Fanny Hill (1983)

Director:

Gerry O'Hara

Writers:

Stephen Chesley (writer)
John Cleland (novel)

Release Date:

15 July 1983 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Happily engaged to her handsome fiance, Charles, Fanny is soon hit with one misfortune after another...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Forced Sexual Contact | Female Rear Nudity | Fingering | Erotica

Cast

Lisa Foster	...	Fanny Hill (as Lisa Raines)
Oliver Reed	...	Mr. Edward Widdlecome
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Mr. Barville (as Wilfred Hyde White)
Shelley Winters	...	Mrs. Cole
Alfred Marks	...	Lecher
Paddie O'Neil	...	Mrs. Brown (as Paddy O'Neil)
Barry Stokes	...	Charles (as Jonathan York)
Maria Harper	...	Phoebe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lorraine Doyle	...	Martha
Fanny Carby	...	Old Wench (uncredited)
Tracy Dixon	...	Emily (uncredited)
Harry Fowler	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Howard Goorney	...	Mr. Croft (uncredited)
Janet Henfrey	...	Lady in Intellegence Office (uncredited)
Philip Herbert	...	Tubby client (uncredited)
Neil Phelps	...	Mr. H. (uncredited)
Angie Quick	...	Sarah (uncredited)
Gordon Rollings	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Vicki Scott	...	Polly (uncredited)
Susie Silvey	...	Jane (uncredited)
Liz Smith	...	Mrs. Jones (uncredited)

Directed by
Gerry O'Hara

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stephen Chesley		writer
John Cleland		novel "Fanny Hill or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure"

Produced by
Harry Benn	....	producer
Harry Alan Towers	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Paul Hoffert

Cinematography by
Tony Spratling

Film Editing by
Peter Boyle

Casting by
Sue Whatmough

Art Direction by
Geoffrey Tozer

Set Decoration by
Denise Exshaw

Makeup Department
Ross Carver	....	hair stylist
Ross Carver	....	hairdresser
Hajera Coovadia	....	makeup artist

Production Management
John Oldknow	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tony Hopkins	....	assistant director

Art Department
Bob Cross	....	construction manager
Dennis Griffin	....	buyer
Ernie Lillie	....	property master

Sound Department
Laurie Clarkson	....	sound recordist
Michael Crouch	....	dubbing editor
Peter Elliott	....	dialogue editor
Peter Maxwell	....	adr mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Douglas Dawson	....	still photographer
Maurice Gillett	....	gaffer
Martin Kenzie	....	second assistant camera
Herbert Smith	....	camera operator
Tony Woodcock	....	focus puller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
James Smith	....	wardrobe master
Joyce Stoneman	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Brian Mann	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Marlene Butland	....	production assistant
Juliet Clarke	....	continuity
Kim Kinnie	....	choreographer
Gerry Wheatley	....	production accountant
Derek Whitehurst	....	location manager

Production Companies

• F.H. Filmproduction Limited
• Playboy Productions

Distributors

• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Berman's and Nathan's  costumes
• Lee Electrics  lighting

Also Known As:

Sex, Lies and Renaissance (UK)

Runtime:

Germany:98 min | USA:80 min (R-rated version) | France:92 min

Country:

West Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Company:

F.H. Filmproduction Limited

Trivia:

Last performance of Wilfrid Hyde-White.

Movie Connections:

Version of Fanny Hill (1964)

Soundtrack:

'Lascia ch'io pianga' from RINALDO

Pretty good for a sex flick

This is the kind of movie that if you compare it to your average non-sex film is not too good perhaps, but for a sex film?--trust me, this is a frickin' cinematic masterpiece. This is yet another adaptation of John Cleland's scandalous 18th century novel about a penniless young virgin who comes to London and becomes a prostitute, but eventually uses her body to ascend into wealth and nobility.

There's a moderate amount of sex here (I guess there was quite a bit more in the original British version) and the girls are all attractive, especially Lisa Raines who plays the lead (she looks kind of like a young Dana Plato or Michelle "Blame It On Rio" Johnson, but is a far better actress than either). What's impressive about this though is the production values--NOBODY spends this kind of money on a film like this these days. The actors are all fairly believable in their roles (or they just don't talk). The costumes and sets are all appropriate for the time period, as is the music. There's also a smattering of real actors here who don't (totally) embarrass themselves, like Oliver Reed, Shelley Winters, and Wilfed Hyde-White (I was afraid for the moment the latter was going to have a sex scene with Raines, but the movie fortunately steps back from that particular brink).

This doesn't really compare to the original novel, of course, or (I would suspect) to the more prestigious cable TV adaptations of the same story. But it's better than the more exploitative versions of the story that I've seen like Joe Sarno's "The Young Erotic Fanny Hill", the horribly dubbed Italian rip-off "The Seduction of Angela", and the bizarre "modern-day" Swedish adaptation "Around the World with Fanny Hill". It's actually pretty good for a sex flick.