A Private Function is a
1984-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.*Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
BritishThe United Kingdom has had a large impact on modern cinema and has one the most respected film industries in the world. Despite a history of successful productions, the industry is characterised by an ongoing debate about its identity and the influences of American and European cinema, although it...
comedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
starring
Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and
Maggie SmithDame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 57 years...
. The film was predominantly filmed in
IlkleyIlkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...
and
Ben RhyddingBen Rhydding is a Wharfedale village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Ilkley urban area and civil parish....
,
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. The film was screened in the
Un Certain RegardUn Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or....
section at the
1985 Cannes Film Festival-Jury:*Miloš Forman *Claude Imbert *Edwin Zbonek *Francis Veber *Jorge Amado *Mauro Bolognini *Michel Perez *Mo Rothmann *Néstor Almendros *Sarah Miles...
.
Plot
In a small Northern English town in 1947 the citizens endure continuing food
rationingRationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. Some local businessmen want to hold a party to celebrate the royal wedding of
Princess ElizabethElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
to
Prince PhilipThe Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Philip was originally a royal prince of Greece and Denmark, and thus a member of the Danish-German House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, but renounced these titles shortly before his marriage and adopted the...
and illegally decide to raise a
pigPigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar...
for that occasion. However the pig gets stolen by Gilbert Chilvers (Michael Palin) who was encouraged to do so by his wife Joyce (Maggie Smith). Meanwhile a food inspector is determined to stop activities circumventing the food rationing.
Cast
- Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
... Gilbert Chilvers
- Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 57 years...
... Joyce Chilvers
- Denholm Elliott
Denholm Mitchell Elliott, CBE was an English actor of stage and screen, with over 120 major film and TV credits.. Today he is probably most known for his roles in the Indiana Jones movies as Dr. Marcus Brody.-Early life:...
... Dr Charles Swaby
- Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, and the Tony Award for Best Performance by a...
... Henry Allardyce the Accountant
- Tony Haygarth
Tony Haygarth is a British television, film and theatre actor.-Career:At the age of eighteen, Haygarth worked unsuccessfully as a lifeguard in Torquay, and also tried escapology, equally unsuccessfully...
... Leonard Sutcliff the Farmer
- John Normington ... Frank Lockwood the Solicitor
- Bill Paterson
Bill Paterson is a Scottish stage, film, and television actor.-Early years:Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Paterson spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice, before attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama...
... Morris Wormold the Meat Inspector
- Liz Smith
Betty Smith, MBE is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress, known as Liz Smith, best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family, and who also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in the Crosby area...
... Joyce's Mother
- Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman OBE is an award-winning English actress.- Personal life :Steadman was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, the daughter of Marjorie and George Percival Steadman, who worked for an electronics firm as a production controller...
... Mrs Allardyce
- Jim Carter ... Inspector Noble
- Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE is an Academy Award-nominated British actor.-Early life:Postlethwaite was born in Warrington, England, to Mary Geraldine and William Postlethwaite as their third and youngest child...
... Douglas J. Nuttol the Butcher
Crew
- Malcolm Mowbray
Michael Mowbray is a British screenwriter and television and film director.Mowbray began his career in television, directing episodes of Premiere, BBC2 Playhouse, and Objects of Affection...
- Director / Writer (story)
- Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is an English author, actor, humorist and playwright.-Early years:Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The son of a co-op butcher, Bennett attended Leeds Modern School , learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service, and gained...
- Writer (story) (screenplay)
- Mark Shivas
Mark Shivas was a British television producer, film producer and executive. He began his career at BBC Television in the 1960s, and quickly became one of the department's noted producers...
- Producer
Production
Three pigs were used in the filming of
A Private Function, all named Betty. Producer Mark Shivas was advised by Intellectual Animals UK that the pigs used should be female and six months old so as to not be too large or aggressive. However, the Bettys were unpredictable and often quite dangerous. During filming of one of the kitchen scenes, Maggie Smith was hemmed in by one of the pigs and needed to vault over the back of it in order to escape.
Awards
The film won three
BAFTA Film AwardsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
: best actress for
Maggie SmithDame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 57 years...
, best supporting actress for
Liz SmithBetty Smith, MBE is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress, known as Liz Smith, best known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family, and who also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle in the Crosby area...
and best supporting actor for
Denholm ElliottDenholm Mitchell Elliott, CBE was an English actor of stage and screen, with over 120 major film and TV credits.. Today he is probably most known for his roles in the Indiana Jones movies as Dr. Marcus Brody.-Early life:...
. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay (
Alan BennettAlan Bennett is an English author, actor, humorist and playwright.-Early years:Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The son of a co-op butcher, Bennett attended Leeds Modern School , learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service, and gained...
) and Best Film.