Grand Slam (1978 film)
Encyclopedia
Grand Slam is a 1978
sports comedy film
produced by BBC Wales
. The film starred Oscar
-winning actor Hugh Griffith
, Windsor Davies
, Dewi "Pws" Morris and Sion Probert. The play was written for television by Gwenlyn Parry
and then-head of drama for BBC Wales, John Hefin.
rugby union
club, fly to Paris
as part of a weekend outing to see Wales
play France
in the Five Nations Championship
match that will decide the Grand Slam
title. One of the party is Caradog Lloyd-Evans (Griffith), who briefly served in occupied Paris near the end of World War II
. Caradog pays for his son Glyn's air ticket on the proviso that Glyn comes on a 'pilgrimage' to find his 'little butterfly' who he spent a short romantic period with during the war. This pilgrimage is successful and although the right place is found, it is no longer the innocent bistro of his youth but one of many strip club
joints. Mr Lloyd-Evans mistakes a young girl in the club (who is a spitting image of his 'little butterfly') for the real thing and finds that the girl is actually Odette (Sharon Morgan
), the daughter of his old flame. He is (naturally) disappointed but Glyn (Dewi "Pws" Morris) gets himself acquainted with Odette while Caradog reminisces with his 'butterfly' (played by Marika Rivera). A quick call to the hotel brings the entire tour party to the club where fun and frolicking takes place led by Mog (Davies). Some locals take exception and a mass brawl starts which ends with the arrival of the police. The whole party is arrested except Caradog (protected by his 'butterfly' Madame) and Glyn (hidden in Odette's bedroom).
Sion Probert plays camp boutique
owner Maldwyn Pugh, who is the only one of the main four characters who makes the start of the match, because Mog is still in jail as he was considered the ringleader (the others were released), Caradog is with his 'butterfly' and Glyn is trying for his own sexual 'Grand Slam' with Odette. Mog is eventually released halfway through the first half of the match, but when he finally arrives at the stadium, there's only seconds of the game left, which Wales lose. Caradog is found collapsed near the table, and Madame thinks he has died, but Odette fires a soda siphon on his face, and the story ends with Caradog warning his son of the dangers of overseas travel.
1978 in film
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
sports comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
produced by BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
. The film starred Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning actor Hugh Griffith
Hugh Griffith
Hugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
, Windsor Davies
Windsor Davies
Windsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:...
, Dewi "Pws" Morris and Sion Probert. The play was written for television by Gwenlyn Parry
Gwenlyn Parry
Gwenlyn Parry was a Welsh dramatist.Gwenlyn Parry was born in the Welsh slate-quarrying village of Deiniolen, Caernarfonshire and died in the Cardiff area of south Wales...
and then-head of drama for BBC Wales, John Hefin.
Synopsis
Four men, members of a WelshWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club, fly to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as part of a weekend outing to see Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
play France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
in the Five Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
match that will decide the Grand Slam
Grand Slam (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
title. One of the party is Caradog Lloyd-Evans (Griffith), who briefly served in occupied Paris near the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Caradog pays for his son Glyn's air ticket on the proviso that Glyn comes on a 'pilgrimage' to find his 'little butterfly' who he spent a short romantic period with during the war. This pilgrimage is successful and although the right place is found, it is no longer the innocent bistro of his youth but one of many strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
joints. Mr Lloyd-Evans mistakes a young girl in the club (who is a spitting image of his 'little butterfly') for the real thing and finds that the girl is actually Odette (Sharon Morgan
Sharon Morgan
Sharon Morgan is a Welsh actress of stage and screen, currently based in Cardiff. She was brought up in the village of Llandyfaelog...
), the daughter of his old flame. He is (naturally) disappointed but Glyn (Dewi "Pws" Morris) gets himself acquainted with Odette while Caradog reminisces with his 'butterfly' (played by Marika Rivera). A quick call to the hotel brings the entire tour party to the club where fun and frolicking takes place led by Mog (Davies). Some locals take exception and a mass brawl starts which ends with the arrival of the police. The whole party is arrested except Caradog (protected by his 'butterfly' Madame) and Glyn (hidden in Odette's bedroom).
Sion Probert plays camp boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
owner Maldwyn Pugh, who is the only one of the main four characters who makes the start of the match, because Mog is still in jail as he was considered the ringleader (the others were released), Caradog is with his 'butterfly' and Glyn is trying for his own sexual 'Grand Slam' with Odette. Mog is eventually released halfway through the first half of the match, but when he finally arrives at the stadium, there's only seconds of the game left, which Wales lose. Caradog is found collapsed near the table, and Madame thinks he has died, but Odette fires a soda siphon on his face, and the story ends with Caradog warning his son of the dangers of overseas travel.
Cast
- Hugh GriffithHugh GriffithHugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
as Caradog Lloyd Evans - Windsor DaviesWindsor DaviesWindsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:...
as Mog Jones - Sion Probert as Maldwyn Novello-Pughe
- Dewi 'Pws' Morris as Glyn Lloyd-Evans
- Sharon MorganSharon MorganSharon Morgan is a Welsh actress of stage and screen, currently based in Cardiff. She was brought up in the village of Llandyfaelog...
as Odette
- Elizabeth Morgan as Josephine
- Marika Rivera as the Madame
- Dillwyn Owen as Will Posh
- Kim Karlisle as the Stripper
- Mici Plwm and Malcolm Williams as the Gendarmes
Crew
- Produced and Directed by John Hefin
- Screenplay by Gwenlyn Parry and John Hefin (translated from the Welsh by Gwynne D. Evans)
- Film Editor: Chris Lawrence
- Designer: Alan Taylor
- Camera: Russ Walker
- Second Unit Camera: Ken McKay
- Sound: Mansel Davies
- Lighting: John Welch
- Dubbing Mixer: Tony Heasman
- Production Assistants: Wynne Jones and Beth Price
- Props Buyer: Gwenda Griffith
- Make-Up: Cissian Rees
- Costume: Coleen O'Brien
- Graphic Designer: Keith Trodden
- Title cartoons by GrenGrenGrenfell "Gren" Jones MBE was one of Wales's best-known and longest-serving newspaper cartoonists.- Biography :The son of coal miner Harry Jones, Gren was born in Hengoed in the Rhymney Valley...
(Grenfell Jones MBE) - Fight Arranger: Alan Chuntz
Production notes
- Many of the film's interior scenes were filmed at the BBC Wales club in Newport Road, Cardiff with filming in Paris taking place over several days in February 1977, when Wales' match with France took place at Parc des PrincesParc des PrincesThe Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
during the second round of matches in the 1977 Five Nations Championship1977 Five Nations ChampionshipThe 1977 Five Nations Championship was the forty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-third series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played...
. The airport scenes were filmed at Cardiff Airport. - Wales' 16-9 defeat on the day of the match led to a rewrite of some of the film's closing scenes and a new scene with Mog and Maldwyn contemplating next year's Wales v France fixture at Cardiff Arms Park (which saw Wales beat France 16-7 to win the Grand Slam and the 1978 Five Nations).
- The film is iconic in Wales, being broadcast many times since its original transmission on Friday 17 March 1978. It also marked the penultimate film or television role of actor Hugh GriffithHugh GriffithHugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
, who died in 1980. - Originally intended to run for 75 minutes, the film was ordered to be cut down to an hour just a few days before its first network broadcast as a result of industrial action.