Scandal

"The story that seduced the world is now the most controversial film of the year."

1989 1h 55m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 105

DramaHistoryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An English bon-vivant osteopath is enchanted with a young exotic dancer and invites her to live with him. He serves as friend and mentor, and through his contacts and parties she and her friend meet and date members of the Conservative Party. Eventually a scandal occurs when her affair with the Minister of War goes public, threatening their lifestyles and their freedom.

“The story that seduced the world is now the most controversial film of the year.”

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Cast

John Hurt
Stephen Ward
Joanne Whalley
Christine Keeler
Bridget Fonda
Mandy Rice-Davies
Ian McKellen
John Profumo
Leslie Phillips
Lord Astor
Britt Ekland
Mariella Novotny
Daniel Massey
Mervyn Griffith-Jones
Roland Gift
Johnnie Edgecombe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Writers: Michael Thomas
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, shot by Mike Molloy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carl Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Angus Newton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Hurt and Joanne Whalley and Bridget Fonda carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The story that seduced the world is now the most controversial film of the year.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0098260 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Caton-Jones directs. Mike Molloy behind the camera. Carl Davis scores. Angus Newton cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

137 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
3Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, shot by Mike Molloy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carl Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Angus Newton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6John Hurt and Joanne Whalley and Bridget Fonda carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The story that seduced the world is now the most controversial film of the year.".
8IMDB entry: tt0098260 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "london, england", "sex scandal", "based on true story", "scandal".

The technical file

Cinematography: Mike Molloy
Original score: Carl Davis
Editing: Angus Newton
Production design: Simon Holland
Costume design: Jane Robinson
Makeup / hair: Joan Hills
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $8,800,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Scandal (1989)

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Michael Caton-Jones

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2021-09-02
★ 6/10
This film seems to do a fine job recreating the spirit of the 60s, or at least as experienced by the in crowd and the wealthy. John Hurt is great, as usual, and Joanne Whaley os so expressive and magnetic when she smiles or vamps or whatever, I can almost imagine that it was more than beauty that caused Helen of Troy’s face to launch a thousand ships; it was how she looked at men. So I stuck with the film, but I didn’t find it to be compelling. People seemed to mumble at times, and likable characters were pretty thin on the ground. I was left wishing Jean Alexander as Christine’s mother had been given more airtime. And, well, that is about all I have to say about it, I guess.
kevin20192024-02-15
★ 10/10
"Scandal" features the sort of sexually promiscuous depiction of the upper classes that usually results in a keen sense of disassociation which finally leads to disinterest and then downright boredom amongst those patrons in the audience completely unaccustomed with the activities of such banal people, so it is somewhat surprising to discover this isn't actually the case here and as a matter of fact the opposite just happens to be true. This film also does an excellent job of placing all the incidents surrounding what happened between Christine Keeler, the rising star of the Conservative Party John Profumo, and suspected Russian spy Yevgeny Ivanov into some kind of cohesive order and even though the more scandalous aspects have lost a lot of their incendiary political relevance when compared to today's lapsed social standards it is still an incredibly interesting insight into what happened and the people who were caught up in the damaging media maelstrom it generated.