A Bygone Era of British Bawdiness: The demise of the Sex Comedy and the Tragedy of Mary Millington
LONDON – A forgotten corner of British cinematic history – the world of the cheaply-made, X-rated sex comedy – is being remembered as a relic of a vastly different time, coinciding with the birthday of its most prominent star, Mary Millington. These films, far removed from modern pornography, offered a uniquely british brand of saucy, frequently enough innocent, entertainment, but their existence was ultimately eclipsed by the advent of home video and a changing cultural landscape.
These weren’t “hardcore porn,” as one observer noted, but rather “saucy, oddly innocent British comedies.” Titles like Keeping it Up downstairs and Confessions of a Window Cleaner represented the peak of their “depravity.” Even films featuring Mary Millington, while occasionally more explicit, rarely surpassed the level of a Carry On film in terms of shock value.
The cinemas exhibiting these films catered to a specific clientele. “Shy and shifty regulars would shuffle in and mumble ‘Numfree, please,'” seemingly embarrassed to even name the titles they sought – films with names like Erotic Inferno, Housewives on the Job, and Snow White and the Seven Perverts. The audience wasn’t comprised of “perverts,” but rather “disconsolate members of the public – always alone – whose sex lives were either over or never likely to begin.”
Interestingly, the films often featured recognizable faces.Even established actors like Robert Lindsay, of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appeared in productions like Adventures of a Taxi driver. The Office Party, a particular favorite, featured Johnny briggs – soon to become famous as Mike Baldwin in Coronation Street – in a role that reportedly caused him considerable embarrassment upon its release.
Mary Millington’s breakthrough came with Come Play with Me, briefly elevating her to stardom. A cinema manager, well-versed in the world of Soho sex cinemas, facilitated an unofficial premiere of her next film, Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair, providing an prospect for a meeting with the actress. Despite her fame and beauty, she possessed a “timid and forlorn fragility.” Tragically, Millington died by her own hand at the age of 33, just months after this encounter.
Her death coincided with the decline of the British sex comedy itself. The arrival of video tapes allowed for cheaper production and distribution, removing the need for dedicated cinemas.As one writer reflects, “The British sex comedy died with her.”
These films, while considered “lewd and inappropriate” by today’s standards, existed within a very different social context. An era where strippers were commonplace in pubs and working men’s clubs,and The Sun newspaper’s Page 3 featured a topless model daily. Compared to the readily available online pornography of today, these offerings now appear “almost quaint.”
However, the author concludes with a somber note, acknowledging the tragic fate of Mary Millington and suggesting that the apparent “fun” of this era may have masked a darker reality. “So on what would have been her birthday, maybe it’s best to look back and be thankful for the demise of the kind of films that made her famous. Until we consider what’s replaced them.”
