Kurt at 15:49, 14 March 2023

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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = Personal Services~~
	\| image = Personal services poster.jpg		\| image = Personal services poster.jpg
	\| alt =		\| alt =
	\| caption = ~~Theatrical release poster~~		\| caption =
	\| director = [[Terry Jones]]		\| director = [[Terry Jones]]
	\| producer = [[Tim Bevan]]		\| producer = [[Tim Bevan]]

Kurt at 22:03, 13 March 2023

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	~~{{short description\|1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones}}~~
	~~{{other uses\|Personal service (disambiguation)}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=April 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Personal Services		\| name = Personal Services

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-03-13T21:38:17Z

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en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1980s British films

2022-09-05T00:44:28Z

External links: add Category:1980s British films

New page

{{short description|1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones}}
{{other uses|Personal service (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Personal Services
| image = Personal services poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Terry Jones]]
| producer = [[Tim Bevan]]
| writer = [[David Leland]]
| starring = {{Plainlist |
* [[Julie Walters]]
* [[Alec McCowen]]
* [[Shirley Stelfox]]
}}
| music = [[John Du Prez]]
| cinematography = [[Roger Deakins]]
| editing = [[George Akers]]
| studio = [[Zenith Productions|Zenith Entertainment]]
| distributor = [[Vestron Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1987|04|3|London}}<ref name=open>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=28 March 1987|page=18|title=The Week Ahead}}</ref>
| runtime = 105 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $5 million (UK/USA)
}}
'''''Personal Services''''' is a 1987 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Terry Jones]] and written by [[David Leland]], about the rise of a madam of a suburban [[brothel]] 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 naive waitress and single mother who pays for her teenage son David's tuition by renting [[London]] 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 realizes she can do [[prostitution|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 (BDSM)|bondage]] and [[Sexual fetishism|fetish]] [[Sexual roleplay|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 [[transgender]] 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]].

When Christine appears in court to be arraigned, she is relieved when she realizes the judge is one of her main clients, she then imagines the courtroom filled with all of her clients as judges.

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Julie Walters]] as Christine Painter
* [[Shirley Stelfox]] as Shirley
* [[Alec McCowen]] as Wing Commander Morten
* Danny Schiller as Dolly
* [[Tim Woodward]] as Timms
* Victoria Hardcastle as Rose
* [[Dave Atkins (actor)|Dave Atkins]] as Sydney
* [[Ewan Hooper]] 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 (actor)|Stephen Lewis]] 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 (British actor)|John Bailey]] as Mr Gardner
* Carolyn Allen as Carol
*[[Ivor Roberts (actor)|Ivor Roberts]] as Glossop
*[[Arthur Cox (actor)|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
{{div col end}}

==Reception==
''Personal Services'' opened at 5 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.<ref name=open/><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=15 April 1987|page=34|title=International Boxoffice|quote=$93,595; $1.62=£1}}</ref> It reached [[List of 1987 box office number-one films in the United Kingdom|number one nationally in the UK]] after 10 weeks of release and was number one for two weeks.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]]|page=22|title=Top Films and Video|date=26 June 1987|agency=[[Screen International]]}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|title=UK Top 50 Films in 1987|page=10|date=2 January 1988}}</ref><ref name="org">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=27|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing|website=British Film Institute|date=2005}}</ref> It grossed $1,744,164 in the United States and Canada.<ref name=mojo>{{mojo title|personalservices|Personal Services}}</ref><ref name="screen">{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/stha/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=STHA&userGroupName=slnsw_public&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=FP1801908206&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|author=Olins, Rufus|title=Mr Fixit of the British Screen|website=[[The Sunday Times]]|location=[[London]], [[England]]|date=24 September 1995|pages=9[S]|publisher=The Sunday Times Digital Archive|accessdate=29 March 2014}}</ref>

==Ban==
The film was banned in the [[Republic of Ireland]] 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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0093727}}
* {{AllMovie title|37805}}
* {{Mojo title|personalservices}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|personal_services}}

{{Terry Jones}}

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

Personal Services - Revision history

Kurt at 15:49, 14 March 2023

Kurt at 22:03, 13 March 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1980s British films