''Keep It Up Downstairs'' is a 1976 British

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

sex comedy Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

film, directed by Robert Young and starring

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...

Jack Wild Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at ...

and William Rushton. Alternative titles for the film include ''Can You Keep It Up Downstairs?'' and ''My Favorite Butler''.

Plot

The film follows the adventures of the sex-crazed inhabitants of the bankrupt Cockshute Castle in 1904, and the attempts of Lord and Lady Cockshute to find a rich wife for their uninterested inventor son Peregrine.

Cast

as Daisy Dureneck *

as Peregrine Cockshute * William Rushton as Snotty Shuttleworth *

Aimi MacDonald Aimi MacDonald (born 27 February 1942) is a Scottish actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as ''"The Lovely" Aimi MacDonald'' in the television sketch comedy show ''At Last the 1948 Show'' (Rediffusion, 1967). Background and ear ...

as Christabelle St. Clair *

Françoise Pascal Françoise Pascal (born 14 October 1949) is a British actress, singer, dancer, fashion model, and producer born in Mauritius to French parents. She appeared in numerous film and television productions in her peak throughout the late 1960s to ea ...

as Mimi *

Neil Hallett Neil Hallett (born John W. Neil; 30 June 1924 – 5 December 2004) was a Belgian-born English actor. His stage name was taken from a combination of his proper surname, Neil, and his grandmother's maiden name, Hallet. He appeared in many Briti ...

as Percy Hampton * Mark Singleton as Lord Cockshute *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ...

as Bishop * Simon Brent as Rogers * Sue Longhurst as Lady Cockshute * John Blythe as Francis Dureneck *

Carmen Silvera Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 – 3 August 2002) was a British comic actress. Born in Canada of Spanish descent, she moved to Coventry, England, with her family when she was a child. She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and ...

as Lady Bottomley * Seretta Wilson as Betsy-Ann Dureneck * Anthony Kenyon as Mellons * Olivia Munday as Lady Kitty Cockshute *

April Olrich April Olrich (17 July 1931 – 15 April 2014), born Edith April Oelrichs, was an English ballerina and actress, born in Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania. Early life Edith April Oelrichs was born in Zanzibar in 1931 (some sources give 1933), where h ...

as Duchess * Sally Harrison as Maud *

Mary Millington Mary Ruth Maxted (née Quilter; 30 November 1945 – 19 August 1979), known professionally as Mary Millington from 1974 onwards, was an English model and pornographic actress. Her appearance in the short softcore film ''Sex is My Business'' ...

as Polly

Production

Filming

A version exists with hardcore inserts; these were shot with

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

s for the main stars.Sheridan, Simon (2011). ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema''. Titan Books Ltd It was shot at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

and on location at

Knebworth House Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In its surrounding park is t ...

in Hertfordshire.

Casting

It was one of a number of British sex comedies featuring Diana Dors.

Music

It also contains the first score by Michael Nyman in a commercially released film.

References

External links

*
Keep It Up Downstairs
at BFI
Keep It Up Downstairs
at Letterbox DVD
Keep It Up Downstairs
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

1976 films Films set in 1904 Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios 1970s English-language films Films directed by Robert Young 1970s sex comedy films 1970s historical comedy films British sex comedy films British historical comedy films Films set in England Films scored by Michael Nyman 1976 comedy films 1970s British films {{erotic-comedy-film-stub