A Man with a Maid (a.k.a. What the Swedish Butler Saw, The Groove Room, and Champagnegalopp) is a 1975 Swedish-American erotic sex comedy film directed by Vernon P. Becker and starring Ole Søltoft, Sue Longhurst, Malou Cartwright and Diana Dors.
A Victorian aristocrat buys a former madhouse and converts it into a "love nest". Unknown to him, Jack the Ripper lives in secret passages lining the building.
Tropes the Swedish Butler Saw:
- Bungled Suicide: Spurned into Suicide, Jack attempts to hang himself and take a photograph of it at the same time: to be delivered to Alice on her wedding day. It fails when the beam he attaches the rope to gives way.
- Caught in a Snare: After chasing Alice around The Snuggery, Jack catches her in a a net he laid especially for this purpose. After tying her up, he then gets caught in the net himself when the traps start malfunctioning.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Early in the film, both Jack's father and mother (separately) catch him masturbating to a photograph of a naked woman. His mother attempts to prevent him from doing so again by tying boxing gloves to his hands.
- Fanservice Extra: Madame Helena's cathouse is filled with nubile young topless women wearing corsets and Victorian underthings.
- Fear of Thunder: Alice is afraid of thunder. Jack uses a convenient thunderstorm, and her reluctance to leave during it, as an excuse to trap her in his sex dungeon.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: When Jack is chasing Alice around The Snuggery in an attempt to ravish her, she grabs a bottle of champagne and flings it at his head.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: One of the naked women Jack photographs in his studio covers her nethers with a top hat.
- Hypno Pendulum: Jack swings a crystal in front of Alice and Marion in an attempt to hypnotize them. It fails, but does put Samson into a trance.
- Jack the Ripper: A Victorian aristocrat buys a former madhouse and converts it into a "love nest". Unknown to him, Jack the Ripper lives in secret passages lining the building.
- Love Potion: Jack purchase a powerful aphrodisiac that he mixes into elderberry wine in an attempt to seduce Alice. It certainly works on Samson and Fanny when they drink it.
- Miss Kitty: Madame Helena is the wheelchair-bound madame of a high-class cathouse who takes young Jack's education firmly in hand.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: When the police search his house, Jack disguises the naked Alice as Greek statue.
- Of Corsets Sexy: The Fanservice Extras in Madame Helena's cathouse wear corsets and Victorian underthings and nothing else. Later, when Jack is attempting ravish Alice, she has to tell him how to undo her corset while pretending not to.
- Old-Timey Ankle Taboo: Jack describes Alice's family thusly:Jack Armstrong: [narrating] Her father, Reverend Faversham, and her mother were absolute pillars of Victorian morality. They were the kind of people who had little skirts made for the piano's legs to ensure the modesty of the home.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. The protagonist is Jack Armstrong, and the villain (sort of) is Jack the Ripper.
- Out with a Bang: Sir Cecil dies while having sex with one of the girls at Madame Helena's cathouse. The girl notes that he died with a smile on his face.
- Portrait Painting Peephole: The portrait of Queen Victoria in the Snuggery allows Jack the Ripper, who lives in the wall of the house, to spy on those within.
- Secret Squatter: A Victorian aristocrat buys a former madhouse and converts it into a "love nest". Unknown to him, Jack the Ripper lives in secret passages lining the building.
- Spit Take: Jack is taking tea with Alice when he sees Samson and Fanny romping naked behind her back, resulting in him spraying a mouthful of tea over Alice.
- Spurned into Suicide: After Alice turns down Jack's marriage proposal in order to marry Sir Cecil, Jack attempts to commit suicide and take a photograph of himself in the act: planning to have it delivered to her on her wedding day. It turns into a Bungled Suicide when the beam he ties the noose to gives way.
- A Threesome Is Hot: After Madame Helena takes charge of Jack's sexual education, it culminates with him being in bed with four women.
- The Voiceless: Jack the Ripper never says a word, although there is no indication that he is mute.
