Come Play With Me

Come Play With Me is a 1977 British soft porn film starring Mary Millington and directed by George Harrison Marks. The film's cast list contained many well-known British character actors who were not known for appearing in such films.

Cornelius Clapworthy (Harrison Marks) and his sidekick Maurice Kelly (Alfie Bass) are two elderly forgers responsible for flooding the UK with fake banknotes. On the run from their gangster boss Slasher (Ronald Fraser) and effeminate, cross dressing government official Podsnap (Ken Parry) the pair escape to the Scottish Highlands and posing as musicians hide out at Bovington Manor, a B&B run by Lady Bovington (Irene Handl).

Since Bovington Manor is scarcely attended, Clapworthy and Kelly are free to continue their criminal activities, albeit having to constantly recite "O for the Wings of a Dove" to drown out the noise of the printing press that produces the fake banknotes. However when Lady Bovington's chorographer nephew Rodney and his troupe of dancing girls arrive at the manor, business picks up considerably when the girls, vaguely under the leadership of Rena (Suzy Mandel) decide - rather generously - to help Lady Bovington out by dressing as nurses and re-opening the Manor as a brothel with topless massages and 'the full treatment' being the order of the day. This means trouble and unwanted attention for Clapworthy and Kelly, especially when the girls' services bring Slasher and his heavies to the Manor.

Anyone else like this film? I do, it's very good.

While I have of course heard of it I must admit I have never actually seen it.

This film was produced in 1977 by David Sullivan (ex owner of Birmingham City and now owner of West Ham United).

Director George Harrison Marks was well known for taking photos of naked ladies but also producing a number of "adult" short films.

During the 1970s David Sullivan owned a load of sex magazines (maybe he still does) and he used to plug this film continuously in his magazines.

They always seemed to have letters in his magazine saying how great the film was and how much people enjoyed it.

The magazines would always indicate that it was "stonger" than it really was and the film ran in London for "years" (4 years from 1977 to 1981 at one cinema), due to the continuous publicity from his magazines.

He also used to say that even "stronger" scenes had been filmed and these were shown in the versions abroad but not in the UK.

This was probably all lies of course, but his continuous promotion of the film means it is possibly one of the best grossing films in the UK, compared to how much it cost to make.

More on Wiki (for some reason it "drops" the "_(1977_film)" bit off the end so you need it add it yourself).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Play_with_Me_(1977_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Marks

The reason why some of these actors appear in this type of film is that by the early 1970s the UK film industry was down the pan.

The UK made a number of good comedy films in the 1950s and 1960s such as the Ealing comedies, "I'm all right jack" and other Peter Sellers comedies, films by Norman Wisdom and the "Carry on" series and so on.

But by the 1970s these films were seen as rather "twee" and people wanted more "grown up" movies at the cinema.

So the Carry on movies had to get more adult (Carry on Emmanulle etc) and a whole series of "titillation" movies came out such as Confessions of a Taxi Driver and so on.

Many UK actors had seen their film career dry up so when somebody offers you a role in a "titillation" movie, probably with a decent "pay check" at the end of it, then you grab it.

I have just read the book by David Jason and he said in 1973 he was signed up for a move (White Cargo) that during filming (so he says) went from an adult comedy to a titillation movie.

I think many actors were probably not told how much nudity (or sex scenes) there would be in a movie so some may have been shocked when they saw the finished film.

The film Caligula was made in 1979 and starred many famous actors (Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole etc).

It was funded by the owner of Penthouse and a number of pornographic scenes were added into the film without the knowledge of the actors involved (so they say).

This is probably the "worst" example of well known actors being involved in a sex film.

More on Wiki (for some reason it "drops" the "_(film)" bit off the end so you need it add it yourself).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula_(film)

Both george and Guilbert should order themselves a copy of this excellent book:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/item/3468/keeping_the_british_end_up_four_decades_of_saucy_cinema_book/

Quote: Aaron @ 23rd January 2014, 5:30 PM GMT

Both george and Guilbert should order themselves a copy of this excellent book:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/item/3468/keeping_the_british_end_up_four_decades_of_saucy_cinema_book/

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I have seen that book in a few book shops and had a flick (yes I said flick) through it.