A Private Function

In a small town in Northern England in 1947, the citizens endure continuing food rationing. Some local businessmen want to hold a party to celebrate the royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip and illegally decide to raise a pig for that occasion. However, the pig is stolen by Gilbert Chilvers, who was encouraged to do so by his wife Joyce. Meanwhile, the local food inspector is determined to stop activities circumventing the food rationing.

{{Cast listing|

• Michael Palin as Gilbert Chilvers
• Maggie Smith as Joyce Chilvers
• Denholm Elliott as Dr. Swaby
• Richard Griffiths as Allardyce
• Tony Haygarth as Sutcliff
• John Normington as Lockwood
• Bill Paterson as Wormold
• Liz Smith as Mother
• Alison Steadman as Mrs Allardyce
• Jim Carter as Inspector Noble
• Pete Postlethwaite as Nuttal
• Reece Dinsdale as P.C. Penny
• Don Estelle as Barraclough, the butcher

}}

Three pigs were used in the filming of A Private Function which were all named Betty. Producer Mark Shivas was advised by Intellectual Animals UK that the pigs used should be female and six months old so as to not be too large or aggressive. However, the pigs were "unpredictable and often quite dangerous".{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/story-of-the-scene-a-private-function-malcolm-mowbray-1984-815022.html|title=Story Of The Scene: 'A Private Function', Malcolm Mowbray, 1984|date=24 April 2008|website=The Independent}}

During filming of one of the kitchen scenes, Maggie Smith was hemmed in by one of the pigs and needed to vault over the back of it in order to escape.{{cite news|title=Story Of The Scene: 'A Private Function', Malcolm Mowbray, 1984|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/story-of-the-scene-a-private-function-malcolm-mowbray-1984-815022.html|work=The Independent|first=Roger|last=Clarke|date=25 April 2008|access-date=28 June 2009}}

The film had a Royal charity premiere on 21 November 1984 before being screened at the London Film Festival on 22 November and opening at the Odeon Haymarket in London on 30 November.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|date=10 November 1984|page=22|title=Ration books and pork talk|last=Waymark|first=Peter}}

For Michael Brooke at BFI Screenonline, the film is possibly "the closest that 1980s British cinema came to recapturing the spirit of the great Ealing comedies". He noted "something Kafkaesque about this" film (Bennett wrote his play Kafka's Dick shortly after). He commended the "uniformly superb" cast but concluded that "the real star is Bennett's script, bristling with funny, poignant one-liners [...] and absurd yet strangely convincing situations".[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/452437/index.html Brooke, M. Private Function, A (1984), BFI Screenonline.], accessed 12 May 2025.

On Sneak Previews in 1985, both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the movie two thumbs up. They called it one "really funny movie" and one "flat out winner." Siskel said it "had perfectly believable characters" and Ebert said "just beneath this veneer of respectability is utter madness."{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=4819|title=Heartbreaker, The Hit, Alamo Bay, A Private Function, 1985|publisher=Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews|date=5 February 2019|access-date=17 April 2020}}

The film made £1,560,000 in the UK.{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=27|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s – An Information Briefing|website=British Film Institute|date=2005}}

The film won three BAFTA Film Awards: Best Actress for Maggie Smith, Best Supporting Actress for Liz Smith, and Best Supporting Actor for Denholm Elliott. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Alan Bennett) and Best Film.

A musical based on the film opened in the West End in April 2011 under the new title Betty Blue Eyes. It was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and ran for several months at the Novello Theatre. It starred Reece Shearsmith as Gilbert and Sarah Lancashire as Joyce.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/8376765/Alan-Bennetts-A-Private-Function-hits-the-stage.html|title=Alan Bennett's 'A Private Function' hits the stage|website=telegraph.co.uk|date=13 April 2011|access-date=7 October 2020}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0089838|A Private Function}}
• {{Screenonline title|id=452437|name=A Private Function}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|a_private_function}}

{{Malcolm Mowbray}}

{{HandMade Films}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Private Function, A}}

Category:1984 films

Category:1984 comedy films

Category:British comedy films

Category:Films directed by Malcolm Mowbray

Category:Films scored by John Du Prez

Category:Films with screenplays by Alan Bennett

Category:Films set in 1947

Category:Films set in England

Category:HandMade Films films

Category:British independent films

Category:1984 directorial debut films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:1980s British films