12 bare facts about the original movie

The famous final striptease was filmed at Sheffield’s Shiregreen Working Men’s Club in front of 400 extras. None was told the boys would do the “full monty” for real – to make sure their screams of excitement sounded real. The cast agreed to take everything off as long as it was only one take. To give them courage, director Peter Cattaneo allowed alcohol on set. To make sure they remembered their moves, the choreographer lay in front of the stage but off camera to shout out instructions. The film had two working titles: Eggs, Beans and Chippendales and No Man’s Land. In Germany it was All or Nothing and in China a slip-up in translation had it as Six Naked Pigs. Paul Barber – Denzil in Only Fools and Horses – plays Barrington Mitchell and if producers had their way, Rodney Trotter would have played Robert Carlyle’s role. But Nicholas Lyndhurst said: “It would have been too cold at that time of year to take your clothes off.” It was made for just $3.5million but raked in $257.9million worldwide. It was the 10th biggest-grossing movie that year and is No24 in the top-grossing British films of all time. Not bad considering the list includes Skyfall, Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Robert Carlyle admitted he hated making the film, branding it “a load of pish” and was convinced it would bomb at the box office. It won an Oscar for Best Score but Hot Chocolate’s You Sexy Thing was the standout hit. The film put the song back in the top 10. Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy said many US studio execs didn’t understand the term “full

monty” and could not understand why there was no one called Monty in the film. Some American cinemas gave viewers a leaflet explaining some of the British slang. The opening sequence features a real 1972 Sheffield promotional film, City on the Move. The studio bought it from the makers for £400. Casting directors visited the local Silverdale School to find the boy to play Robert Carlyle’s son. William Snape, now 32, wasn’t bothered about auditioning – until he realised he would get six weeks off. “My hand shot up,” he said. To celebrate its Yorkshire heritage, the film was given its world premiere in Sheffield.

VENUE Extras at the club were not told of naked finish

HATS OFF Cast down to their briefs