A Private Function A Private Function A Private Function is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley, Ben Rhydding, and Barnoldswick, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. In a small Northern English town 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 gets stolen by
1984 (1956 film) was withdrawn from theatrical and TV distribution channels by Orwell's estate and has not been obtainable legally for many years. In 1954, Peter Cushing and Andre Morell starred in a BBC-TV made-for-TV adaptation which was extremely popular with British audiences, leading to the production of the 1956 O'Brien theatrical film version. Pleasence had also appeared in the BBC television version, playing the character of Syme, which for the film was amalgamated with that of Parsons. Like the earlier film adaption of "Animal Farm", "1984" was secretly funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. A voice-over narrator explains that in the mid-1950s,