Kurt: /* Production */

2023-02-20T22:47:42Z

Production

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	==Production==		==Production==
	Impact-Quadrant Films was a company run by Peter James and Kent Walwin which specialised in financing and distributing horror films. They wanted to move into the British domestic sex comedy market, having noticed that there were no challengers to the [[Carry On Films]]. They made a small investment in ''[[Can You Keep It Up for a Week?]]'' which was successful and they began to look at making a whole feature.<ref name="barry"/>		Impact-Quadrant Films was a company run by Peter James and Kent Walwin which specialised in financing and distributing horror films. They wanted to move into the British domestic sex comedy market, having noticed that there were no challengers to the [[Carry On (franchise)\|Carry On Films]]. They made a small investment in ''[[Can You Keep It Up for a Week?]]'' which was successful and they began to look at making a whole feature.<ref name="barry"/>

	A Canadian distributor had success with a [[Leslie Phillips]] film and asked if they could have another. Phillips was about to go to Australia for a year so they had a script written quickly, about an escort agency. Nobody liked it so James and Walwin wrote a 110-page treatment over "a long weekend" which was turned into a script by a writer.<ref name="barry"/>		A Canadian distributor had success with a [[Leslie Phillips]] film and asked if they could have another. Phillips was about to go to Australia for a year so they had a script written quickly, about an escort agency. Nobody liked it so James and Walwin wrote a 110-page treatment over "a long weekend" which was turned into a script by a writer.<ref name="barry"/>

Kurt at 22:41, 20 February 2023

2023-02-20T22:41:55Z

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Spanish Fly		\| name = Spanish Fly
	\| image =~~File:~~Spanish Fly (1975 film).jpg		\| image = Spanish Fly (1975 film).jpg
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| caption =		\| caption =
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	*{{British Comedy Guide\|film\|spanish_fly\|Spanish Fly}}		*{{British Comedy Guide\|film\|spanish_fly\|Spanish Fly}}
	*{{IMDb title\|0073407\|Spanish Fly}}		*{{IMDb title\|0073407\|Spanish Fly}}
	*~~[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/~~4ce2b6b69a638 ''Spanish Fly~~''] at VFI~~		*{{BFI\|4ce2b6b69a638\|Spanish Fly}}

	[[Category:1975 films]]		[[Category:1975 films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-12-30T22:44:23Z

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en>Bearcat: /* External links */recat

2022-10-02T14:21:31Z

External links: recat

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Spanish Fly
| image =File:Spanish Fly (1975 film).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| director = [[Bob Kellett]]
| writer = [[Peter James (writer)|Peter James]] José Luis Martínez Mollá Robert Ryerson
| producer = Gerald Flint-Shipman Peter James
| starring = [[Leslie Phillips]] [[Terry-Thomas]] [[Graham Armitage]] [[Sue Lloyd]]
| narrator =
| music = [[Ron Goodwin]]
|studio=Winkle Productions Quadrant Films Izaro Films
| distributor = [[EMI Films]]
| released = February 1976
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United Kingdom Spain
| language = English
| budget =£250,000<ref name="barry"/>
}}
'''''Spanish Fly''''' is a 1975 British-Spanish [[comedy film]] directed by [[Bob Kellett]] and starring [[Leslie Phillips]], [[Terry-Thomas]], [[Graham Armitage]], [[Sue Lloyd]] and [[Nadiuska]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/51743?view=cast |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090128190656/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/51743?view=cast |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 January 2009 |title=BFI Film & TV Database: SPANISH FLY (1975) |accessdate=16 October 2013 |publisher=The British Film Institute}}</ref><ref>SPANISH FLY
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 43, Iss. 504, (Jan 1, 1976), p. 34.</ref>

==Plot==
Mike Scott, an impotent British [[fashion designer]], heads out to [[Spain]] for a photo shoot and encounters an old school rival, Sir Percy de Courcy, who has inadvertently added an [[aphrodisiac]] to the local wine.

==Cast==
* [[Leslie Phillips]] as Mike Scott
* [[Terry-Thomas]] as Sir Percy de Courcy
* [[Graham Armitage]] as Perkins
* [[Nadiuska]] as Julie
* [[Sue Lloyd]] as Janet Scott
* [[Frank Thornton]] as Doctor Johnson
* [[Ramiro Oliveros]] as Juan
* [[Andrea Allan]] as Bruce
* [[Sally Farmiloe]] as Francesca
* Jaleh Haddah as Annette
* Nina Francis as Isabel
* [[Sergio Mendizábal]] as Pons Prades
* [[Emiliano Redondo]] as Clean Domingo
* [[Fernando Villena]] as Dirty Domingo
* [[Marisa Porcel]] as Maria
* [[José Lifante]] as Pedro

==Production==
Impact-Quadrant Films was a company run by Peter James and Kent Walwin which specialised in financing and distributing horror films. They wanted to move into the British domestic sex comedy market, having noticed that there were no challengers to the [[Carry On Films]]. They made a small investment in ''[[Can You Keep It Up for a Week?]]'' which was successful and they began to look at making a whole feature.<ref name="barry"/>

A Canadian distributor had success with a [[Leslie Phillips]] film and asked if they could have another. Phillips was about to go to Australia for a year so they had a script written quickly, about an escort agency. Nobody liked it so James and Walwin wrote a 110-page treatment over "a long weekend" which was turned into a script by a writer.<ref name="barry"/>

The film's budget was £250,000, of which 40% was provided by [[EMI Films]] and a Spanish company 8%. The majority capital was split between James, his associate and four English backers, one of them a lawyer.<ref name="barry"/>

The film was part of a six-picture slate from EMI Films, which also included ''[[Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)|Evil Under the Sun]]'', ''[[Aces High (film)|Aces High]]'' and cinema adaptations of ''[[The Likely Lads (film)|The Likely Lads]]'' and ''[[Sweeney!]]''.<ref>Boost for studios
The Guardian 9 July 1975: 5.
</ref>

It was filmed in [[Menorca]]. Terry-Thomas was suffering from the effects of [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terry-thomas.co.uk/features.html|website=Terry Thomas Fellowship|title=Features}}</ref> However, he was still able to withstand the rigours of filming, in what was his last major film role.

==Reception==
The film was released with a heavy advertising campaign, including a novelisation of the script, a song "Fly Me" (because the BBC would not play a song called "Spanish Fly").<ref name="barry"/>

===Responses===
[[Barry Norman]] in ''[[The Observer]]'' called it the least funny British funny film ever made.<ref name="barry">Decline and fall of the funny film
''The Observer'' 8 February 1976, p. 32</ref> ''[[Radio Times]]'' reviewer Jeremy Aspinall described it as a "curio from the 1970s" which "looks awfully dated now. However, the stars still manage to exhibit consummate charm and professionalism despite the bawdy nonsense going on around them."<ref>{{cite web|last=Aspinall|first=Jeremy|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/wgg7z/spanish-fly/|title=Spanish Fly|work=Radio Times|access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref> ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' refers to it as being a "[d]ire comedy which doubles as a series of plugs for an underwear company."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/spanish-fly|title=Spanish Fly|work=Time Out|access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref> The film featured designs from Peter Reger.<ref>'We hold our board meetings in bed' ''The Guardian'' 26 August 1975: 11.</ref>

===Box-office===
Screening rights to the film were sold to 25 countries, something James attributed to the fact that unlike many British sex comedies it featured foreign locations.<ref name="barry"/>

James wanted to make a sequel ''French Kiss'' but none eventuated.<ref name="barry"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{British Comedy Guide|film|spanish_fly|Spanish Fly}}
*{{IMDb title|0073407|Spanish Fly}}
*[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b69a638 ''Spanish Fly''] at VFI

[[Category:1975 films]]
[[Category:Spanish comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios]]
[[Category:1975 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Bob Kellett]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ron Goodwin]]
[[Category:EMI Films films]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films set in Spain]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]

Spanish Fly (1975 film) - Revision history

Kurt: /* Production */

Kurt at 22:41, 20 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Bearcat: /* External links */recat