''The Playbirds'' is a 1978 British

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

film, made by Irish-born director

Willy Roe Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William (given name), William or Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American ...

and starring 1970s pin-up

Mary Millington Mary Ruth Maxted (née Quilter; 30 November 1945 – 19 August 1979), known professionally as Mary Millington from 1974 onwards, was an English model and pornographic actress. Her appearance in the short softcore film ''Sex is My Business'' ...

alongside

Glynn Edwards John Glynn Edwards (2 February 1931 – 23 May 2018) was a British television and cinema character actor, who came to national prominence for his portrayal of the barman Dave Harris in the 1970s–1990s British television comedy-drama ''Minder' ...

Suzy Mandel Suzy Mandel (born 6 March 1953) is a former actress and model best known for her roles in such mid-1970s British sex comedies as ''Intimate Games'' (1976), ''Confessions of a Driving Instructor'' (1976), '' Come Play with Me'' (1977), ''The Pl ...

and

Windsor Davies Windsor Davies (28 August 1930 – 17 January 2019) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the sitcom ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' (1974–1981) over its entire run. The show's popularity resulted ...

. It was the official follow-up to '' Come Play with Me'', one of the most successful of the British sex comedies of the 1970s, which also starred Millington.

Plot

In London, an unidentified serial killer targets female models, strangling each woman and marking the forehead with the number of the victim.

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

detectives Jack Holbourne and Harry Morgan are assigned to investigate and discover that all of the women had recently appeared in the pornographic magazine ''Playbirds''. Four suspects are identified: the magazine's publisher, Harry Dougan; photographer Terry Day; a

street preacher A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

called Hern; and

anti-pornography Reasons for opposition to pornography include religious objections and feminist concerns (for specific sectors of feminism), as well as alleged harmful effects, such as pornography addiction. Pornography addiction is not a condition recognized ...

campaigner George Ransome MP. Dougan and Day are quickly discounted. Lena Cunningham, ''Playbirds'' next star model, is given round-the-clock police protection, but the killer takes advantage of a brief security lapse to enter her flat and murder her in the living room, thus claiming his fourth victim. To draw out the killer, Holbourne and Morgan decide to send in an undercover policewoman posing as an up-and-coming ''Playbirds'' model. Following "auditions" at the Yard, in which female officers are made to perform

striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "ex ...

, Holbourne and Morgan recruit Sergeant Lucy Sheridan, who takes a job at a

massage parlour A massage parlor (American English) or massage parlour (Canadian/British English) is a place where massage services are provided for a fee. In the 19th century, the term began to be used in English as a euphemism for a brothel. Context In 189 ...

to set up her introduction to Dougan. Ransome, who secretly enjoys pornography that he obtains from Day, tries to slip into a house party being hosted by Dougan and some of the models. He is assumed to be the killer and attempts to flee, but in the ensuing police chase nearly drowns in a pond and is taken to hospital. Hern is arrested for the murders after he is found to have spied on the models during a photo shoot. In the final scene, a man who appears to be Hern breaks into Sheridan's flat and strangles her in her bathtub. While committing the murder, "Hern" reveals that he is actually the preacher's twin brother.

Cast

... WPC Lucy Sheridan *

Alan Lake Alan Lake (24 November 1940 – 10 October 1984) was an English actor, best known as the third and final husband of screen star Diana Dors. Biography Alan Lake was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire on 24 November 1940.Donnelley, Paul ...

... Harry Dougan *

... Inspector Holbourne *

Derren Nesbitt Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he also appeared in many television series in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He is known for his role as Major von ...

... Jeremy *

... Lena *

... Assistant Police Commissioner *

Penny Spencer Penny Spencer (born 1 January 1948) is a British actress, best remembered for her performance as coquettish schoolgirl Sharon Eversleigh in the LWT television comedy series ''Please Sir!'' (1968–70). She attended Coombe Girls School in New Ma ...

... WPC Andrews * Gavin Campbell ... Inspector Harry Morgan *

Kenny Lynch Kenneth Lynch, OBE (18 March 1938 – 18 December 2019) was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was app ...

... Police Doctor *

Sandra Dorne Sandra Dorne (born Joan Smith; 19 June 1924 – 25 December 1992) was a British actress. Career Also known as Sandra Holt, Dorne was often known in the 1950s as the B-film Diana Dors. As a platinum blonde, she was a regular female lead ...

... Dougan's Secretary *

Dudley Sutton Dudley Sutton (6 April 1933 – 15 September 2018) was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series ''Lovejoy''. Early life Sutton was ...

... Hern *

Alec Mango Alec Mango (16 March 1911 – 7 November 1989) was an English actor. He is best known for portraying El Supremo in the 1951 ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'', he also appeared in ''South of Algiers'' (1953), ''The Strange World of Planet X'' (1958 ...

... Ransome * Pat Astley ... Doreen *

Ballard Berkeley Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He is best remembered for playing Major Gowen in the British television sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''. Life an ...

... Trainer * Michael Gradwell ... Terry Day * Anthony Kenyon ... Dolby * Ron Flangan ... Wilson * André Trottier ... Kenny * John M. East ... Media Man *

Gordon Salkilld Gordon Salkilld (9 May 1927 – 14 May 2003) was an English supporting actor best known for his portrayal of carpenter Jack Wood in the 1970s BBC cult series '' Survivors''. He also gained fame in ''Red Dwarf'': series 2, episode 2 as Gordon—the ...

... Police Photographer * Nigel Gregory ... Expert 1 * Tom McCabe ... Expert 2 *

Pat Gorman William Patrick "Pat" Gorman (10 May 1933 – 9 October 2018) was a British actor who, despite never appearing in a starring role, appeared in minor roles in a large number of films and television productions, including ''The Elephant Man'', '' ...

... Expert 3 *

Susie Silvey Susan "Susie" Silvey (born 17 September 1956), occasionally Suzie Silvey, is an English actress, dancer and model, active in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Silvey attended the Harrow School of Art, where she studied ballet for five years, jazz ...

... WPC Taylor *

Cosey Fanni Tutti Cosey Fanni Tutti (born Christine Carol Newby; 4 November 1951) is an English performance artist, musician and writer, best known for her time in the avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey. Tutti first performed under the name ...

... Extra (uncredited) * Howard Nelson ... Caped man (uncredited) *

Tony Scannell Thomas Anthony Scannell (14 August 1945 – 26 May 2020) was an Irish actor, known for his role as DS Ted Roach in ITV's ''The Bill''. Career Scannell's debut on ''The Bill'' was on 23 October 1984, in an episode called "A Friend in Need". Ini ...

... Man at depot (uncredited)

Production

Filmed over four weeks in the winter of 1977, ''The Playbirds'' was the official follow-up to '' Come Play with Me'', which also starred

. In ''The Playbirds'', Millington plays an undercover policewoman investigating the murders of models from David Sullivan's magazine ''Playbirds''. The title sequence shows Millington walking through

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

when it was at the height of its domination by the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide Sex worker, sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of s ...

, giving a visual record of the district's history. Millington collaborated with director

on two further sexploitation pictures, ''

Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair ''Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair'' (UK re-release title: ''Star Sex'') is a 1979 British sexploitation comedy film directed by Willy Roe and starring Alan Lake, Glynn Edwards, Mary Millington, Bernie Winters, Diana Dors and Antony B ...

'' and ''

Queen of the Blues ''Queen of the Blues'' is an album by the American blues singer Koko Taylor, released in 1985. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Traditional Blues Recording" category. Production The album was produced by Taylor, Criss John ...

'', both released theatrically in the summer of 1979.

Release and reception

The film ran in London for 34 consecutive weeks and took £177,000. In a contemporary review for ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'', Clyde Jeavons summed up the film as "standard British sex fare thinly disguised as a police thriller of the old Scotland Yard variety". On the performances, he commented that Millington "speaks her lines as methodically as she strips, while one or two good actors like Glynn Edwards stand around looking suitably shamefaced." ''Films Illustrated'' said that despite the film's sexual content, it resembled "an old-time British

second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

transplanted to the '70s". In a 2022 review, Eddie Harrison (a contributor to '' The List'') gave ''The Playbirds'' zero stars, characterising it as "grubby, bottom-rung British sexploitation" with a "sub-''

Giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'' plot" and supporting cast made up of "slumming British comedy stars". He condemned the film's "deeply misogynist" tone, noting that while the striptease scenes " bjectifywomen in the crudest possible way", the audience is drawn into a series of "vicarious 'thrills' as the same women are hunted down and brutally murdered".

Special-edition DVD / Blu Ray

''The Playbirds'' was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2010 by Odeon Entertainment. The film has been digitally remastered and the disc features an extensive stills gallery, production notes written by historian Simon Sheridan, plus ''Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza'' (1981) and ''Response'', a short lesbian film starring Mary Millington, made in 1974. The film was released on Blu Ray in 2020 as part of the Mary Millington Movie Collection. The Blu Ray was released by Screenbound Pictures and has audio commentary by biographer Simon Sheridan and director Willy Roe.

References

Bibliography *''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (fourth edition) (

Titan Publishing Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and co ...

, London) (2011)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Playbirds, The 1970s erotic films 1970s exploitation films 1970s mystery films 1970s police procedural films 1970s serial killer films 1978 films 1978 crime films British detective films British police films British serial killer films 1970s English-language films Films about modeling Films about pornography Films about violence against women Films set in London Police detective films British sexploitation films 1970s British films