''Shadey'' is a 1985 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

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, Billie Whitelaw and

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

. The screenplay concerns a man with

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...

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

Cast

* Antony Sher – Oliver Shadey * Billie Whitelaw – Doctor Cloud *

– Sir Cyril Landau * Larry Lamb – Dick Darnley * Katherine Helmond – Lady Constance Landau * Leslie Ash – Carol Landau *

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

– Captain Amies * Jesse Birdsall – Carl * Jonathan Scott-Taylor – Arthur * Jenny Runacre – 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 held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

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