Main Cast: Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Liz Smith, Denholm Elliott, Richard Griffiths
Release Year: 1984
Country: UK
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A British couple's attempts to circumvent local food-rationing regulations trigger a chaotic series of events in this satirical comedy set in post-World War II England. The couple's scheme centers on a massive hog which has been illegally raised by a local farmer. Seeing a chance to capitalize on pork's scarcity, the ambitious Joyce Chilvers (Maggie Smith) convinces her mild-mannered husband (Michael Palin) to steal the pig. Unfortunately for the Chilverses, a vigilant food inspector is on duty and determined to stop all such illegal activity. The couple's efforts to hide the pig provide much material for frantic and sometimes grotesque farce. Playwright Alan Bennett's acerbic targets the British class system and the wife's social ambitions. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Comedy doesn't always travel well, as the cultural signposts that inspire laughter in one country may not resonate in another. A Private Function is in some ways very British, but audiences outside that country should still find a great deal to enjoy in this off-kilter comedy which alternates between droll quaintness and acerbic harshness, between refinement and extremely low humor. Alan Bennett's screenplay has a great many funny lines; more importantly, it understands that humor is best when it derives from character, so that most of the laughs come from context rather than from jokes. Malcolm Mowbray has directed the film with a nice combination of enthusiasm and restraint, although he sometimes chooses the wrong mode at the wrong time. His cast is superb, starting with Maggie Smith in high-comic dudgeon as she makes her petty character into a veritable Lady MacBeth. Smith, who has worked with Bennett numerous times, seems to have a special affinity for his style of writing. Michael Palin, with his bizarre form of vulnerability, is a great match for her. As the dotty mother, Liz Smith steals several scenes, a considerable feat under the circumstances, and Denholm Elliott's doctor is a treat. While the film doesn't quite achieve the lunatic payoff it seems to promise, it's a pleasingly deranged way to pass the time. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
John Normington - Frank Lockwood; Bill Paterson - Maurice Wormold; Anthony Haygarth - Bernard Sutcliffe; Alison Steadman - Mrs. Allardyce; Pete Postlethwaite - Nuttol; Jim Carter - Inspector Noble; Rachel Davies - Mrs. Forbes; Reece Dinsdale - P.C. Penny; Donald Eccles - Father; Denys Hawthorne - Hotel Manager; Eileen O'Brien - Mrs. Sutcliff; Philip Whileman - Preston; Elijah Wood - Ernest; Charles McKeown - Medcalf; David Morgan - Marvin; Gilly Coman - Dorothy; Lee Daley - Painter's Boy; Don Estelle - Barraclough; Amanda Gregan - Veronica; Josie Lane - Mrs. Beavers; Maggie Ollerenshaw - Woman; Susan Porrett - Mrs. Medcalf; Paula Tilbrook - Mrs. Turnbull; Bernard Wrigley - Painter
Credit
Judith Lang - Art Director, Michael Porter - Art Director, Debbie McWilliams - Casting, Michelle Guish - Casting, Phyllis Dalton - Costume Designer, Malcolm Mowbray - Director, Barrie Vince - Editor, John Du Prez - Composer (Music Score), Christine Beveridge - Makeup, Stuart Walker - Production Designer, Tony Pierce-Roberts - Cinematographer, George Harrison - Producer, Mark Shivas - Producer, Denis O'Brien - Producer, Tony Jackson - Sound/Sound Designer, Alan Bennett - Screen Story, Alan Bennett - Screenwriter
In a small Northern English town in 1947 the citizens endure continuing food rationing in the United Kingdom. Some local businessmen want to hold a party to celebrate the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip and illegally decide to raise a pig 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.
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.[3]
