Come Play with Me (1977 film) - Revision history

Kurt at 16:31, 11 January 2023

2023-01-11T16:31:33Z

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	{{short description\|1977 film by Harrison Marks}}		{{short description\|1977 film by Harrison Marks}}
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Come Play With Me		\| name = Come Play With Me
	\| image = Come Play With Me.jpg		\| image = Come Play With Me.jpg
	\| caption = [[w:Film poster\|Film poster]] by [[Tom Chantrell]]		\| caption = [[w:Film poster\|Film poster]] by [[w:Tom Chantrell\|Tom Chantrell]]
	\| director = [[Harrison Marks]]		\| director = [[w:Harrison Marks\|Harrison Marks]]
	\| producer = [[David Sullivan (publisher)\|David Sullivan]]		\| producer = [[w:David Sullivan (publisher)\|David Sullivan]]
	\| writer = Harrison Marks		\| writer = Harrison Marks
	\| starring = [[Irene Handl]]<br>[[Alfie Bass]]<br />Harrison Marks<br />[[Ronald Fraser (actor)\|Ronald Fraser]]<br />[[Mary Millington]]<br />[[Suzy Mandel]]		\| starring = [[Irene Handl]]<br>[[Alfie Bass]]<br />Harrison Marks<br />[[Ronald Fraser (actor)\|Ronald Fraser]]<br />[[w:Mary Millington\|Mary Millington]]<br />[[w:Suzy Mandel\|Suzy Mandel]]
	\| music = Peter Jeffries		\| music = Peter Jeffries
	\| distributor = [[Tigon British Film Productions\|Tigon]]		\| distributor = [[w:Tigon British Film Productions\|Tigon]]
	\| released = {{Film date\|1977\|04\|28\|df=y}}		\| released = {{Film date\|1977\|04\|28\|df=y}}
	\| runtime = 94 minutes		\| runtime = 94 minutes
	\| country = [[United Kingdom]]		\| country = [[w:United Kingdom\|United Kingdom]]
	\| language = English		\| language = English
	\| budget = £120,000		\| budget = £120,000
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	}}		}}

	'''''Come Play with Me''''' is a 1977 British [[w:softcore pornographic\|softcore pornographic]] [[w:comedy\|] film, starring [[w:Mary Millington\|Mary Millington]] and directed by [[w:Harrison Marks\|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.<ref name=Sheridan>{{cite book\|first=Simon\|last=Sheridan\|title=Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema\|publisher=Titan Books Ltd.\|year=2011\|isbn=978-0857682796\|edition=4}}</ref> It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in [[Great Windmill Street]], [[Soho]], London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981,<ref name="Sweet">{{cite news\|last=Sweet\|first=Matthew\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/2\|title=No sex please; we're bored\|work=The Guardian\|date=24 November 2000\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prynn">{{cite news\|last=Prynn\|first=Jonathan\|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/former-sex-comedy-cinema-given-new-life-as-steakhouse-a3630131.html\|title=Former 'sex comedy' cinema given new life as steakhouse\|work=London Evening Standard\|date=8 September 2017\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> which is listed in the [[Guinness World Records\|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in Britain. A [[blue plaque]] on the former cinema's site commemorates this.<ref name=blackburn>{{cite news\|title=A blue plaque for a blue lady: Risqué film star Mary Millington honoured\|url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/659451/A-blue-plaque-for-a-blue-lady-Risqu-film-star-Mary-Millington-honoured\|newspaper=Express\|date=8 April 2016\|first=Virginia\|last=Blackburn\|access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>		'''''Come Play with Me''''' is a 1977 British [[w:softcore pornographic\|softcore pornographic]] [[w:comedy\|comedy]] film, starring [[w:Mary Millington\|Mary Millington]] and directed by [[w:Harrison Marks\|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.<ref name=Sheridan>{{cite book\|first=Simon\|last=Sheridan\|title=Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema\|publisher=Titan Books Ltd.\|year=2011\|isbn=978-0857682796\|edition=4}}</ref> It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in [[w:Great Windmill Street\|Great Windmill Street]], [[w:Soho\|Soho]], London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981,<ref name="Sweet">{{cite news\|last=Sweet\|first=Matthew\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/2\|title=No sex please; we're bored\|work=The Guardian\|date=24 November 2000\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prynn">{{cite news\|last=Prynn\|first=Jonathan\|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/former-sex-comedy-cinema-given-new-life-as-steakhouse-a3630131.html\|title=Former 'sex comedy' cinema given new life as steakhouse\|work=London Evening Standard\|date=8 September 2017\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> which is listed in the [[w:Guinness World Records\|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in Britain. A [[w:blue plaque\|blue plaque]] on the former cinema's site commemorates this.<ref name=blackburn>{{cite news\|title=A blue plaque for a blue lady: Risqué film star Mary Millington honoured\|url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/659451/A-blue-plaque-for-a-blue-lady-Risqu-film-star-Mary-Millington-honoured\|newspaper=Express\|date=8 April 2016\|first=Virginia\|last=Blackburn\|access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>

	==Synopsis==		==Synopsis==

Kurt at 21:44, 18 October 2022

2022-10-18T21:44:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:44, 18 October 2022
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	}}		}}

	'''''Come Play with Me''''' is a 1977 British [[softcore pornographic]] film, starring [[Mary Millington]] and directed by [[Harrison Marks\|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.<ref name=Sheridan>{{cite book\|first=Simon\|last=Sheridan\|title=Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema\|publisher=Titan Books Ltd.\|year=2011\|isbn=978-0857682796\|edition=4}}</ref> It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in [[Great Windmill Street]], [[Soho]], London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981,<ref name="Sweet">{{cite news\|last=Sweet\|first=Matthew\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/2\|title=No sex please; we're bored\|work=The Guardian\|date=24 November 2000\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prynn">{{cite news\|last=Prynn\|first=Jonathan\|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/former-sex-comedy-cinema-given-new-life-as-steakhouse-a3630131.html\|title=Former 'sex comedy' cinema given new life as steakhouse\|work=London Evening Standard\|date=8 September 2017\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> which is listed in the [[Guinness World Records\|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in Britain. A [[blue plaque]] on the former cinema's site commemorates this.<ref name=blackburn>{{cite news\|title=A blue plaque for a blue lady: Risqué film star Mary Millington honoured\|url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/659451/A-blue-plaque-for-a-blue-lady-Risqu-film-star-Mary-Millington-honoured\|newspaper=Express\|date=8 April 2016\|first=Virginia\|last=Blackburn\|access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>		'''''Come Play with Me''''' is a 1977 British [[w:softcore pornographic\|softcore pornographic]] [[w:comedy\|] film, starring [[w:Mary Millington\|Mary Millington]] and directed by [[w:Harrison Marks\|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.<ref name=Sheridan>{{cite book\|first=Simon\|last=Sheridan\|title=Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema\|publisher=Titan Books Ltd.\|year=2011\|isbn=978-0857682796\|edition=4}}</ref> It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in [[Great Windmill Street]], [[Soho]], London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981,<ref name="Sweet">{{cite news\|last=Sweet\|first=Matthew\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/2\|title=No sex please; we're bored\|work=The Guardian\|date=24 November 2000\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prynn">{{cite news\|last=Prynn\|first=Jonathan\|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/former-sex-comedy-cinema-given-new-life-as-steakhouse-a3630131.html\|title=Former 'sex comedy' cinema given new life as steakhouse\|work=London Evening Standard\|date=8 September 2017\|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> which is listed in the [[Guinness World Records\|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in Britain. A [[blue plaque]] on the former cinema's site commemorates this.<ref name=blackburn>{{cite news\|title=A blue plaque for a blue lady: Risqué film star Mary Millington honoured\|url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/659451/A-blue-plaque-for-a-blue-lady-Risqu-film-star-Mary-Millington-honoured\|newspaper=Express\|date=8 April 2016\|first=Virginia\|last=Blackburn\|access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>

	==Synopsis==		==Synopsis==
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	* A restored version of the film was released on Blu Ray in 2020 by Screenbound Pictures as part of the Mary Millington Movie Collection.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26631\|title=Screenbound Pictures: Come Play With Me and The Playbirds Restoration Comparison\|date=1 April 2020\|website=Blu-ray.com\|access-date=13 October 2020}}</ref>		* A restored version of the film was released on Blu Ray in 2020 by Screenbound Pictures as part of the Mary Millington Movie Collection.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26631\|title=Screenbound Pictures: Come Play With Me and The Playbirds Restoration Comparison\|date=1 April 2020\|website=Blu-ray.com\|access-date=13 October 2020}}</ref>

	~~==See also==~~
	*[[Pornography in the United Kingdom]]

	==References==		==References==
	~~<references/>~~		{{reflist}}
	*''Continental Film Review'' (vol 24, no 7, 1977) "Come Play With Me"		*''Continental Film Review'' (vol 24, no 7, 1977) "Come Play With Me"
	*''Whitehouse'' (no 27, circa 1977)		*''Whitehouse'' (no 27, circa 1977)
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	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{IMDb title\|0075868\|Come Play with Me}}		* {{IMDb title\|0075868\|Come Play with Me}}
	* [http://www.themanorweston.com/ Weston Manor Hotel]

	[[Category:1970s English-language films]]		[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
	[[Category:1977 films]]		[[Category:1977 films]]
	~~[[Category:Films directed by Harrison Marks]]~~
	[[Category:1970s sex comedy films]]		[[Category:1970s sex comedy films]]
	[[Category:British sex comedy films]]		[[Category:British sex comedy films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]
	[[Category:Softcore pornography]]		[[Category:Softcore pornography]]
	[[Category:1970s musical films]]		[[Category:1970s musical films]]

Kurt at 21:41, 18 October 2022

2022-10-18T21:41:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:41, 18 October 2022
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	{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}
	{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}		{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}
	~~{{More citations needed\|date=November 2009}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Come Play With Me		\| name = Come Play With Me
	\| image = Come Play With Me.jpg		\| image = Come Play With Me.jpg
	\| caption = [[Film poster]] by [[Tom Chantrell]]		\| caption = [[w:Film poster\|Film poster]] by [[Tom Chantrell]]
	\| director = [[Harrison Marks]]		\| director = [[Harrison Marks]]
	\| producer = [[David Sullivan (publisher)\|David Sullivan]]		\| producer = [[David Sullivan (publisher)\|David Sullivan]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-10-18T21:39:40Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 16:39, 18 October 2022
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en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1970s British films

2022-09-04T17:27:14Z

External links: add Category:1970s British films

New page

{{short description|1977 film by Harrison Marks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2009}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Come Play With Me
| image = Come Play With Me.jpg
| caption = [[Film poster]] by [[Tom Chantrell]]
| director = [[Harrison Marks]]
| producer = [[David Sullivan (publisher)|David Sullivan]]
| writer = Harrison Marks
| starring = [[Irene Handl]] [[Alfie Bass]] Harrison Marks [[Ronald Fraser (actor)|Ronald Fraser]] [[Mary Millington]] [[Suzy Mandel]]
| music = Peter Jeffries
| distributor = [[Tigon British Film Productions|Tigon]]
| released = {{Film date|1977|04|28|df=y}}
| runtime = 94 minutes
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = English
| budget = £120,000
| gross =
}}

'''''Come Play with Me''''' is a 1977 British [[softcore pornographic]] film, starring [[Mary Millington]] and directed by [[Harrison Marks|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.<ref name=Sheridan>{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Sheridan|title=Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema|publisher=Titan Books Ltd.|year=2011|isbn=978-0857682796|edition=4}}</ref> It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in [[Great Windmill Street]], [[Soho]], London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981,<ref name="Sweet">{{cite news|last=Sweet|first=Matthew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/2|title=No sex please; we're bored|work=The Guardian|date=24 November 2000|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prynn">{{cite news|last=Prynn|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/former-sex-comedy-cinema-given-new-life-as-steakhouse-a3630131.html|title=Former 'sex comedy' cinema given new life as steakhouse|work=London Evening Standard|date=8 September 2017|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> which is listed in the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in Britain. A [[blue plaque]] on the former cinema's site commemorates this.<ref name=blackburn>{{cite news|title=A blue plaque for a blue lady: Risqué film star Mary Millington honoured|url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/659451/A-blue-plaque-for-a-blue-lady-Risqu-film-star-Mary-Millington-honoured|newspaper=Express|date=8 April 2016|first=Virginia|last=Blackburn|access-date=25 July 2016}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
Cornelius Clapworthy ([[Harrison Marks]]) and his sidekick Maurice Kelly ([[Alfie Bass]]) are two elderly forgers responsible for flooding the UK with [[Counterfeit money|fake banknotes]]. On the run from their gangster boss Slasher ([[Ronald Fraser (actor)|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 [[hotel]] owned by Lady Bovington ([[Irene Handl]]), who is attempting and failing to run it as a [[Weight loss camp|health farm]].

The Manor has very few guests, and Clapworthy and Kelly find themselves free to continue their criminal activities, albeit having to constantly recite "[[Hear My Prayer|O for the Wings of a Dove]]" on a portable [[Organ (music)|organ]] to drown out the noise of the printing press that produces the fake banknotes. However, when Lady Bovington’s choreographer 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 to help Lady Bovington out by dressing as nurses and re-opening the Manor as a [[brothel]], albeit using the health farm facilities, 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 attract Slasher and his heavies to the Manor.

==Cast==
*[[Irene Handl]] as Lady Bovington
*[[Alfie Bass]] as Kelly
*[[Harrison Marks]] as Cornelius Clapworthy
*[[Ronald Fraser (actor)|Ronald Fraser]] as Slasher
*[[Ken Parry]] as Podsnap
*[[Bob Todd]] as Vicar
*[[Henry McGee]] as Deputy Prime Minister
*[[Mary Millington]] as Sue
*[[Suzy Mandel]] as Rena
*[[Tommy Godfrey]] as Blitt
*[[Cardew Robinson]] as McIvar
*[[Talfryn Thomas]] as Nosegay
*[[Jerry Lordan]] as Rodney
*[[Rita Webb]] as Rita
*[[Anna Bergman]] as Nanette
*[[Sue Longhurst]] as Christina
*[[Valentine Dyall]] as Minister of Finance
*[[Norman Vaughan (comedian)|Norman Vaughan]] as Stage Performer
*[[Queenie Watts]] as Cafe Girl
*[[Michael Balfour (actor)|Michael Balfour]] as Nosher
*Pat Astley as Josie
*[[Milton Reid]] as Tough

==Production history==
Harrison Marks had written ''Come Play With Me''{{'}}s script in 1970, not long after making ''[[The Nine Ages of Nakedness]]'', but it was to remain on the shelf while in the ensuing years he was declared bankrupt, was the subject of an [[obscenity]] trial, and drank heavily. He made ends meet during this period by shooting short [[Softcore pornography|softcore]] sex films for the British [[8 mm film|8 mm]] market, as well as hardcore, [[Pornographic film|blue movie]] shorts for overseas.

In the mid-1970s Marks had begun selling explicit photo shoots to porn publisher [[David Sullivan (publisher)|David Sullivan]]’s top-shelf magazines, such as ''Latent Lesbian Fantasy'' featuring [[Cosey Fanni Tutti]], which appeared in the first issue of Sullivan's ''Ladybirds'' magazine in August 1976. Marks had, evidently, also sold Sullivan the rights to some of his 8 mm sex films; press adverts by Kelerfern (a Sullivan mail order company) carried Marks-directed sex shorts like ''Hole in One'', ''Nymphomania'', ''King Muff'' and ''Doctor Sex'' for sale around this period. In the 2005 documentary ''Oo-Err Missus'', Sullivan remarks: "George was a great entertainer, he was a bit of a drunk really, but he was good fun … he said to me: 'I’ve got this old script I’ve had for years', I said: 'give us a look George' and within three weeks we were shooting it".

Much of the glamour in the film was provided by nude models popular in Sullivan's top-shelf magazines at the time (Millington, Pat Astley, Penny Chisholm, Nicola Austin), as well as more mainstream comedy actresses like [[Ingmar Bergman]]’s daughter [[Anna Bergman]], [[Sue Longhurst]] and Suzy Mandel from ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]''. Lower down the cast list, actresses like Lisa Taylor, Sonia Svenburger and Suzette Sangalo Bond all had blue-movie backgrounds.

===Filming===
''Come Play With Me'' was filmed during the autumn of 1976. Bovington Manor was in reality the Weston Manor Hotel, near [[Oxford]]. Owing to work commitments, Suzy Mandel was absent from the scene that introduces the girls travelling to Bovington Manor onboard a coach (she was taping a ''Benny Hill'' episode at the time).

After seeing a [[rough cut]] of the film, Sullivan and representatives of the distributor [[Tigon British Film Productions|Tigon]] thought the film needed more nudity as well as more Mary Millington, so several additional scenes—including Mary's big scene with Marks' regular [[Howard Nelson (actor)|Howard "Vanderhorn" Nelson]]—were filmed. The "add-on" nature of these scenes to the narrative is sometimes apparent.

Several hardcore porn scenes were also shot for ''Come Play With Me''. These would have appeared towards the end of the film; however, in the event all traces of hardcore sex were cut from these scenes in the pre-release stage, and the explicit footage went missing soon afterward. "For real" were the lesbian scene between Mary Millington and Penny Chisholm, as well as the heterosexual sex scenes between Lisa Taylor and Derek Aylward, Suzette Sangalo Bond and an unknown male, and Sonia Svenberger and Gordon Hickman. These scenes remain in the film, albeit heavily cut down to softcore, with only Penny Chisholm's "flushed" face during her sex scene with Mary giving a hint of these scenes' explicit origins.

==Marketing==
Sullivan saw ''Come Play With Me'' as a chance to turn his then-girlfriend and magazine cover girl [[Mary Millington]] into a film star, as well as an opportunity for some cross-media marketing. Sullivan's magazines like ''Playbirds'' and ''Whitehouse'' are seen throughout the film, but it was while promoting the film through his magazines that Sullivan really came into his own. Months before the film's release, Sullivan’s readers were promised ''Come Play with Me'' would be "the British ''[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]''" and would "make [[Linda Lovelace]] look like [[Noddy (character)|Noddy]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Come Play with Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_GvngEACAAJ|first=Simon|last=Sheridan|publisher=FAB Press|year=1999|isbn=0-9529260-7-5}}</ref> To add credibility to these claims, photo shoots only slightly short of being hardcore were published in Sullivan’s magazines and claimed to be stills from the upcoming film, whereas in fact they bore little resemblance to anything in ''Come Play With Me''. Frequently shown in these photo shoots was hardcore actor Timothy Blackstone, sometimes billed in the articles as "Randy Buck, Esquire". In spite of this exposure, Blackstone does not appear in the actual film.

The hype for ''Come Play with Me'' also spread to the letters pages of Sullivan’s magazines. A fan letter of dubious authenticity (as it refers to scenes that do not appear in the film) from "Bert U" to Mary Millington in issue 27 of ''Whitehouse'' claims: "Dear Mary, I must congratulate you on your film ''Come Play with Me'', I found it screamingly funny and very sexy as well…I loved every randy moment… everyone was so natural, and Henry McGhee [sic] as the PM was superb." The letter goes on to falsely claim that the actor [[Roy Kinnear]] appears in the film, and that "(Roy) looked like a Roman Emperor in the swimming pool scene. I‘ll bet it took him all his time to keep his towel on during rehearsals for the film… it looked to me, Mary, as though you were fucked rigid during the film".

In March 1977 Sullivan published the ''Playbirds Erotic Film Guide'', a magazine entirely concerned with the release of ''Come Play with Me''. The film was also adapted into a paperback novel, and in the summer of 1977 a sequel paperback novel, ''Come Play with Me Again'', was released.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Fact of Fiction: 'Come Play with Me' in Print|url=http://www.marymillington.co.uk/?p=3863|website=Mary Millington|author=Simon Sheridan|year=2015|access-date=22 February 2018}}</ref>

==Significance==
The film ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End from April 1977 to March 1981, and is regarded by many as the most successful of the British sex comedies of the seventies.<ref name=Sheridan/> Costing £120,000 to make, the film took £550,000 during its West End run, and broke box-office records in the cinemas of a number of provincial cities. By 2001, the film had taken over £4 million.<ref>{{cite book|title=British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to Sean Connery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxmQJRr0vL8C|year=2001|publisher=Manchester University Press|first=Bruce|last=Babington|isbn=9780719058417|page=205}}</ref> In a publicity stunt for the first anniversary of the film’s opening, Suzy Mandel and Mary Millington posed in lingerie on the Moulin Cinema's marquee.<ref>[http://img215.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=72623_suzyPicture160718_123_336lo.JPG Suzy Mandel and Mary Millington pictured April 1978]</ref> Sullivan's follow-up film ''[[The Playbirds]]'' (1978) gave Millington a more sizable role.

While Millington’s popularity and Sullivan’s relentless publicity campaign are without doubt what made the film a success, ''Come Play with Me'' remains a peculiarly Harrison Marks concoction, with Marks’ background as a photographer of nudes, his love of old-style British [[music hall]] comedy, and his heavy drinking adding much to the film's overall character. As comic counterfeiters Cornelius Clapworthy and his sidekick Maurice Kelly, Marks and Alfie Bass resemble a baggy-pants comedy double-act from the music hall days; the pair even sleep together in the same bed, ''à la'' [[Morecambe and Wise]]. Marks also throws in a song-and-dance routine, "It's Great to be Here", performed by himself, Bass, and a group of sexy nurses. "George was in a bit of a time warp, he forgot at times that it was a sex film he was making", commented Sullivan, "he thought he was making some vaudeville comedy… I thought it was a weird old film".<ref>''Oo-Err Missus'', Channel 4 Television, broadcast 2005</ref>

A [[blue plaque]] on the site of the former Moulin Cinema in [[Great Windmill Street]], [[Soho]], commemorates its 201-week run there, which is listed in the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book Of World Records]] as the longest-running screening in British cinema history.<ref name="Sweet"/><ref name="Prynn"/><ref name=blackburn/> However, the validity of this record and the blue plaque is called into question in the second edition of David McGillivray’s book ''Doing Rude Things'' which states that "film historian Allen Eyles has proven conclusively that ''Come Play With Me'' ran for 165 not 201 weeks. It is not Britain’s longest running film – that is ''[[South Pacific (1958 film)|South Pacific]]'', which ran... a total of four years and twenty-two weeks. Questions should be asked in parliament about the deception I may have instigated."<ref>{{cite book|title=Doing rude things: the history of the British sex film, 1957-1981|first=David|last=McGillivray|year=2017|publisher=Wolfbait|edition=2nd|isbn=978-1999744151}}</ref>

==Imitations and spin-offs==
The success of ''Come Play With Me'' inevitably led to imitation productions sometimes similar in name only, and some more authorized than others.

* ''Cum Lay With Me'' (1977): short 8 mm sex film starring Sonia Svenburger and directed by Harrison Marks.
* ''Come With Me'' (circa 1977): audio cassette of sex noises ("the turn-on tape of all time"), also sold in cartridge format.
* ''Come Play With Me'' (1980): stage farce loosely based on the film, starring [[Bob Grant (actor)|Bob Grant]] from ''[[On the Buses]]''.
* ''Come Play With Me: Part 2'' (1980): unrelated Swiss sex film directed by [[Erwin C. Dietrich]], re-titled by Tigon and David Sullivan and promoted as a "sequel" to the earlier film.
* ''Come Play With Me: Part 3'' (1982): unrelated Swiss sex film again directed by Dietrich, re-titled by Tigon and David Sullivan and promoted as a second "sequel" to the earlier film.

==Release history==
* ''Come Play With Me'' was released on 8 mm by Fletcher Films and on VHS by Hokushin Audio Visual in 1979.<ref>{{cite web|title=Come Play with Me (1977)|url=http://www.pre-cert.co.uk/display.php?vId=UK03126|website=Pre-cert Video|access-date=13 July 2017}}</ref>
* The film was periodically released on VHS in the 1980s on a variety of softcore labels, although a 1986 release on the "Pink Climax" label, while claiming to be the Marks film on the video packaging, actually contains the unrelated "sequel" ''Come Play With Me part 3'' on the tape itself, possibly released in error.
* In April 1997, Medusa Pictures released the film on VHS as part of their "X-Films of the Saucy 70s" series (the first release to put the film into a retro/historic context).
* The film had two early DVD releases in the UK, the first by Medusa Pictures (1999) with the short 6-minute prologue to the 1980 documentary ''True Blue Confessions'' as an extra. The second DVD is copyrighted 2005 and looked to have been derived from an old tape of the film, possibly the Hokushin one, and included the full version of ''True Blue Confessions'', but again the picture appears taken from a VHS.
* ''Come Play with Me'' was reissued as a special edition DVD on 26 April 2010, by Odeon Entertainment. Special features on the DVD included the 1980 documentary ''Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions'', the Harrison Marks short ''Sex is My Business'' (starring Millington), an extensive stills gallery and an 8-page essay on the making of the film, written by Simon Sheridan, with memories from actresses Anna Bergman, Sue Longhurst and Suzy Mandel.
* A restored version of the film was released on Blu Ray in 2020 by Screenbound Pictures as part of the Mary Millington Movie Collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=26631|title=Screenbound Pictures: Come Play With Me and The Playbirds Restoration Comparison|date=1 April 2020|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=13 October 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Pornography in the United Kingdom]]

==References==
<references/>
*''Continental Film Review'' (vol 24, no 7, 1977) "Come Play With Me"
*''Whitehouse'' (no 27, circa 1977)

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0075868|Come Play with Me}}
* [http://www.themanorweston.com/ Weston Manor Hotel]

[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1977 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Harrison Marks]]
[[Category:1970s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:British sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Softcore pornography]]
[[Category:1970s musical films]]
[[Category:1970s pornographic films]]
[[Category:1977 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films set in Scotland]]
[[Category:Films set in hotels]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]