HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - Nuts in May

OR:

Nuts in May on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

''Nuts in May'' is a television film devised and directed by

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

, filmed in March 1975, and originally broadcast as part of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

's ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' series on 13 January 1976. It is the comical story of a nature-loving and rather self-righteous couple's exhausting battle to enjoy what they perceive to be the idyllic camping holiday. Misunderstandings, awkward clashes of values and explosive conflicts occur when less high-minded guests pitch their tents nearby.

Plot

Childlike Candice-Marie Pratt (

Alison Steadman Alison Steadman (born 26 August 1946) is an English actress. She received the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film '' Life Is Sweet'' and the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as M ...

) and eccentric-obsessive Keith Pratt (

Roger Sloman Roger Sloman (born 19 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work in theatre, film, and television. Early life and education He grew up and was educated in South East London. He trained to be a teacher and then went to East 15 acting sch ...

) arrive at a campsite in Dorset and pitch their tent in a quiet spot suitable for appreciating nature's wonders while keeping other human beings safely at arm's length. The couple take day trips to

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...

, a quarry, and a local farm to purchase some untreated milk. Their usual routine (which includes performing their own guitar-banjo compositions, preparing healthy vegetarian dinners and following the Country Code) is rudely interrupted by Ray ( Anthony O'Donnell), a lone student and trainee PE teacher who camps nearby and switches on his radio: this is treated by the couple as an unforgivable crime, and they try to force Ray to turn it off. Later, on the way home after a trip to

Stair Hole Stair Hole is a small cove located just west of Lulworth Cove in Dorset, southern England. The folded limestone strata known as the ''Lulworth crumple'' are particularly visible at Stair Hole. There are several caves visible from the seaward s ...

, it begins to rain and the couple notice a figure (which turns out to be Ray) walking along the road and give him a lift home. Their relationship becomes increasingly tense and tempers flare when Keith notices Candice Marie exhibiting an unseemly interest in Ray's well-being – "she crawls into his tent to show him stones she has collected on the beach; Keith explodes with jealous rage after spying on them from behind the bushes with his binoculars, like a character in a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

." Later, Ray is asked to take a photograph of the couple but is patronised by Keith and Candice Marie and is forced to participate in a song at Keith's behest. As soon as some kind of order seems to have been restored,

Brummie The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to ...

couple Finger and Honky arrive on their motorbike, equipped with an army tent, a football and a fondness for late-night drinking. Befriending Ray, who has more in common with their personalities than Keith and Candice Marie, they all get quite drunk at the local pub. After arriving back at the campsite and continuing to make a large amount of noise, Honky and Finger raise the ire of Keith who shouts at them to be quiet. Finally, Keith and Candice Marie have an intense argument with Finger and Honky over Finger's plans to light a fire to cook some sausages. Keith highly objects to this, as it contravenes the rules of the site, and resorts to violence to stop it, chasing Finger around the campsite with a branch. Eventually running out of energy, Keith bursts into tears and runs off into the woods. When he returns some time later, Keith decides that he and Candice Marie will leave the campsite but is unable to get a refund from Miss Beale, the site's owner. While searching for a new campsite (or "a bed and breakfast if the worst came to the worst," says Keith), a police car pulls up behind them. Keith provides the policeman with his documents, but is humiliated when the officer points out that the

Morris Minor The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in ...

's spare tyre is bald, an offence. Finally finding peace, Keith and Candice Marie pitch their tent in the field of a nearby farm. While Keith looks for a suitable spot to go to the toilet, Candice Marie sings along to another composition of hers on guitar.

Cast

as Candice Marie *

as Keith * Anthony O'Donnell as Ray * Sheila Kelley as Honky * Stephen Bill as Finger *

Richenda Carey Richenda Carey (born 9 April 1948 in Bitton, Gloucestershire) is a British actress who is mostly known for her roles in '' Monarch of the Glen'', ''Jeeves and Wooster'', Darling Buds of May, '' Crush'' and more recently, ''Separate Lies'' and ' ...

as Miss Beale *

Eric Allan Eric Allan (born 8 March 1940) is a British actor. His first film role was in Peter Brook's 1968 film ''Tell Me Lies'', based on the play '' US'' in which Allan had appeared the previous year. For 24 years from 1997 to 2021 he played the part o ...

as Quarryman *

Sally Watts Sally Watts (born 25 May 1950) is a British film, television and stage actress whose career has spanned four decades and who is perhaps best remembered for playing Barbara in the British sitcom, sitcom ''Billy Liar (TV series), Billy Liar'' (1973� ...

as Farm-Girl *

Matthew Guinness Matthew Guinness (born 6 June 1940) is an English actor. He portrayed the part of the Farmer in the 1976 film '' Nuts in May'', appears in Ridley Scott's ''The Duellists'' (1977) and had a small role in 1986's '' Lady Jane''. He has also worked ...

as Farmer *Richard Ireson as Policeman Sheila Kelley and Stephen Bill were a couple in real life at the time.

Locations

The film is set, and was filmed in its entirety, in the geologically and historically rich

Isle of Purbeck The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the no ...

area of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. The characters visit a number of significant points of interest including

Kimmeridge Kimmeridge () is a small village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England. It is situated about south of Wareham and west of Swanage. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil p ...

Lulworth Cove Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world's finest examples of such a landform, and is a World Heritage Site and tourist location with approximately ...

and the

Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-Decembe ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. The location was chosen at the suggestion of the producer David Rose, who came from Purbeck: "I told him about the quarries in the district and asked him to film everything out of doors, under the skies; he reneged only slightly on this condition – there is one sequence of about one minute twenty seconds, in the Greyhound pub near Corfe Castle, and one short scene in a toilet. Apart from that, the only interiors are those of some very small tents." The campsite used for filming was Corfe Castle Campsite, just outside Corfe Castle, which is still used as a campsite. The quarry visited is Keates Quarry in Acton.

Reputation

''Nuts in May'' was ranked 49th in the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer chose the film to end ''At Home with Vic and Bob'' (1993), which was an evening of programmes scheduled by the duo. Retrieved 20 July 2010

References

External links

British Film Institute Screen Online
* {{Play for Today 1976 television films 1976 television plays BBC Television shows British television films British television plays Films about vacationing Films directed by Mike Leigh Films set in Dorset Play for Today 1970s English-language films