Priest of Love (1981)

Without provocative novelist D.H. Lawrence, Ken Russell couldn’t have directed the flesh-filled dramas Women in Love (1969) starring Alan Bates and Oliver Reed; The Rainbow (1989) with Paul McGann; and Lady Chatterley (1993) featuring Sean Bean. Nor could Christopher Miles have made Priest of Love (1981), not to be confused with Priest (1994). Based on the Lawrence biography “The Priest of Love” (1954) by Harry T. Moore, this flick focuses on the life of the British author (and closeted bisexual) played to perfection by Ian McKellen. Following the banning of his then-controversial novel “The Rainbow” (1915), Lawrence and his wife Frieda (Janet Suzman) relocate to the United States, finally settling in Mexico. But when Lawrence contracts tuberculosis shortly thereafter, the couple returns to England. Yet it’s a trip the two take to Italy which inspires Lawrence to pen his masterwork “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” (1928). As such, D.H. exposes his T&A when he beds his wife. During his downtime, Lawrence mingles with fellow writers Aldous Huxley (James Faulkner), John Middleton Murry (Mike Gwilym), and Katherine Mansfield (Adrienne Burgess) as well as actor Giuseppe Orioli (Elio Pandolfi) and artist Dorothy Brett (Penelope Keith). The movie also includes John Gielgud, Massimo Ranieri, Maurizio Merli, and the skin on Graham Faulkner. As a Cornish farmer, the latter man goes full frontal when skinny-dipping with the equally naked McKellen. While frolicking in the ocean, the nude dudes are caught by some soldiers as they towel off. In other words, Priest of Love is nothing short of sacri-licious!