Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema

The British tradition of saucy humor—“boobs, bums, and boorish innuendo”—is perhaps best exemplified by the long-running Carry On movies. But there is also a nearly forgotten genre of even saucier X–rated movies. Now, Simon Sheridan traces the history of the British sex film, from its beginnings in such coy nudist-camp flicks as Naked as Nature Intended, through to its boom years with the Confessions series, to its demise following censorship crackdowns and the introduction of home videos in the 80s. Coaxing the facts from previously reluctant interviewees, Simon Sheridan has compiled the first definitive filmography of this long-overlooked genre.