England,
1984, 93 min
Shown in 1985
CREDITS
- dir
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Malcolm Mowbray
- prod
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Mark Shivas
- scr
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Alan Bennett
- cam
-
Tony Pierce-Roberts
- editor
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Barrie Vince
- cast
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Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Bill Patterson, Richard Griffiths, Betty the Pig
- source
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New Yorker Films, 16 West 61st Street, New York, NY 10023. FAX: 212-307-7855
-
COMMENTS
Closing Night Film with Michael Palin in person in 1985. Shown as part of the Alan Bennett Tribute in 1997.
OTHER
Betty was gorgeous: pink, white and cream, with flesh to dream over and a smile that took away tiredness. There were men who thought of stuffing and rolling her, and some women who would have been content just to have her legs. She was the most desired female in the county. But in 1947, in England, desire was rationed, and there were people in Betty’s Yorkshire town who wanted to eat her, just because she was a pig. A nice bit of pork roast to go with the mashed potatoes and gravy. Heaven for those in rationing-card hell! But Betty is destined for a royal fate as the centerpiece of the banquet to mark the marriage of Princess Elizabeth. She is saved when a bunch of outsiders kidnap her. But perhaps they too have some nefarious purpose in mind? A Private Function is set in a town of hypocrites and snobs where dark and lurid thoughts and deeds lurk behind lace curtains. It recalls the classic Ealing comedies of the 1950s, shot through with the irreverence of Monty Python. Always in the best worst taste, stepping daintily between the hilarious and the grotesque, it stars Maggie Smith and Michael Palin and a slew of those wonderful character actors that grace the best British films (and television). No pigs admitted without accompanying adults.
—David Thomson
FACTOID #188
According to an item in the 1969 Halloween edition of the Hollywood Reporter, Swedish director Bo Widerberg cancelled a Festival tribute at the last minute with a cryptic telegram from Stockholm that read, ’Sorry impossible to come. Must stay in bed.’
