'Girls' dress up

Walters, Mirren keep their clothes on at Brit pic preem

By DEBRA JOHNSON

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Former Government press chief Alastair Campbell ogles the 'Calendar Girls' at the pic's London Preem.

 

LONDON -- Stars of the Brit pic "Calendar Girls" made sure they were fully dressed for the film's world premiere Tuesday in Leicester Square, after stripping for their roles in the true story about a group of Women's Institute members who posed nude for a charity calendar.

Julie Walters and Helen Mirren, latter no stranger to removing her clothes for film roles, were joined on the red carpet by the real "calendar girls," who also came dressed in their gladrags to celebrate the fact they've raised more than $1 million for the Leukemia Research Fund. The calendars flew off shop shelves in both Blighty and the U.S. when they went on sale in the mid-1990s.

Brit actor John Hurt and comedian Mel Smith gushed compliments to the all-star British cast, adding that they themselves would look nowhere near as good in the nude. (They kept their tuxedos on.)

Former U.K. government spin-doctor Alastair Campbell was on hand to lend support to the charity, as was pic's director, Nigel Coles. He said he was grateful Tony Blair's PR man was able to "sex up" his "rather dull speech."