Calendar Girls (2003)

A Women's Institute chapter's fundraising effort for a local hospital by posing nude for a calendar becomes a media sensation.

Director:

Nigel Cole

Writers:

Juliette Towhidi, Tim Firth

Stars:

Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Mirren	...	Chris
Julie Walters	...	Annie
John Alderton	...	John
Linda Bassett	...	Cora
Annette Crosbie	...	Jessie
Philip Glenister	...	Lawrence
Ciarán Hinds	...	Rod (as Ciaran Hinds)
Celia Imrie	...	Celia
Geraldine James	...	Marie
Penelope Wilton	...	Ruth
George Costigan	...	Eddie
Graham Crowden	...	Richard
John Fortune	...	Frank
Georgie Glen	...	Kathy
Angela Curran	...	May

Storyline

Middle aged Chris Harper and Annie Clarke are best friends. They spend much of their time at their local Knapely, Yorkshire County chapter of the Women's Institute (WI), whose motto is "enlightenment, fun and friendship". Although they like most of the women at the WI (the friendship part), they, but the perceived flaky Chris in particular, hold the way Marie, the local president, runs the chapter with derision. They find much of what goes on there, especially the monthly presentations, banal and devoid of enlightenment and fun. Equally as banal was last year's fund-raising calendar, featuring local bridges, which raised a meager £75.60, with this year's proposed calendar, local churches, promising to be even more so. After Annie's husband John passes away from leukemia, Chris wants the WI to provide a memorial in his memory: a new sofa for the family room at the hospital. The one Chris wants to buy costs £999, which she proposes to raise by changing the fund-raising calendar to one ...

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Plot Keywords:

calendar | yorkshire | leukemia | women's institute | hospital | 

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Taglines:

Drop everything this holiday season.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for nudity, some language and drug-related material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

Chicas de calendario

Filming Locations:

Buckden, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$458,730 (Spain) (9 January 2004)

Gross:

$31,011,616 (USA) (9 April 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Harbour Pictures, Buena Vista International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anne Reid was offered a major role, but chose to do Roger Michell's The Mother instead.

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Goofs

When Jem Harper is on the cliff, throwing away the newspapers, you can clearly see in a close-up the safety rope.

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Quotes

Student Photographer: The blood represents the spread of globalisation and the sheep's skull represents the death of democracy.
Chris: And the carrot?
Student Photographer: The carrot is capitalism.

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Crazy Credits

The cast list is split into two halves. The first thirteen actors/characters (Helen Mirren/Chris to John Fortune/Frank) are followed by the main crew such as the producers, writer and director, with the remaining cast appearing after this.

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Connections

Referenced in Celebrity Naked Ambition (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Sloop John B"
Traditional, arranged by Brian Wilson
Published by EMI United Partnership Ltd.
Performed by The Beach Boys
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & TV Music

User Reviews

Has some laughs

Based on a true story. There is a Women's Institute in Yorkshire England, a tiny little town. The Institute decides to raise money for new furniture for a local hospital. They decide the only way to raise money is do a nude calendar with members. The problem is all the members are 50+! The calendar is done and is a roaring success. The film focuses on some of the women and how the calendar affects their families and personal lives.

Whimsical is the best way to describe this. It's one of those British comedies that has few laughs, but is very lighthearted and has some serious drama in it. I can't say I loved the movie--the script, while well-written, is scattershot and the light, low-key tone was TOO low-key for me. And some story lines are brought up (one of the women has a cheating husband) and are never resolved. Still, there were some good laughs in it and there is some just beautiful views of (I'm assuming) Yorkshire. Especially incredible is a view of the entire town from on top of a huge rock overlooking the area.

Also we have some wonderful British actresses playing in the lead roles. The two best were Helen Mirren (who's just great--again) and Julie Walters (who looks absolutely stunning). Also this is one of the few films that celebrates the sexuality of women who are 50+. How many movies do you you see like that nowadays? Of course this is a British film--Hollywood would NEVER tell a story like this. Also the film does have some fairly explicit glimpses of female nudity--but they're not sexual in context and ARE needed for the integrity of the story.

I'm giving this a 7.