Emmanuelle in Soho is a 1981 British sex film directed by David Hughes and produced by David Sullivan, and starring Angie Quick (under the name 'Mandy Miller'), Julie Lee and John M. East.[2] Sullivan had originally intended Mary Millington to star in the film.[3]

Emmanuelle in Soho
Directed byDavid Hughes
Screenplay by
  • Brian Daly
  • John M. East[1]
Produced byJohn M. East[1]
CinematographyDon Lord[1]
Edited byDavid Woodward[1]
Music byBarry Kirsch[1]
Production
company
Roldvale[1]
Distributed byTigon[1]
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
[1]
Running time
67 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom[1]

The film tells the story of half-Chinese Kate Benson (played by Lee) and her photographer husband Paul (Kevin Fraser) who share their Bayswater home with a nymphomaniac stripper, Emmanuelle (played by Quick). The two women attempt to find work in the sex industry in London's Soho district, and get mixed up with a sleazy, and unscrupulous theatrical agent, Bill Anderson (played by East).

The film premiered in Sheffield and transferred to London where it ran for 10 weeks at the Eros cinema on Piccadilly Circus followed by 25 weeks at the Moulin in Great Windmill Street. There is also a hardcore versions of this film - such a version was released in Hong Kong cinemas where it ran for nearly three years.[4] The US release included a 6-minute mini-documentary prologue about the sex industry in Soho.[5]

Cast

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  • Angie Quick as Emmanuelle of Soho
  • Julie Lee as Kate Benson
  • John M. East as Bill Anderson
  • Kevin Fraser as Paul Benson
  • Gavin Clare as Mr. Cole
  • Timothy Blackstone as Derek
  • Geraldine Hooper as Jill
  • Anita Desmarais as Sheila Burnette
  • Georges Waser as Tom Poluski
  • Erika Lea as Judy
  • Kathy Green as Sammy
  • Suzanne Richens as a Showgirl
  • John Roach as Albert

[1]

Reception

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Emmanuelle in Soho was one of the last British softcore films to receive a theatrical release before the abolition of the Eady Levy and the growth of home video led to the virtual disappearance of British low-budget exploitation film-making.[3] In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as "of marginal interest for its unabashed portrait of the neighbourhood's tawdry illicit wares". The review noted that the "slipshod scripting is about par for the course".[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pym, John (1981). "Emmanuelle in Soho". Monthly Film Bulletin. 48 (564). London: British Film Institute: 152–153.
  2. ^ "Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Upton, Julian (2004). Fallen Stars: Tragic Lives and Lost Careers. Headpress/Critical Vision. p. 46. ISBN 9781900486385.
  4. ^ Simon Sheridan (9 May 2013). "Julie Lee-The Last Star of Sexploitation". Mary Millington.
  5. ^ Johnny Stanwyck (6 August 2018). "Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)". The Grindhouse Effect.

Further reading

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  • Simon Sheridan Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema 2011 (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London) ISBN 0857682792
  • Simon Sheridan Come Play with Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington 1999 (FAB Press, Guildford)
  • Sweet, Matthew. Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema. Faber and Faber, 2005.
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