Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1976
Emily (1976 film)
Buy Emily (1976 film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
, main location of the film
'Emily', also known as 'The Awakening of Emily', is a 1976 British erotic historical drama film set in the 1920s directed by Henry Herbert, produced and written by Christopher Neame, and starring Koo Stark.
The story revolves around a seventeen year old girl who is pursued by various middle aged men and women. The main setting of the film is Wilton House, which was the director's ancestral seat, and the countryside around it.
'Emily' was a moderate success at the box office in the 1970s, but in the early 1980s it had a revival and did far better, gaining publicity due to a romance between Koo Stark and Prince Andrew.Christopher Neame, 'A Take on British TV Drama: Stories from the Golden Years' (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. xiv-xv Around that time the film was often shown on HBO and other cable TV channels.'Arts and Culture', Volume 2 (2016), p. 74
An X-rated film, it has a cast of mainstream actors including Victor Spinetti, Sarah Brackett, Constantin de Goguel, Ina Skriver, Jeremy Child, Jack Haig, and Richard Oldfield. Its music was composed and sung by the singer and poet Rod McKuen.
Plot
Emily Foster (Koo Stark) is an American-born seventeen-year-old brought up in London. Her father died when she was a small child, while her mother, Margaret Foster (Sarah Brackett), is supported by a lover. The film, set in 1928, follows Emily as she returns home from a finishing school in Switzerland to her mother's country house in the English countryside, where she meets several characters who would like to seduce her, and follows her induction into sensual pleasures. The film follows her interactions with these adult pursuers.Jim Craddock, 'VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever: 2002' (2001), p. 238 Richard Walker (Victor Spinetti), her mother's lover, is a middle-aged man-about-town who quietly sets his sights on Emily, while a young American writer and schoolteacher named James Wise (Richard Oldfield) tries to impress her by sensual acrobatics in his flying machine. However, her first sexual experience is an encounter with a woman Augustine Wain (Ina Skriver), a Swedish painter who lives nearby. Emily then has her first sexual encounter with a man, Wain's husband, the middle aged Rupert Wain (Constantin de Goguel) in a scene indicating penetrative sex.'Emily', in 'Variety's Film Reviews: 1975-1977', volume 14 of series (R. R. Bowker, 1989)I. Q. Hunter, 'Cult Film as a Guide to Life: Fandom, Adaptation, and Identity' (2016), p. 99
Meanwhile, perhaps intended to mark the contrast in the sexual mores of the different British classes at the time, housemaid Rachel (Jane Hayden) and her soldier boyfriend Billy (David Auker) are engaged to be married, but Rachel tries to insist on waiting until after their wedding before they have sexual intercourse.
Cast
* Koo Stark as Emily FosterJay Robert Nash, Stanley Ralph Ross, 'The Motion Picture Guide', Volume 3 (Cinebooks, 1986), p. 759
* Sarah Brackett as Margaret Foster
* Victor Spinetti as Richard Walker
* Jane Hayden as Rachel
* Constantin de Goguel as Rupert Wain
* Ina Skriver as Augustine Wain
* Richard Oldfield as James Wise
* David Auker as Billy Edwards
* Jeremy Child as Gerald Andrews
* Jack Haig as Taxi Driver
* Jeannie Collings as Rosalind
* Pamela Cundell as Mrs Prince
Crew
*Director: Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke
*Producer: Christopher Neame
*Writer: Christopher Neame, as Anthony Morris
*Assistant Director: Peter Bennett
*Music: Rod McKuen
*Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
*Film Editor: Keith Palmer
*Art Director: Jacquemine Charrott Lodwidge
*Production Manager: Caroline Langley, as Caroline Neame
Production
The film was produced by Christopher Neame,Christopher Neame, 'Rungs on a Ladder: Hammer Films Seen Through a Soft Gauze' (2003), p. 122 who also wrote the screenplay, claiming to have completed it in seventeen hours. It was intended as a vehicle for him to move into production, and 'Emily' did indeed become his first film. He secured the services of Henry Herbert as director, together with his large house and estate in Wiltshire as location. Neame later wrote that this was "a country house of faded grandeur, but it suited the narrative well with its plush reds and rich greens, all set in a golden landscape". Neame went on to produce 'Danger UXB', 'The Flame Trees of Thika', 'The Irish R.M.', 'Soldier, Soldier', and 'Monsignor Quixote'.
The director, Henry Herbert, had begun by making documentaries about musicians but was directing only his second feature film.Harris M. Lentz III, ed., 'Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003', [https://books.google.com/books?id=jHrGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA188 p. 188] His first had been 'Malachi's Cove' (1974), starring Donald Pleasence,
which he had both written and directed, based on a short story by Anthony Trollope.Denis Gifford, 'British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film''Films and Filming' Volume 20 (1973), p. 6 The art director of 'Emily', Jacquemine Charrott Lodwidge, had also worked on 'Malachi's Cove'.Mike Kaplan, 'Variety international showbusiness reference' (1982), p. 388 The film editor, Keith Palmer, had worked with Lodwidge on another country house picture, 'Blue Blood' (1973), filmed at the nearby Longleat House.Harris M. Lentz, 'Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits' (2001), p. 915 The film was Peter Bennett's first as assistant director.
Reception
The critics did not like the script. Alan Brien wrote in 'The Observer' that Neame and Herbert should have been less tame with a scene in the drawing room, as censorship had been relaxed and the sexuality could have been more explicit. For Kenneth Tynan, 'Emily' "failed to get to first base" in his realm of eroticism.
The 'Variety' review was a little kinder:
"Story set in England in 1928 deals with teenage Emily returning from finishing school and her subsequent sexual awakening. It is sufficiently well told to sustain screen interest throughout although the acting performance of the cast is collectively unimpressive. Director Henry Herbert lacks consistency, but given the modest budget has put a lot on the screen. Rod McKuen's music score is incongruous at times and never outstanding. A first-time effort for producer Christopher Neame (son of Ronald), this Brent Walker release is a classier than normal British-made entry with highly effective camera work by Jack Hildyard. It has good international playoff potential in selected situations with some strong built in exploitation angles, notably topliner Koo Stark, who will look good on posters, front of house stills, etc."
'The Motion Picture Guide' (1986) commented: "Rod McKuen contributes a typically wretched soundtrack."Nash, Jay Robert; Ross, Stanley Ralph; Connelly, Robert B. (1986). 'The Motion Picture Guide'. Cinebooks, 1986, Volume 3, p. 760.
In their book 'Great Houses of England & Wales' (1994), Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd and Christopher Simon Sykes later wrote:
"The present Lord Pembroke is (as Henry Herbert) a film and television director, best known for the Civil War drama series 'By the Sword Divided' and for 'Emily', starring Miss Koo Stark."Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh; Sykes, Christopher Simon (1994). 'Great Houses of England & Wales'. p. 131.
The historian Simon Sebag Montefiore went to see the film while at school, expecting a skin flick, thanks to sensational press coverage, and later described it as "one of the biggest disappointments of my adolescence".Hardy, Rebecca (2008-10-17). "Homeless and broke - Koo's Stark life". 'Thurrock Mail', 17 October 2008.
Aftermath
The film's leading lady, Koo Stark, suffered in later years from press misrepresentation. In a libel action in 2007, she won an apology and substantial damages from 'Zoo Weekly', which had described her as a porn star. She commented "I am relieved that my name has been cleared of this false, highly damaging and serious allegation."[https://www.carter-ruck.com/news/read/koo-stark Koo Stark news release] at carter-ruck.com, accessed 12 November 2017 In June 2019 Stark again won damages for libel in an action against Viacom, whose MTV company had referred to her in the same terms.[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-andrew-s-ex-wins-damages-over-porn-star-label-dglngg2n2 "Prince Andrews ex wins damages over porn star label"], in 'The Times' (London), 10 June 2019, accessed 16 February 2020
Certification
In 1983, the film was rejected by the British Board of Film Classification because of a scene showing two women embracing in a shower.Ursula Smartt, 'Media & Entertainment Law' (2017), p. 249
Notes
Buy Emily (1976 film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1976