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''Personal Services'' is a 1987 British
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland, about the rise of a madam of a suburban
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, the "House of Cyn" madam.


Plot

Christine Painter is a sexually naïve waitress and single mother who pays for her teenage son David's tuition by renting
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
flats to call girls. When a landlord confronts her for illegally subletting the flats and falling behind on the rent, Christine gives him a handjob in lieu of rent. After one of her "tenants", Rose, refuses to pay rent, Christine realises she can do sex work herself in the flat Rose abandons. Christine is charged with soliciting and pleads guilty in court. Soon she hatches a scheme with fellow sex worker Shirley to provide strictly kinky services such as bondage and fetish roleplay to an upscale clientele. They rent a suburban house, where they are joined by their "maid" Dolly. Christine attends her sister's wedding, where Dolly is accidentally exposed as transvestite to the groom's mother. Christine's father and sister angrily denounce her for spoiling the wedding. Christine's father later visits the brothel for sex and reconciles with his daughter. The brothel enjoys brisk business, but soon attracts the notice of the police, who raid the house on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
. When Christine appears in court to be arraigned, she is relieved when she realises the judge is one of her main clients; she then imagines the courtroom filled with all of her clients as judges.


Cast

* Julie Walters as Christine Painter * Shirley Stelfox as Shirley *
Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...
as Wing Commander Morten * Danny Schiller as Dolly * Tim Woodward as Timms * Victoria Hardcastle as Rose * Dave Atkins as Sydney *
Ewan Hooper Ewan Eynon Hooper (23 October 1935 – 6 April 2023) was a Scottish actor who was a graduate from, and later an associate member of RADA. Life and career Hooper was the motivating force in the foundation of the Greenwich Theatre, which opened ...
as Edward * Alan Bowyer as David Painter * Antony Carrick as Edgar * Beverley Foster as Elizabeth * Leon Lissek as Mr. Popozogolou * Michelle Collins as June * Peter Cellier as Mr. Marples * Benjamin Whitrow as Mr. Marsden *
Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s and was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democr ...
as Mr. Dunkley * John Shrapnel as Lionel * Anthony Collin as Mr Webb * Nigel Le Vaillant as The Man * Ron Pember as Ron * Arthur Whybrow as Max * John Bailey as Mr Gardner * Carolyn Allen as Carol * Ivor Roberts as Glossop * Arthur Cox as Lennox * Stanley Lebor as Jones * Sheila Gill as Mrs Winter * Jagdish Kumar as Mr Shah * Badi Uzzaman as Mr Patel * Charlotte Seeley (aka Charlotte Alexandra) as Diane


Reception

''Personal Services'' opened at five cinemas in central London on 3 April 1987, and was the highest-grossing film in London for the week, with a gross of £57,775. It reached number one nationally in the UK after 10 weeks of release and was number one for two weeks. The film was the second highest-grossing British film of the year in the UK, behind only '' The Living Daylights'', with a gross of £1,952,017 ($3.2 million). It grossed $1,744,164 in the United States and Canada.


Ban

The film was banned in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
upon theatrical release (although the ban was lifted two months later). At the time, there were four films that were banned in Ireland, and Jones had directed three of them (''Personal Services'', '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'', and '' Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'').


References


External links

* * * {{Terry Jones 1987 films 1987 comedy films 1980s biographical films British comedy films British biographical films Films about prostitution in the United Kingdom BDSM in films Films directed by Terry Jones Films scored by John Du Prez British independent films Films produced by Tim Bevan 1980s English-language films 1980s British films Films about landlords English-language biographical films