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:

They dropped everything for a good cause.

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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

When staged as a touring theatrical event in the UK, the fluctuating ensemble throughout the run featured: Lynda Bellingham, Trudie Goodwin, Ruth Madoc, Bernie Nolan, Diana Moran, Lisa Riley, Gwen Taylor, Jan Harvey, June Watson, Debbie Chazen, Michelle Collins, Jennifer Ellison, Danielle Bux, Bruno Langley, Joe McGann. The stage show generated more box office revenue than the movie release.

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Goofs

When Chris runs out of the door to the Hollywood film studio following Annie, she is barefoot. When the shot changes and they emerge into the alleyway behind the studio they are both wearing slippers.

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Quotes

Celia: It's the whole showing your breasts issues that concerns me.
Annie: The point is that we won't really be showing anything.
Celia: Yes, that's what concerns me.
Annie: Yours are good, are they?
Celia: They're tremendous.

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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

References The Fly (1958)

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Soundtracks

"Comin' Home Baby"
Written by Bob Dorough (as Robert L. Dorough) and Ben Tucker
Published by Rondor Music Ltd. on behalf of Irving Music Inc.
Performed by Rahsaan Roland Kirk (as Roland Kirk) (with Quincy Jones)
Courtesy of The Verve Music Group
Licensed by kind permission from The Universal Film & TV Licensing Division

User Reviews

The Last Phase of the Women of Yorkshire Is Always the Most Glorious

In the small town of Knapely, Yorkshire, England, Annie Clarke (Julie Walters) has just lost her husband, who was ill with leukemia. Inspired in his speech to the local Women's Institute, where he said that "the flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire", and "the last phase of the women of Yorkshire is always the most glorious", her best friend Chris Harper (Helen Mirren) decides to make a calendar with twelve local middle-age women nude to raise funds for the wing of leukemia treatment in the local hospital. The calendar becomes well succeeded, making them famous and affecting their lives.

"Calendar Girls" is a good dramatic comedy, with an interesting screenplay and great performances of Julie Walters and Helen Mirren. It becomes funnier because of the behavior clichés of the British husbands. I found hilarious the scene of the breakfast, when the husband tells his wife that she is nude in the newspaper, and then he asks for the bacon. This movie is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Garotas do Calendário" ("Calendar Girls")