Film

Come Play with Me

Name: Come Play with Me
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1977
Cast: Mary Millington, Alfie Bass, Irene Handl, Ronald Fraser, Tommy Godfrey

Comedy
Erotic romance
Light-hearted

A 1977 British sex comedy about three seductive women on a country estate fielding advances from an endless stream of male suitors. It's broad, silly, and unashamedly lewd—the kind of film that announces its intentions in the title and delivers exactly that. Pure 70s lowbrow entertainment: faster than it is clever, louder than it is subtle, and utterly shameless about wanting you to laugh at the chaos.

TMDb rating

2.4

If you liked this

Confessions of a Window Cleaner1974

Robin Askwith's slapstick sexual misadventures in 1970s Britain—the closest spiritual sibling to Come Play with Me. Rapid-fire gags, improbable situations, and a relentless playfulness that never stops winking at the audience.

But Heavily dated softcore comedy that squanders most of its premise on unfunny sketches. The sexual politics haven't aged well, and the jokes are mostly just leering.

Carry On Camping1969

The Carry On films perfected formulaic British comedy, and this one about chaos at a holiday camp has the same gleeful spirit. Ensemble cast, impossible situations, double entendres that land without needing nudity.

But The humor is very much of its era—puns and slapstick over substance. If you find the Carry On style labored, this won't convert you.

Adventures of a Plumber's Mate1978

Another slice of 70s sex comedy excess, lean and energetic. Pure genre exercise—exactly what audiences wanted from this particular corner of British cinema at this particular moment.

But It's a sex comedy made in 1978. The premise is the entire movie. If you need character development or plot, keep walking.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Come Play with Me

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Blue Angel1930

Both center seductive women as the active agents of male chaos, but separated by fifty years and the gulf between art film and exploitation comedy.

Marlene Dietrich seduces a respectable professor into ruin through wit, beauty, and absolute confidence. This German Expressionist masterpiece finds the same theme of seduction-as-chaos, but treats it as tragedy instead of farce. Everything in Come Play with Me echoes backward to this.

But It's a profound work about corruption and moral collapse. Watching it alongside a 1977 sex romp makes the depth the sex comedy explicitly lacks. Entirely different register and tone.

The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones1976

Ribald, anarchic, determined to cram as much mischief into 89 minutes as possible. Treats the Fielding novel as an excuse for chaos rather than a narrative—very much in the spirit of Come Play with Me.

But Irreverent to the point of exhaustion. No reverence for the source, no attempt at subtlety, and it wears that badge proudly. Not for anyone wanting actual adaptation.

The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones poster

Spanking the Monkey1994

A kinky sex comedy that leans harder into its premise than most. Relentless, unabashed, and committed to its particular brand of silliness. Never pauses to apologize for itself.

But Genuinely testing material even by 70s standards. The sexual content is very explicit, and the 'comedy' is mostly generated by attitudes you might find unpleasant.

Let's Get Laid1978

British sex comedy in its purest form—minimal plot, maximum mischief. Fast, silly, packed with character actors clearly enjoying themselves doing something ridiculous.

But There is genuinely nothing here beyond the concept. The film understands exactly what it is and makes no attempt to be anything else.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.1953

A musical comedy completely divorced from realism, built on extravagant set pieces and anarchic nonsense. The spirit of playful excess reaches backward to an earlier era of unserious cinema.

But It's actually from the 1950s and tries to be clever in ways that pull against pure slapstick. If you want 70s-specific sex comedy, this won't scratch the itch.

Rogue Male1976

A different kind of British comedy that proves the 1970s had room for multiple registers. This one's more interested in subversion and satire, but still that era's peculiar energy.

But It's considerably more pointed and serious-minded than Come Play with Me. The comedy is in the ideas rather than the chaos, which might feel like a chore if you want pure frivolity.

Adventures of a Private Eye1977

Released the same year, same sensibility, same unshakeable commitment to its own ridiculousness. This one's a detective spoof that operates under the same rules as Come Play with Me.

But It's thin even by the standards of 70s sex comedies. The jokes sometimes seem to run out before the scenes do, and you can feel the machinery grinding.

3 Into 2 Won't Go1969

Same narrative architecture—desire in a closed space—but inverted: one asks what it costs, the other asks what it costs to admit it doesn't matter.

Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom in a study of desire, infidelity, and the messy human cost of seduction. It has the same triangular obsession as Come Play with Me, but interrogates rather than celebrates the chaos.

But It's a serious contemporary drama with real pain. Watching characters suffer consequences for lust contradicts the entire philosophy of the sex comedy, which treats chaos as consequence-free fun.

Love in the Afternoon1972

Both understand that seduction is fundamentally theatrical and that the performance matters more than the outcome. One makes farce of that, the other makes art.

Éric Rohmer's meditation on temptation, flirtation, and the eros of conversation. A man and woman play at seduction without physical consummation—and it's far more charged than anything in Come Play with Me because Rohmer understands desire as philosophical rather than physical.

But It's austere, philosophical, and largely conversational. French New Wave cinema about thought rather than action. If you watch Come Play with Me for chaos, this will feel like waiting for a bus.