Sunday Bloody Sunday (film) Schlesinger's previous film "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), which portrayed its gay characters as alienated and self-loathing, as well as other gay-themed films of the era, including "Boys in the Band" (1970) and "Some of My Best Friends Are..." (1971). The film was released a year before the 1972 massacre of unarmed Northern Irish civilians by the British Army in Derry, Northern Ireland, an event dubbed "Bloody Sunday". Set in London, the film tells the story of a middle-aged Jewish doctor, Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch), and a divorced woman in her mid-30s, Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson), who are both involved in an
Sunday Bloody Sunday (film) Rainer of Bloomberg News wrote,"It's Finch's finest moment as an actor (and literally a far cry from his most famous role as the "mad prophet of the airwaves" in "Network"). As for Jackson, she was never better, more variegated. . ." This film appeared on both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's Top 10 list of 1971, listed as No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. Roger Ebert commented, "The official East Coast line on John Schlesinger's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was that it is civilized. That judgment was enlisted to carry the critical defense of the movie; and, indeed, how can the