A Private Function

Maggie Smith won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for this eccentric British comedy set in a small Northern England town during the dreary summer of 1947. The war has ended, and Britain is now preparing to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Post-war rationing makes celebrations of this sort difficult, so a bunch of local businessmen start a conspiracy to raise a pig illegally for the big day. Michael Palin plays a put-upon chiropodist, and Smith plays his social-climbing wife, the local theater organist. The couple hatches a plan to steal the secret hog for themselves, but they are too prim and proper to kill the fatted hog, especially because the mild-mannered Palin kind of falls in love with the beast. With the local food inspector (Bill Paterson) determined to put a stop to all schemes for getting around the food rationing policy, they must hide their squealing booty from the inspector's Gestapo-like tactics and from the businessmen who want their pig back.

A Private Function was the feature debut of English TV director Malcolm Mowbray, who co-wrote the script with actor, author, and playwright Alan Bennett (Prick Up Your Ears, The Madness of King George, The History Boys, and one of Dame Maggie's final non-franchise pictures, The Lady in the Van). It was produced by George Harrison and Denis O'Brien via their production company HandMade Films—one of the few pictures (besides Life of Brian and Time Bandits) that the former Beatle and his manager made that didn't lose money. In addition to Smith's win, the film scored two more BAFTS, Best Supporting Actress for Liz Smith as Maggie Smith's mother and Best Supporting Actor for Denholm Elliott as one of the original owners of the black-market pig, a doctor who looks down his nose at the profession of chiropodist. The rest of the cast is also a delight, especially Richard Griffiths as the most reluctant participant in the swine scheme.

The film was also BAFTA nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film, showcasing how different those awards were in the mid-'80s in terms of what they went for. A Private Function is a small, charming work somewhat reminiscent of the Ealing Comedies of the late '40s and early '50s, like Passport to Pimlico. It's a low-key farce that takes a bit of time to get going, but the tone and patient style pay off handsomely as everything builds to its climax. I first saw this as a kid looking to see any movies with members of Monty Python in them, so this was my introduction to Maggie Smith. It makes for a good inaugural Dame Maggie movie, as she is her usual hilariously reserved yet quietly snarky self.