''Permissive'' is a 1970 British

exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Lindsay Shonteff Lindsay Craig Shonteff (5 November 1935 – 11 March 2006) was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom. Biography Lindsay Shonteff was born in Toronto ...

, written by Jeremy Craig Dryden, and starring Maggie Stride, Gay Singleton and Gilbert Wynne. The film depicts a young girl's progress through the rock music

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is us ...

subculture of the time.

Synopsis

Suzy ( Maggie Stride) arrives in London with nowhere to stay. She meets a friend, Fiona (Gay Singleton), a groupie who has settled into a relationship with Lee ( Alan Gorrie), bass player and singer with the band Forever More. At first Suzy is just one of many girls who follow the groups and make themselves sexually available to musicians and their hangers-on (a type represented by Forever More's road manager Jimmy, played by Gilbert Wynne). When the band go on tour she is left behind. For some time she lives on the streets with Pogo (

Robert D'Aubigny Exegesis was a group of individuals that delivered the Exegesis Programme through an Exegesis Seminar. The alleged end result of the programme was individual enlightenment, a personal transformation. Founded in 1976 as ''Infinity Training'' by Robe ...

, credited as "Robert Daubigny"), a gentle hippie drifter who is eventually killed in a road accident. After the accident Suzy meets Fiona again. She becomes accepted as part of Forever More's entourage, and develops the glamorous style and hard attitude of an experienced groupie. She makes a play for Lee and ousts Fiona from her status as his 'old lady.' In the final scene, the band are about to leave their hotel when Suzy finds Fiona in the bathroom with her wrists slashed. She walks out, abandoning her former friend.

Cast

Production

Music

Forever More were a genuine performing band, although the band members play characters other than themselves in the film. Songs from the soundtrack appear on their album ''

Yours – Forever More ''Yours – Forever More'' is the debut album of the Scottish progressive rock group Forever More. Recorded in 1969, it was released as a vinyl album in 1970. It was produced by Simon Napier-Bell and Ray Singer. It features future The Average Wh ...

''. Alan Gorrie went on to commercial success as a member of the

Average White Band The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their album ...

. The cult folk band

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

provided the film's opening title theme and other incidental music and songs. Also featured were

Titus Groan ''Titus Groan'' is a novel by Mervyn Peake, first published in 1946. It is the first novel in the ''Gormenghast'' series. Plot introduction The book is set in the huge castle of Gormenghast, a vast landscape of crumbling towers and ivy-filled ...

Release

Home media

Permissive was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK as part of the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

's Flipside series on 25 January 2010. The disc also includes the feature film ''Bread'' (directed by Stanley Long, 1971) and the short '''Ave You Got a Male Assistant Please Miss?'' (Graham Jones, Jon Astley, 1973).

References

External links

''Permissive'' at the Internet Movie Database
1970 films British drama films Films about groupies 1970s British films {{1970s-UK-film-stub