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:

A Full Monty-female style!

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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

The hospital in which John is treated is variously referred to as Skipton General and Knapely General Hospital.

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Quotes

Annie: Anybody fancy some chips?

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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

Featured in 60 Minutes: High Jinks/The Venom Hunters/The Dame (2007)

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Soundtracks

"The Way You Do the Things You Do"
Written by Smokey Robinson (as William Robinson) and Bobby Rogers (as Robert Rogers)
Published by Jobete Music Co. Inc. / EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
Performed by The Temptations
Courtesy of Motown Records / Universal-Island Records Limited
Licensed by kind permission from The Universal Film & TV Licensing Division

User Reviews

Interesting Subject

Although I prefer the older films of the forties and fifties, I was quite touched by this one. Beautifully filmed in the "ee by gum" country of Northern England ( and with the sun, to boot ), this was a real pleasure for the eyes. I went to school in Lancashire so many of the sights were familiar to me ( though this was Yorkshire ) but the countryside is similar and apparently less wet than Lancashire, being to the east of the Pennines. The theme of the film was an interesting one and shows that you don't have to be young to be sexy - I found all our ladies very sexy and the calender had very good taste - it was delightfully erotic and not pornographic at all. The film reminded me of Billy Elliot ( also made in Ee by gum country ) but I liked that less and Full Monty which I found far less interesting. Like French Cinema, British Cinema nowadays doesn't produce many lively and interesting films - that prize falls to the Americans - but just once in a while, a little gem is produced ( other examples are Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral ). calendar Girls was just such a gem and I was very happy to discover it. I was also pleased to see Annette Crosbie from "One Foot In The Grave" whom I adore as an actress as I do Julie Walters whom I found most attractive in Educating Rita and who seems even lovlier in Calendar Girls. Bravo !