Games That Lovers Play (U.S. titles: Lady Chatterley Versus Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterley vs Fanny Hill) is a 1971 British softcore comedy film written and directed by Malcolm Leigh and starring Joanna Lumley, Penny Brahms and Richard Wattis.[1][2]
| Games That Lovers Play | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Malcolm Leigh |
| Written by | Malcolm Leigh |
| Produced by | Judith Smith |
| Starring | Joanna Lumley Penny Brahms Richard Wattis |
| Cinematography | Ken Higgins |
| Edited by | Peter Austen-Hunt |
| Music by | David Lindup |
Production company | Border Film Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The US title and the names of the female lead characters reference the 1748 erotic novel Fanny Hill and D. H. Lawrence's 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, which had been the subject of a celebrated obscenity trial in 1960.[2] The film's plot is unrelated to either novel.[3]
Cast
edit- Joanna Lumley as Fanny Hill
- Penny Brahms as Constance Chatterley
- Richard Wattis as Lothran
- Jeremy Lloyd as Jonathan Chatterley
- Diane Hart as Mrs Hill
- Nan Munro as Lady Evelyn Chatterley
- John Gatrell as Bishop
- Charles Cullum as Charles
- Leigh Anthony as timekeeper
- George Belbin as Major Thrumper
- June Palmer as girl
- Graham Armitage as Mr Adams
- Harold Bennett as photographer
- Sydney Arnold as butler
- Colin Cunningham as usher
- Roy Stewart as Mr Bwamba
- Michael Travers as club porter
- Deborah Bishop as Lothran's fluffer
Production
editIn 2018, Joanna Lumley revealed she felt pressured to strip for this movie.[4]
Critical reception
editThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Hardly a plea for sexual tolerance, this lightweight sex comedy derives its humour largely from double entendre and sexual deviations, notably transvestism. On the premise that if one man in drag is funny then forty will be hilarious, a Drag Ball is staged – to the detriment of Jeremy Lloyd who, unlike the other guests (played by authentic drag queens) merely looks like a man dressed up as a woman and can do nothing with a part that makes him a prude as well as a lecher. ...The sense of period, conscientiously attempted by means of every style of decor from antique to art nouveau, is broken by the contemporary look of the actors which adds a final veneer of unreality to an already vacuous story."[5]
References
edit- ^ "Games That Lovers Play". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Games That Lovers Play". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ Cunliffe, Mark. "Games That Lovers Play". Letterboxd. Retrieved 16 February 2023.[self-published source]
- ^ "Joanna Lumley: 'In my day you had to take your top off to be a serious actress'". www.mirror.co.uk. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ "Games That Lovers Play". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (444): 48. 1 January 1971. ProQuest 1305831443 – via ProQuest.
External links
edit
 | This article related to a British film of the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a sex comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |