''Shadey'' is a 1985 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Philip Saville Philip Saville (28 October 1927 – 22 December 2016) was a British director, screenwriter and former actor whose career lasted half a century. The British Film Institute's Screenonline website described Saville as "one of Britain's most prolifi ...

and starring

Antony Sher Sir Antony Sher (14 June 1949 – 2 December 2021) was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and ...

Billie Whitelaw Billie Honor Whitelaw (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was al ...

and

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

. The screenplay concerns a man with

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

qualities who is recruited by British intelligence for a secret mission.

Cast

– Oliver Shadey *

– Doctor Cloud *

– Sir Cyril Landau *

Larry Lamb Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947) is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', Mick Shipman in the BBC comedy series ''Gavin & Stacey'' and Ted Case in the final series of ...

– Dick Darnley *

Katherine Helmond Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) was an American actress. Over her five decades of television acting, she was known for her starring role as Jessica Tate on the sitcom ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as ...

– Lady Constance Landau *

Leslie Ash Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1997), ITV drama '' Where the Heart Is'' (2000–2003), and BBC me ...

– Carol Landau *

Bernard Hepton Francis Bernard Heptonstall (19 October 1925 – 27 July 2018) better known by the stage name Bernard Hepton, was an English theatre director and actor. Best known for his stage work and television roles in teleplays and series, he also appeare ...

– Captain Amies *

Jesse Birdsall Jesse Birdsall (born 13 February 1963) is an English actor, known for his roles as Marcus Tandy in the BBC1 soap opera ''Eldorado'', Nick Beckett in the adventure series '' Bugs'' (1995–1999), football manager Roger Webb in ''Footballers' Wive ...

– Carl *

Jonathan Scott-Taylor Jonathan Scott-Taylor (born 6 March 1962) is an English actor. Early life He was born in São Paulo, Brazil to English parents; his father was a consultant for the fishery industry in Brazil at the time. He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's ...

– Arthur *

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 ...

– Shop assistant * Olivier Pierre – Manson * Jon Cartwright – Shulman * Stephen Persaud – Winston

Release

The film premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

on 18 November 1985. It was distributed by Mainline Pictures in the United Kingdom. The film was released by

Skouras Pictures Skouras Pictures was an American independent movie distribution company that was founded by Tom Skouras in 1983. The company distributed more than 200 movies between 1983 and 1995, including notable films as ''Blood Simple'', ''My Life as a Dog' ...

in the United States on 5 June 1987 and grossed over $65,817. Shadey has been very rarely shown on TV - it was shown on Channel 4 in April 1988 as part of its Film On 4 stand and the last known broadcast was on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in Australia on Christmas Day 1996. Apart from VHS rental soon after its release, it had long been unavailable on Video, DVD or streaming platforms- until it became available to stream via the Britbox service in September 2021.

References

Bibliography

* Ginibre, Jean-Louis. ''Ladies Or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-Dressing in the Movies''. Filipacchi, 2005.

External links

* * 1985 films 1985 comedy films Films directed by Philip Saville British comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-comedy-film-stub