''Hussy'' is a 1980 British film starring Helen Mirren,

John Shea John Victor Shea III ( ; born April 14, 1949) is an American actor, film producer and stage director. His career began on Broadway theatre, Broadway where he starred in ''Yentl (play), Yentl,'' subsequently winning his first major award, the 1975 ...

, and

Paul Angelis Paul Angelis (18 January 1943 – 19 March 2009) was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as PC Bruce Bannerman in the BBC police series ''Z-Cars'' and as Navy Rum in '' Porridge''. Early life Angelis was born in Dingle, Liverpoo ...

, and directed by Matthew Chapman.British Film Institute: ..''Hussy''
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Plot

Beaty (Mirren) is a prostitute working at a London cabaret where Emory (

) is a sound/lighting technician. They begin an affair encumbered by Beaty's job as a

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

. They eventually fall in love, but predictably he grows increasingly uncomfortable with her line of work. In addition Emory has a bit of a dark secret from his past involving the accidental death of his then-wife. To further complicate things, Beaty has shared custody of a young son. Eventually a pair of unsavory characters from each of the lovers' pasts shows up and further endangers their love. Emory's gay friend Max ( Murray Salem) arrives and wants to cut Emory in on an upcoming drug deal. He is simultaneously foppish, arrogant and abrasive. Beaty's abusive former lover, the father of her son and possibly her pimp is Alex (

), a strong-arm gorilla type fresh out of prison also arrives, needing a place to stay. Alex is clearly a brutish psychopath who threatens Beaty and Emory's future. Emory and Beaty's two past companions could not be more different, Max is sophisticated, articulate, stylish and outspoken. Alex is a working class English thug, quiet, simple and burning with violent rage. Beaty rebuffs Alex's desire to rekindle whatever they had and this enrages him. He does however agree to be part of Max and Emory's caper (believing it to be gun smuggling). On the day of the caper, Max, Emory and Alex end up in a car together with Max continuously taunting Alex. Alex finally has enough and shoots Max dead in the car. Emory and Alex dispose of the body and it becomes apparent that Alex is aware of Emory's intention to take Beaty and her son away. He is resigned to this and insists that Emory take some surplus cash found on Max's body. Emory drops Alex off with the smuggled drugs where Alex promises to 'take care of' (kill) the drugs' intended recipients to keep them from bothering Alex, Emory or Beaty. When Emory and Beaty first reunite, she refuses to leave the country with him, citing a concern about her son, clearly having trouble uprooting and letting go of her past even though with the proceeds from the smuggling, they will be well set up and she will never have to work at her past profession again. The end shows Emory, Beaty and her child racing to catch a plane, free of their past encumbrances.

Cast

* Helen Mirren - Beaty Simons *

- Emory Cole *

- Alex Denham * Murray Salem - Max *

Jenny Runacre Jenny Runacre (born 18 August 1946) is a South African-born English actress. Her film appearances include '' The Passenger'' (1975), ''The Duellists'' (1977), ''Jubilee'' (1978), ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1979), and '' The Witches'' (1990). Caree ...

- Vere * Daniel Chasin - Billy *

Imogen Claire Imogen Lee Claire (2 November 1943 – 24 June 2005), born Crowe, was a British dancer, choreographer, actress, and dance teacher. Early life Born in London in 1943, Claire was the daughter of Antony Lee Crowe and Kathleen Eden-Green, who had marr ...

– Imogen *

Patti Boulaye Patricia Ngozi Komlosy OBE (née Ebigwei; born 3 May 1954), known professionally as Patti Boulaye, is a British-Nigerian singer, actress and artist who rose to prominence after winning ''New Faces'' in 1978 and was among the leading black Br ...

- Cabaret Singer *

Marika Rivera Marika Rivera (13 November 1919 – 14 January 2010) was a French-born film and stage actress and dancer. Biography Rivera was born in Paris, France, the daughter of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera and his mistress, the Russian-born painter Mar ...

- French Singer

Publicity

The poster for ''Hussy'' was produced by noted poster artist

Sam Peffer Samuel John Peffer (known as ''Peff''; 3 November 1921 – 14 March 2014) was a British commercial artist who designed film posters, paperback book covers and the covers of home videos. His best known work was for the covers of the paperback J ...

."Sam Peffer" in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 22 March 2014, pp. 60–61

References

External links

*
Review of the film in DVD Talk
{{Matthew Chapman 1980 films 1980 drama films Films scored by George Fenton Films about prostitution in the United Kingdom Films directed by Matthew Chapman Films set in London British drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films