Emmanuelle in Soho

Last updated

Emmanuelle in Soho
Emmanuelle in Soho.png
Directed byDavid Hughes
Screenplay by
  • Brian Daly
  • John M. East [1]
Produced byJohn M. East [1]
CinematographyDon Lord [1]
Edited byDavid Woodward [1]
Music byBarry Kirsch [1]
Production
company
Roldvale [1]
Distributed by Tigon [1]
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
[1]
Running time
67 minutes [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom [1]

Emmanuelle in Soho is a 1981 British sex film directed by David Hughes and produced by David Sullivan, and starring Angie Quick (under the name 'Mandy Miller'), Julie Lee and John M. East. [2] Sullivan had originally intended Mary Millington to star in the film. [3]

Contents

The film tells the story of half-Chinese Kate Benson (played by Lee) and her photographer husband Paul (Kevin Fraser) who share their Bayswater home with a nymphomaniac stripper, Emmanuelle (played by Quick). The two women attempt to find work in the sex industry in London's Soho district, and get mixed up with a sleazy, and unscrupulous theatrical agent, Bill Anderson (played by East).

The film premiered in Sheffield and transferred to London where it ran for 10 weeks at the Eros cinema on Piccadilly Circus followed by 25 weeks at the Moulin in Great Windmill Street. There is also a hardcore versions of this film - such a version was released in Hong Kong cinemas where it ran for nearly three years. [4] The US release included a 6-minute mini-documentary prologue about the sex industry in Soho. [5]

Cast

[1]

Reception

Emmanuelle in Soho was one of the last British softcore films to receive a theatrical release before the abolition of the Eady Levy and the growth of home video led to the virtual disappearance of British low-budget exploitation film-making. [3] In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as "of marginal interest for its unabashed portrait of the neighbourhood's tawdry illicit wares". The review noted that the "slipshod scripting is about par for the course". [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Great Rock n Roll Swindle</i> 1980 British film

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, also known as The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex Pistols and, most prominently, their manager Malcolm McLaren.

George Harrison Marks was an English glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Millington</span> English model and pornographic actress

Mary Ruth Maxted, known professionally as Mary Millington from 1974 onwards, was an English model and pornographic actress. Her appearance in the short softcore film Sex is My Business led to her meeting magazine publisher David Sullivan, who promoted her widely as a model and featured her in the 1977 softcore comedy Come Play With Me, which ran for a record-breaking four years at the same cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sullivan (businessman)</span> Welsh businessman

David Sullivan is a Welsh businessman and former pornographer. From 1986 to 2007, he owned the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, which he sold for £40 million.

<i>Fiesta</i> (magazine) British pornographic magazine

Fiesta was a British adult magazine featuring softcore pornography, published by Galaxy Publications Limited. It was a sister publication of Knave magazine, launched two years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Raymond (publisher)</span> English publisher (1925–2008)

Paul Raymond, born Geoffrey Anthony Quinn, was an English strip-club owner, publisher of pornography, and property developer who was dubbed the "King of Soho".

<i>Knave</i> (British magazine) British softcore pornographic magazine (1968–2015)

Knave was a long-running British adult magazine featuring softcore pornography, published by Galaxy Publications Limited. Originally launched in 1968 by the photographer Russell Gay, it was the upmarket sister publication of Fiesta magazine. Mary Millington modelled for the magazine in 1974, prior to her exclusive signing to work for David Sullivan's magazines.

Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such as those of Ovid and Geoffrey Chaucer may be considered sex comedies.

John Jesner Lindsay was a former Scottish photographer and adult film-maker who was active during the late 1960s and the 1970s. A former student of the Glasgow School of Art, Lindsay began his career as a photojournalist with limited financial success. By the late 1960s Lindsay had begun photographing nudes for adult magazines including Penthouse and Mayfair.

<i>Eskimo Nell</i> (film) 1975 film by Martin Campbell

Eskimo Nell, also known as The Ballad of Eskimo Nell and The Sexy Saga of Naughty Nell and Big Dick, is a 1975 British sex comedy film directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Stanley Long, starring Roy Kinnear. Though inspired by "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell", the movie owes little to the original bawdy song. Long called it "my definitive statement about the sex films".

Suzy Mandel is a former actress and model best known for her roles in such mid-1970s British sex comedies as Intimate Games (1976), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Come Play with Me (1977), The Playbirds (1978), and Adventures of a Plumber's Mate (1978), and for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show.

<i>Emmanuelle 5</i> 1987 French film

Emmanuelle 5 is a French film directed by Walerian Borowczyk.

<i>Come Play with Me</i> (1977 film) 1977 film by Harrison Marks

Come Play with Me is a 1977 British softcore pornographic film, starring Mary Millington and directed by George Harrison Marks. Its cast list contains many well-known British character actors who were not known for appearing in such films. The film is regarded by many as the most successful of the British sex comedies of the seventies. It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981, which is listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the longest-running screening in Britain. A blue plaque on the former cinema's site commemorates this.

In the United Kingdom, pornography is regulated by a variety of laws, regulations, judicial processes, and voluntary schemes. Pornographic material generally has to be assessed by regulators or courts to determine its legality. British censorship laws with regard to pornography have often been some of the most restrictive in Western Europe.

Sue Longhurst is an English actress who appeared in several X-rated sex comedies in the 1970s.

<i>Au Pair Girls</i> 1972 film by Val Guest

Au Pair Girls is a 1972 British sex comedy film directed by Val Guest. It stars Gabrielle Drake, Astrid Frank, Me Me Lai and Nancie Wait. Part of the British 1970s softcore sex comedy genre, the film also includes appearances by mainstream actors Trevor Bannister, Richard O'Sullivan, John Le Mesurier, Ferdy Mayne, Geoffrey Bayldon and Johnny Briggs.

<i>Emmanuelle</i> (1974 film) 1974 film by Just Jaeckin

Emmanuelle is a 1974 French erotic drama film directed by Just Jaeckin. It is the first installment in a series of French softcore pornography films based on the novel Emmanuelle by Emmanuelle Arsan. The film stars Sylvia Kristel in the title role about a woman who takes a trip to Bangkok to enhance her sexual experience. The film was former photographer Jaeckin's debut feature film and was shot on location in Thailand and in France between 1973 and 1974.

<i>The Playbirds</i> 1978 British film

The Playbirds is a 1978 British sexploitation film, made by Irish-born director Willy Roe and starring 1970s pin-up Mary Millington alongside Glynn Edwards, Suzy Mandel and Windsor Davies. It was the official follow-up to Come Play with Me, one of the most successful of the British sex comedies of the 1970s, which also starred Millington.

<i>Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair</i> 1979 British sexploitation comedy film by Willy Roe

Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair is a 1979 British sexploitation comedy film directed by Willy Roe and starring Alan Lake, Glynn Edwards, Mary Millington, Bernie Winters, Diana Dors and Anthony Booth.

<i>Whitehouse</i> (magazine) British pornographic magazine

Whitehouse magazine, also known as Whitehouse International, was a British pornographic magazine originally published by David Sullivan, and later sold to Gold Star Publications. It was first published in 1974. Billed as "The International Quality Glamour Magazine", it was substantially more explicit than its predecessors, showing uncensored images of genitalia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pym, John (1981). "Emmanuelle in Soho". Monthly Film Bulletin . London: British Film Institute. 48 (564): 152–153.
  2. "Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009.
  3. 1 2 Upton, Julian (2004). Fallen Stars: Tragic Lives and Lost Careers. Headpress/Critical Vision. p. 46. ISBN   9781900486385.
  4. Simon Sheridan (9 May 2013). "Julie Lee-The Last Star of Sexploitation". Mary Millington.
  5. Johnny Stanwyck (6 August 2018). "Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)". The Grindhouse Effect.

Further reading