Classic Film Friday: Calendar Girls

This is yet another fairly new movie (technically not a classic), but it’s one that merits a review here. I guess I’m just a sucker for the inspirational movie based on a true story genre.

When Annie (Julie Walters) Clarke’s husband John (John Alderton) dies with cancer, her oldest and dearest friend Chris (Helen Mirren) comes up with an idea to raise money to buy a new sofa for the waiting room of the local hospital in his name by producing a calendar complete with nude pictures of them and their Women’s Institute friends. Scandalous as that sounds it also happens that these women are no younger than 50 and most of them are otherwise modest, socially conservative “church ladies”.

These innocent women seek to bring attention to a greater cause by publicly sacrificing their modesty, privacy, and morals by baring it all in the name of charity. The journey they take from small town Knapely, Yorkshire doldrums to million dollar Hollywood celebrity is inspiring and humorous all at the same time. The story hits close to home for any that have witnessed the torturous embrace of cancer, but it also shows how real beauty comes from within. John Clarke himself says "The flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire. Every stage of their growth has its own beauty, but the last phase is always the most glorious.”


The clip below shows the women seeking a photographer with the right qualifications, artistic talent, and will to help them accomplish their project. Easier said than done…