Calendar Girls (2003)

Director:

Nigel Cole

Writers:

Juliette Towhidi (written by) and
Tim Firth (written by)

Release Date:

12 September 2003 (Norway)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

They dropped everything for a good cause.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Calendar | Yorkshire | Leukemia | Hospital | Small Town

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | UK:12A (original rating) | Hungary:14 | Finland:K-3 | South Korea:15 | Taiwan:R-12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Germany:o.Al. (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39650)

Filming Locations:

Buckden, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The real-life Women's Institute members (Angela Baker, Beryl Bamforth, Christine Clancy, Ros Fawcett, Lynda Logan and Tricia Stewart) on which Calendar Girls is based all appear as members of Rylstone and District W.I.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the leader of the WI comes to visit Annie, she gives her a bunch of Gerberas. When Annie is arranging them in the vase the stems are much longer than the bunch was when it was wrapped.

Quotes:

[discussing the calendar]
Chris: It *should* be bloody George Clooney. I mean, come the toss between Burnsall Church and George Clooney, I know which I'd rather wake up looking at.
John: It is a Norman church, you know.
Chris: I'm not disputing the loveliness of the church, John. It's the firmness of the buttocks I'm worried about.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 'Calendar Girls': Creating the Calendar (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Way You Do the Things You Do

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 !