''Spanish Fly'' is a 1975 British-Spanish

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

Bob Kellett Robert Ryerson Kellett ( 25 December 1927 – 27 November 2012) was a British film director, film producer and screenwriter, and one of British cinema’s most prominent comedy directors in the 1970s, working with many of the big names of the ...

and starring Leslie Phillips,

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

, Graham Armitage, Sue Lloyd and

Nadiuska Nadiuska is a retired Polish and Russian model and actress who became a well-known celebrity in Spain during the 1970s. Born as Roswicha Bertasha Smid Honczar in 1952 in Bavaria to Polish and Russian parents, she moved to Barcelona in 1971 and he ...

Plot

Mike Scott, an impotent British

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, heads out to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

for a photo shoot and encounters an old school rival, Sir Percy de Courcy, who has inadvertently added an aphrodisiac to the local wine.

Cast

* Leslie Phillips as Mike Scott *

as Sir Percy de Courcy * Graham Armitage as Perkins *

as Julie * Sue Lloyd as Janet Scott *

Frank Thornton Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was known for playing Captain Peacock in ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel ''Grace & Favour'' (''Are You Being Served? ...

as Doctor Johnson *

Ramiro Oliveros Ramiro Oliveros is a Spanish film and television actor.Goble p.32 Selected filmography * ''Spanish Fly'' (1975) * ''Naked Therapy'' (1975) * ''Death's Newlyweds'' (1975) * ''La cruz del diablo'' (1975) * ''The Pyjama Girl Case'' (1977) * ''Yellow ...

as Juan *

Andrea Allan Andrea Allan (born 18 November 1946) is a Scottish-born actress who appeared in many British films of the 1960s and '70s. She also appeared in magazine spreads for both ''Playboy'' and '' Penthouse''. Her films included ''Carry On Cowboy'', '' ...

as Bruce *

Sally Farmiloe Sarah Farmiloe (14 July 1948 – 28 July 2014) was a British actress, best known for ''Howard's Way''. She appeared as Dawn Williams in the first and second series. She was the daughter of Tom Farmiloe, a well-to-do farmer and yacht-broker, and ...

as Francesca * Jaleh Haddah as Annette * Nina Francis as Isabel *

Sergio Mendizábal Sergio Mendizábal (3 July 1920 – 2005) was a Spanish film and television actor. He appeared in over 100 films and television programs, including his appearances in the films, '' For a Few Dollars More'' and ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''. ...

as Pons Prades *

Emiliano Redondo Emiliano Redondo (1937–2014) was a Spanish film and television actor.Rothwell p.157 Partial filmography * ''College Boarding House'' (1959) - Estudiante * ''Tiempo de amor'' (1964) - Armando (segment "La noche") * ''La nueva Cenicienta'' (1964 ...

as Clean Domingo * Fernando Villena as Dirty Domingo * Marisa Porcel as Maria *

José Lifante José Lifante is a Spanish stage, film and television actor.Lentz p.831 Selected filmography * ''Spanish Fly'' (1975) * ''Butterfly on the Shoulder'' (1978) * '' National Heritage'' (1981) * ''Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, ...

as Pedro

Production

Impact-Quadrant Films was a company run by Peter James and Kent Walwin which specialised in financing and distributing horror films. They wanted to move into the British domestic sex comedy market, having noticed that there were no challengers to the

Carry On Films The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcard ...

. They made a small investment in ''

Can You Keep It Up for a Week? ''Can You Keep It Up For A Week?'' is a 1974 British sex comedy film. Plot Accident-prone Gil wants a steady job but is dismissed by every company that recruits him due to his unfortunate habit of ending up in sexually embarrassing situations. H ...

'' which was successful and they began to look at making a whole feature. A Canadian distributor had success with a Leslie Phillips film and asked if they could have another. Phillips was about to go to Australia for a year so they had a script written quickly, about an escort agency. Nobody liked it so James and Walwin wrote a 110-page treatment over "a long weekend" which was turned into a script by a writer. The film's budget was £250,000, of which 40% was provided by

EMI Films EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...

and a Spanish company 8%. The majority capital was split between James, his associate and four English backers, one of them a lawyer. The film was part of a six-picture slate from EMI Films, which also included '' Evil Under the Sun'', '' Aces High'' and cinema adaptations of '' The Likely Lads'' and ''

Sweeney! ''Sweeney!'' is a 1977 British action crime drama film and extension of the ITV television series ''The Sweeney'' which aired on ITV from 1975 to 1978. The film did well enough at the box office that a sequel, ''Sweeney 2'', was released in cine ...

''. It was filmed in

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

. Terry-Thomas was suffering from the effects of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. However, he was still able to withstand the rigours of filming, in what was his last major film role.

Reception

The film was released with a heavy advertising campaign, including a novelisation of the script, a song "Fly Me" (because the BBC would not play a song called "Spanish Fly").

Responses

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas’s Hospital ...

in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' called it the least funny British funny film ever made.Decline and fall of the funny film ''The Observer'' 8 February 1976, p. 32 ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' reviewer Jeremy Aspinall described it as a "curio from the 1970s" which "looks awfully dated now. However, the stars still manage to exhibit consummate charm and professionalism despite the bawdy nonsense going on around them." ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' refers to it as being a " re comedy which doubles as a series of plugs for an underwear company." The film featured designs from Peter Reger.'We hold our board meetings in bed' ''The Guardian'' 26 August 1975: 11.

Box-office

Screening rights to the film were sold to 25 countries, something James attributed to the fact that unlike many British sex comedies it featured foreign locations. James wanted to make a sequel ''French Kiss'' but none eventuated.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0073407, Spanish Fly
''Spanish Fly''
at VFI 1975 films Spanish comedy films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios 1975 comedy films Films directed by Bob Kellett British comedy films Films scored by Ron Goodwin EMI Films films Films set in London Films set in Spain 1970s English-language films 1970s British films