Kymm Zuckert Discovers the Origins of Hugh Grant in Privileged (1982, dir. Michael Hoffman, UK)

At the end of 2021 I decided my project for 2022 would be to watch the entire output of one actor, that actor being Hugh Grant. An Oevre-view, if I may brazenly steal the term from Filmspotting. It is now mid-May and the whole “of the year” thing of this project seems to be wildly optimistic on my part, but if I start this second, perhaps I won’t have to slop too much into 2023. Perhaps. He’s been kind of prolific, has our Hugh.

The very first film on the list is Privileged, made when he was only 22, and a student at Oxford. In no co-incidence at all, Privileged takes place in Oxford, was shot in Oxford, is about Oxford acting students, and was produced by the Oxford Film Foundation and the Oxford Film Company. I am sensing a theme. It also isn’t available on DVD or streaming, but some good citizen posted the whole thing to YouTube, clearly taped off of TV. Greatly appreciated!

Hugh is third-billed, and also was apparently known as Hughie Grant, which is a thing that brings me so much joy, he will be referred to as Hughie not only for the remainder of this review, but on down through eternity.

Privileged is not just Hughie’s debut, but also Imogen Stubbs’, thirteen years before they were Edward Ferrars and Lucy Steele in my beloved Sense and Sensibility. The film also features infant Mark Williams, aka Arthur Weasley, and it was the directorial debut of Michael Williams, who also directed the 1999 Kevin Kline Midsummer Night’s Dream. So much promising talent!

It starts out with a dude, Edward (Robert Woolley) in white tie going to a masquerade party; on the way a man also in evening dress and a glittery mask holds a knife to his throat and then runs off, but apparently that’s just another day in Oxford.

At the party he meets a cute girl, Anne (Diane Katis), and they all dance very poorly to terrible ‘80s music. Imogen Stubbs and Mark Williams are Imogen and Wilf and are the cutest things you ever did see in your entire life. The party moves back to Edward’s place, and then there is a loooooong scene where Edward tries to get Anne to tell him her name and also have sex with him; she refuses both.

Then they both get cast in The Duchess of Malfi and perhaps a showmance is on the horizon, though Edward is pouty that he didn’t get the role of Ferdinand, but instead was cast as Bosola.

For third billing, Hughie doesn’t show up for quite some time, unless he was the masked knife-man.

A possible Hughie sighting half an hour in. Edward is practicing a speech by the river when a guy wades onto the bank holding a dead deer over his shoulders, and strides off. We don’t see his face, but his hair is decidedly, floppily, Hughian.

In the pub, there is Hughie at last! He is Lord Adrian, and is extremely louche. The whole deer thing was a prank that was also done by his father and grandfather and great-grandfather on their first day at Oxford, in an extremely specific manner that literally sounds like some kind of witchcraft. He explains it to Edward over croquet.

There is a strange moment where our baby Hughie quotes The Dutchess of Malfi in a close-up, then identically, in a long shot, and it totally looks like an error in the editing. My guess is that that is exactly what it was, because there is no other moment like that in the film, but instead of fixing it, they thought it looked kind of cool and kept it in.

Lord Adrian’s girl Lucy (Victoria Studd) comes to Edward’s room late at night. What could she want? Well, whatever it is, she gets it! Will Lord Adrian find out and have a problem about it? We know he can kill a deer…

So, Adrian loves Lucy, who loves Edward, who loves himself, and also Anne. Jamie (James Wilby, five years before he would star with Hughie in Maurice), who is also in the show, also loves Anne. Who does Anne love? Well, she sexily runs lines with Edward, with much smooching, so I think Lucy’s days in Edward’s bed are numbered. The real true theme of this film is that actors in their 20s are complete jackasses.

Were I asked who I thought in this movie would be a world-wide star, romantic comedy heartthrob, and Face of the ‘90s, I would have chosen Robert Woolley over Hughie in a heartbeat. He’s very handsome, and quite good, but his IMDb is sparse, hopefully because he found something he wanted to do more than act, rather than not being able to get cast.

But Hughie acquits himself nicely, he’s better than he needed to be in a role where his pretty face and believability as a member of the aristocracy at first seems to be all that is required, though as the film goes on, he does have a couple of strong scenes, seeming like a lost child.

I’d say, as far as a film debut goes, I have high hopes for Hughie in future.

Kymm Zuckert is an actor/writer/native Angelino. When Kymm was a child, her parents would take her to see anything, which means that sometimes she will see a film today and say, “I saw that when I was eight, I don’t remember any of that inappropriate sex stuff!” Check out her entire 365 day blog @ https://365filmsin365days.movie.blog