club.
The Gateways had been in existence at 239 Kings Road on the corner of Bramerton Street in Chelsea, since the thirties. It became more or less exclusively lesbian during the war when the anonymity and proximity provided by the khaki or blue uniformed women who came to work in London, suddenly meant that a far greater number of women, of a certain persuasion, needed somewhere to go they could call their own.
The once green door in Bramerton Street that led down to The Gateways club
A man called Ted Ware took over the club during the war, purportedly winning it in a poker game (“I raise you my lesbian members-only club…”). Ten years later he married an actress called Gina Cerrato in 1953 and she soon took over the running of the club. She was joined, after a few years, by a butch American woman called Smithy who originally came to England as a member of the American Airforce, but after an arranged marriage in the early sixties, she stayed in England for the rest of her life.
Gina at the Gateways
Gina at her usual place by the door (screen grab from the film)
Smithy behind the bar
The membership fee during the sixties was just ten shillings (50p) and no guests were admitted after ten o’clock to discourage people who had spent their money elsewhere. Maureen Duffy explained that ‘rowdies or troublemakers’ were often banned immediately. To be excluded, at the time, was more than just embarrassing, it was unbelievably inconvenient – the nearest alternative lesbian club would have been in Brighton, travelling to which would have made a social life far too expensive to afford.
Dining out with a girlfriend, even in the sixties, would have also cost too much for most women (who would have usually been earning far less than men for even comparable jobs in those days). It’s difficult to believe now but women wearing trousers were often still banned from most restaurants at the time, while pubs were still risky places for women to visit unaccompanied by men. For a lot of women, the Gateways Club was the only relaxing and affordable place they had to go.
The Kings Road in 1968
Boutique shopping on the Kings Road 1968
Regulars of the Gateways at the bar (screen grab from film)
During the eighties the club became quieter probably because other lesbian and gay venues were opening in London, and eventually Gateways only opened at weekends. The local neighbourhood in Chelsea was also becoming more and more upmarket and the club lost its late-licence in 1985 due to complaints about loud music. Not long afterwards the famous green door was subsequently closed for ever.
Between the 9th and 16th of June in 1968 The Gateways club became internationally famous when it appeared as a backdrop to many scenes filmed for The Killing Of Sister George, a movie starring Beryl Reid, Coral Browne and Susannah York. In 1960, York, a starlet at the beginning of her acting career and newly married, lived in a house at World’s End in Chelsea just a few hundred yards from the club but it’s reasonably safe to say that, even if she knew it existed, York wasn’t a regular at the Gateways.
Susannah York at her Kings Road flat in 1960
The Kings Road flat with a rather avant-garde painting 1961
York in 1965
York in 1967
A publicity still from Donald Cammell's film Duffy 1968
Robert Aldrich, the director, whose previous film was the slightly more macho The Dirty Dozen, decided to include actual customers rather than extras when they filmed scenes in the club. Gina, Smithy and the regulars performed stiffly and uncomfortably in front of the camera but when the film was released, for a lot of people, this was the first glimpse of a hidden lesbian sub-culture they had ever seen.
Robert Aldrich celebrating Beryl Reid's birthday during filming
York and Reid dressed for the Gateways fancy dress scene
Beryl Reid in the back of a taxi with nuns scene
When Beryl Reid was first introduced to The Gateways she said;
“If I had been here before I did the play I’d never have done it. I didn’t realise they held each other and went to the gent’s loo.”
Reid, when shown the script for the film, also baulked at the sex scenes (the original play had none, in fact when Robert Aldrich first went to see the play he didn’t realise it was about lesbians at all) and said;
“They had me in bed making love to the girl…close like baked beans…I said ‘No, not on your nelly – or maybe her nelly’. I just could not do it. The thought made me sick. It may be silly, but that sort of physical contact, starkers, with another woman frightened me to death.”
“Susannah was a bitch to her [Coral Browne] because she [York] simply didn’t want to do the scene.”
Coral Browne, Beryl Reid and Susannah York
The Killing of Sister George can’t be said to be exactly a ‘positive’ view of lesbianism and indeed a critic at the time it was released, suggested that the film ‘dealt with lesbians entirely through the eyes of heterosexual males’. However it was a groundbreaking film in many ways and I think, despite the somewhat cliched dialogue and the stereotypical butch/femme relationships it portrayed, the movie only condemned or criticised the various characters’ foibles and hypocrisies and not really their sexuality. Aldrich said of Beryl Reid’s character;
“Sister George’s loud behavior and individuality . . . are encompassed in her personality, they’re not a product of her lesbianism. . . . She didn’t give a shit about the BBC or the public’s acceptance of her relationships.”
The scenes Aldrich filmed at The Gateways were actually notable for their lack of sensationalism (unlike other films at the time trying to cover similar subject matters) and showed the regulars dancing, drinking and flirting just like any other londoners in any other London club.
Beryl Reid learning to smoke a cigar for her role in the film
Buy Maureen Duffy’s novel The Microcosm (set largely at the Gateways Club) here
UPDATE: I got a lovely email from Gina Ware, the daughter of Gina and Ted Ware. She wanted me to correct the fact about Ted winning the club in a poker game. It was actually a boxing match in 1943 being shown at The Dorchester! It cost £100 to transfer the licence.
Gina, interestingly, also wrote:
By the way, Gina and Smithy were not a couple in the romantic sense (though in some senses God knows whose business it is other than theirs bless ‘em). I do know the full story and can assure you I am right. But I can say this, I have never known a friendship like it. They were both at my father’s side when he died. Three more interesting, kind-hearted and unique people you will seldom meet.
I found these amazing photos today which are part of the LIFE collection. They are marked just as Chelsea with not even a date but I sent them to Gina and she confirms that they are of the Gateways Club and were taken around 1953/4.
Gina Ware around the time of her marriage in 1953
I received this email from Gina about the photographs confirming that they were indeed of the Gateways Club:
They are fantastic pictures. Lovely one of my old man bless him. And the pictures of the women speak volumes. Jill Gardner and I struggled so hard to try to bring out the particular flavour – it doesn’t conform with the usual views in so many ways. Her publishers edited out a lot as did the Guardian when they published Mum’s obituary – hate to say it but they actually were very inclined to politically correct us in a way I found a bit sickening and counterproductive. Some of it I understand but some of it is just about not wanting to admit that these women were not quite as oppressed and in the closet as they would like to believe – they were not rescued from oblivion and misery by the gay rights movement and academic feminists, they were doing fine themselves – in fact many of the older women reckon they made things that were heading in the right direction (and were a lot of fun) worse. And this is working class women, not privileged arty sorts.
I have hundreds of postcards written by members back to my Dad at the club from all over the world where they were out exploring to find out what the gay scene might be. I even have one where someone writes to say she and her girlfriend were up Macchu Picchu (I think) in Peru and met another member – and that was in the 50s! The material I have gives such a unique view, so direct as well.
It’s kind of sad for me looking back at it all – I so wish I had someone left who would remember exactly who all those people were. Dad wouldn’t be surprised – he always said it was going to be an incomparable story one day. He used to laugh at the News of the World’s strapline ‘All human life is here’ – they don’t know they are born he would say!
Good times at the Gateways Club
Tags: Beryl Reid, clubbing, gay, lesbianism, sex scenes, Susannah York, women
the odd thing is that lesbian clubs are still pretty thin on the ground. the only properly dedicated spot is the candy bar in soho – everything else is odd nights here and there and tacked on things like downstairs in g-a-y.
i wish there were a few more hidden away green doors down to iffy basements – just my kind of spot.
and quality tunes too – ta very much. hello stranger is one of my all time favourites of all time – it’s barbara lewis by the way.
bona lavs
x
I’ve been enjoying your blog for a while now and was utterly delighted to read this post. I’d been curious about The Gateways, and I’ve found scant information about it in relation to Sister George. Thanks for filling in the gaps. As usual, a killer posting!
It’s a long time since I saw this movie, but I don’t remember it being like the trailer. (That had me expecting Peter Cushing to turn up).
I’m disappointed to read about Beryl Reid’s opinions here. I wonder if that was just her “protecting” herself from the possibility of the public identifying her with the role too much?
Good film though. I love movies from this era which deal with what were “difficult” themes at the time. “The Leather Boys” being another. And even “The Family Way”.
Where do you get your photos from? I’m in awe of the content!
Loving the pic at the top of the page too!
Just found your blog – fascinating.
I haven’t heard that Dixie Cups track for a few years, so that made me smile too.
Thanks and all the best,
Ian TB
x
I once went to the Gateways. Trying to make my way towards the bar, women seemed to keep bumping into intimate areas of my anatomy. Not that I minded particularly…
The charismatic Coral Browne was bisexual. Her last marriage was to the “Abominable Dr. Phibes’, Vincent Price.
quality blog with some great pics.
Ive just been watching ”Not on your Nellie” which I recall watching as a small child in the very early 70s. Ever since then I was intrigued by that Kings road, and I lived there in the 1980s. I have Lancs parentage as well and I I was always intrigued by Nellie and how she coped among the Londoners. Looking back at it now, it probably was comedy for a four years old but it still has great charm. Note that the hon. ”Audrey Roberts” the late Wendy Richard OBE and Bond girl Alexandra Dane were all barmaids in the program. Superb blog. Thank you so much.
One of my fave films. I first saw it a few years back when “Turner Classic Movies” ran it during their “Gay & Lesbian” week. Coral Browne is absolutely creepy in it and I’m still amazed at how much that film got away with for it’s era!
Fascinating, as ever on this site. Certainly puts a new slant on ‘Green Door’ by Shakin’ Stevens. Good to see a rare reference to Maureen Duffy and a nod to the film The Leather Boys – all great stuff.
Another fascinating post. How different London was then. Keep it up!
Thanks to this post, I rented “The Killing of Sister George” via Netflix. I hadn’t seen it prior. Well worth viewing! I love Susannah York!
Keep up the great work!
I found your post a while back and through discovering it, was able to find a book written about the Gateways Club. Thank you! Most appreciated.
Thank you so much for these pictures. We have developed a musical based on the club and we are having a short run of the show in November 2010, please see http://www.gatewaysproductions.co.uk/ for more information. We would love to contact Gina regarding the porduction and wondered if you could help out at all.
For part of my degree I studied ‘The killing of Sister George’ and I managed to contact some people from the scene in ‘The Gates’. I was interested as I went there myself many times. Some of those people were actually outed by the film and had no idea what they were taking part in. I still have the letters from them.
Sorry Eve, to say the extras didn’t know what they were taking part in just isn’t true. I was an extra and a member of the Gateways at the time. Weeks before filming in the club, when asking members if they wanted to participate, Gina and Smithy made it perfectly clear what the situation was. Members had a choice and those of us who said yes had a great time.
The extras were there all day Sunday. When we weren’t needed, the production team had rented a house nearby where we all relaxed until we were called. For lunch, we went to a local school (cast as well) where the catering company produced a great lunch. We were paid £10 for the day which was generous pocket money.
There has never been a club like the Gateways and there never will be again. R.I.P. Gina, Smithy and Ted…thank you.
Coral Browne must have enjoyed making SISTER GEORGE as she had a gay relationship with the very butch Mary Morris, who even in her 70s drove around in full leather on a motorcycle. Coral was really in her element as a modern-day Tallulah Bankhead!
Cool article. Fascinating subculture in Britian. I would have liked to check out that club in the 60s…. the women in the club look like they would be fun to be around. BTW — sorry Susannah York and Beryl Reid didn’t like the lesbian love-making aspect of Sister George…. they were both great in the movie. Too bad Susannah York was bitchy to Coral Browne because of her own homophobia… makes me remember the line “me thinks thou protest too much”…. ya know what I mean?? P.S. It occurs to me that Susannah York played lesbian scenes and characters in other movies… X, Y and Zee for instance, in which she is seduced by none other than Liz Taylor. I was a big fan of Susannah’s… may she rest in peace.
Just found this amazing site,I used to go to Gateways in the early-mid 70,s,about 8 of us all couples would travel up from Brighton on a saturday early evening,pick up some friends from East Croydon then drive onto Gates,it was a truly great place to be we always had a fab time & were always up for going the more often the better. Yes loved The Killing Of Sister George & was crazy about Beryl Reid!
The DVD’s of 60′s films such as Sister George are remastered and exquisite to look at. I wonder why films such as Entertaining Mr. Sloane and Up The Junction are not shown on tv anymore. As a friend said to me, after I told her I had watched a new copy of Up The Junction, ‘those films should be on telly more, they are historical, social dramas, they show people what the era was like.’
lucrari de licenta…
[...]The Kings Road, the Gateways Club and The Killing Of Sister George[...]…
Enjoyed this trip down memory lane very much. Frequented club in early 70s but was probably happier in clubs like the Masquerade in Earls Court and Yours and Mine in Kensington. It was hard to compete with the butchiness of Gateways Butches! Walked past the club by accident about a month ago and it brought back many memories. My recollection of the entrance though was that we had to go down those basement stairs, not in by that street level door – have I got it wrong? Gina was always sexily delicious – I used to find it hard to move beyond the desk at the door. Saw Killing of Sister George as a play and then film. Enjoyed both; remember being warned at a cocktail party held by my parents of this terrible show in London and firmly aasserting to the woman holding forth that I’d already seen it and thought it was an excellent play. Can actually remember hearing sobs in the theatre from the row behind at the point where Sister George talked about putting her feet onto the damp foot prints after Childie had taken a bath. Happy days…. Makes me feel very old looking at this now but I’ve enjoyed it , thanks!