''Consuming Passions'' is a 1988

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

film which stars

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...

Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...

, and

Sammi Davis Samantha "Sammi" Davis (born 21 June 1964) is an English actress. She gained considerable praise for her performances in ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), as a teenage prostitute, and Ken Russell's '' The Rainbow'' (1989). She also had significant roles ...

and was directed by

Giles Foster Giles Foster has been an English television director since 1975, specialising in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and in Germany (2012-2014). He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s. He is from Bath, Somerset and was ed ...

Synopsis

The film is based on '' Secrets'' by

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

and

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

a BBC television play broadcast in 1973. It tells the story of a chocolate factory preparing to launch a new luxury range, Passionelles. However, during the production run a worker falls into a vat of chocolate and dies, meaning human flesh is present in the first batch released. The horrified owners try and fail to recall the chocolates, but when they go on sale, they prove a surprise hit. Keen to continue the success, the developers try to replicate the taste with animal meat, but this fails miserably - leading them to realise human flesh is the key ingredient, and going to extreme lengths to obtain dead bodies to use in the chocolate. The ''Time Out Film Guide'' describes the 'recipe' for this film and concludes that of the result: "the consistency should be lumpy and the taste insipid."John Pym (ed.) ''Time Out Film Guide 2009'', London: Aurum Press, 2008, p. 210

Cast

* Tyler Butterworth as Ian Littleton *

as Mr Farris *

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

as Graham Chumley *

as Mrs Garza *

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...

as Ethel *

as Felicity *

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...

as Mrs Gordon * John Wells as Dr Forrester *

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

as Dr Rees * Bryan Pringle as Gateman * Mary Healey as Mrs Eggleston *

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...

as Jason *

Deddie Davies Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh character actress. Biography Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales. She trained at RADA and is most familiar to television viewers for comedy roles in a hos ...

as Mrs Coot * William Rushton as Big Teddy *

Wincey Willis 1948 births Living people British infotainers Weather presenters Wincey Willis (born Florence Winsome Leighton; 8 August 1948) is a British television and radio broadcaster who was most active in the 1980s. She is perhaps best known for bein ...

as TV Presenter *

Linda Lusardi Linda Frances Elide Lusardi (born 18 September 1958) is an English actress, television presenter and former glamour model. Career Modelling Lusardi was born in Wood Green, London to Lilian (née Glassman, b. 1933) and Nello Lusardi (1930–2017 ...

as French Beauty *

Patrick Newell Patrick David Newell (27 March 1932 – 22 July 1988) was a British actor, known for his large size. Early life and education The second son of Eric Llewellyn Newell, of High Lodge, Hadleigh, Suffolk, an Oxford-educated physician who served ...

as Lester *

Preston Lockwood Reginald Herbert Lockwood (30 October 1912 – 24 April 1996), known professionally as Preston Lockwood, was an English radio and television actor. The only son of bus driver Herbert Lewis Lockwood and his wife Ethel May (née Preston), Lockwood ...

as Josiah

References

External links

* * 1988 films British black comedy films British independent films Films shot at Pinewood Studios 1980s black comedy films Films about cannibalism 1988 comedy films Films directed by Giles Foster 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-comedy-film-stub