''Beat Girl'' is a 1960 British teen exploitation film directed by

Edmond T. Gréville Edmond T. Gréville (born Edmond Gréville Thonger; 20 June 1906 – 26 May 1966) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was married to the actress Vanda Gréville. Career Gréville began his career as a film journalist and critic. ...

. The film was released in the United States under the title ''Wild for Kicks''. The title character of ''Beat Girl'' was played by starlet

Gillian Hills Gillian Hills (born 5 June 1944) is an English actress and singer. She first came to notice as a teenager in the 1960s in the British films '' Beat Girl'' (1960) and ''Blowup'' (1966). She also spent a number of years living in France, where sh ...

, who later went on to have numerous small roles in 1960s and 1970s films, such as '' Blowup'' and ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

'', and became a successful ''" ye-ye"'' singer in France. ''Beat Girl'' marked the first film roles of British pop idol Adam Faith and actor

Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. Hi ...

, although it was not released until after other films featuring Faith ('' Never Let Go'')Glynn, Stephen. ''The British Pop Music Film: The Beatles and Beyond.''
Palgrave MacMillan, 2013, p. 40. . and McEnery ('' Tunes of Glory'') had already come out. The film also features

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

and Nigel Green as strip joint operators, and

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

in a small role as one of the "beat" youth. The original music was composer John Barry's first film commission, and was performed by the John Barry Seven and Orchestra, Adam Faith, and Shirley Anne Field.Fiegel, Eddi. ''John Barry: A Sixties Theme: From James Bond to Midnight Cowboy.''
Faber & Faber, 2012, p. 71-72. The ''Beat Girl''

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

was the first British soundtrack to be released on a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

. It reached number 11 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, paving the way for the release of other film soundtrack albums.

Plot

Paul Linden ( David Farrar), a wealthy and prominent architect, returns home to Marylebone, London. He brings his new wife: beautiful, French, 24-year-old Nichole (Noelle Adam), whom he has just married in Paris. Paul is anxious to introduce Nichole to his teenage daughter Jennifer (

), but Jennifer appears less than happy about her father's remarriage and coldly rejects Nichole's friendly overtures all evening. After Paul and Nichole go to bed, Jennifer sneaks out to the Off-Beat café in

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 ...

for an evening of rock music and dancing with her friends, including Dave ( Adam Faith), a youth from a working-class background who plays guitar and writes songs; Tony (

), a general's son whose mother was killed in

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

and who has a drinking problem (although beatniks frown on alcohol); and Dodo ( Shirley Anne Field), Tony's well-bred girlfriend. Dave and Jennifer are attracted to each other. The next day Nichole plans to meet Jennifer at Saint Martin's School of Art, where she is studying, so they can have lunch together. At lunchtime, Nichole arrives at St Martin's, but is told that Jennifer has left and gone to the Off-Beat. Nichole goes to the café and confronts Jennifer in front of her friends, who are impressed by Nichole's youth, good looks, and knowledge of modern jazz. The fact that her friends, especially Dave, seem to like Nichole upsets Jennifer. Nichole leaves, reminding Jennifer to be home for her father's important business dinner that night. As Nichole leaves, she passes Greta (

Delphi Lawrence Delphi Lawrence (23 March 1932 – 11 April 2002) was an English actress. She was educated at Halidon House School in Slough, Berkshire, whilst living in Colnbrook. Born to Barbara Yvonne ( Enever) and Louis Holzman, who wed in 1930, she wa ...

), the star performer at the strip club across the street. Greta recognises Nichole and greets her by name, but Nichole ignores her, to Greta's annoyance. Jennifer and her friends see this encounter and wonder how Greta and Nichole might know each other. Jennifer suspects that Nichole was also a stripper before meeting her father. That night at Paul's business dinner, Jennifer tries to embarrass Nichole in front of the guests by bringing up the encounter with Greta, making sure to emphasise that Greta is a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

. After the guests leave, Paul questions Nichole, who says that she knew Greta in Paris and that they were in ballet together but Greta pursued a different way of life and Nichole lost track of her. Paul accepts her explanation, but Jennifer goes to the strip club to ask Greta directly. Greta at first claims she made a mistake and doesn't really know Nichole, but under pressure from her boyfriend, strip club manager Kenny King (

), she reveals that she and Nichole worked together as strippers and occasional prostitutes in Paris. Jennifer, encouraged by Kenny, becomes enamoured with the idea of becoming a stripper herself. Jennifer is caught by Paul and Nichole coming home from the strip club at 3 am and an angry confrontation results. Jennifer taunts Nichole by telling her she has spoken with Greta and threatens that if Nichole doesn't stay out of her life, Jennifer will tell Paul about Nichole's background. Nichole visits the strip club to tell Kenny and Greta to stay away from her stepdaughter, but Kenny says that Jennifer will be welcome at the club any time and that if Nichole interferes he will tell Paul about her past. Jennifer and her friends have a wild night including dancing at

Chislehurst Caves Chislehurst Caves are a series of intersecting man-made tunnels and caverns covering some 22 miles (35.4 km) in Chislehurst in southeast London, England. From the mid-13th to early 19th centuries the 'caves' were created from the mining of ...

, a dangerous car race, and a game of "chicken" on railway tracks where the last person to leave the rails before the train arrives (Jennifer) wins. Throughout the evening, Jennifer and Dave dare each other to increasingly dangerous behaviours as a way of flirting. Jennifer invites everyone to continue the party at her house, as her father is out of town and Nichole presumably won't interfere for fear Jennifer will reveal her past. Jennifer accepts a dare to "strip like a Frenchie" and begins a striptease to music, but when she gets down to her underwear Nichole bursts from her bedroom and stops her. Then Paul suddenly arrives home and breaks up the party, throwing all of the beatniks out of his house including Dave. Jennifer angrily tells her father about Nichole's activities in Paris. Nichole, crying, admits it is true and explains she only did it because she was broke and hungry. Paul and Nichole profess their love for each other and reconcile. Jennifer goes to the café, but now finds it boring. She walks out on her friends and meets Kenny across the street at the strip club. Kenny invites her to go to Paris with him and have him train her to be a star stripper. Greta, performing onstage, is told by stage manager Simon ( Nigel Green) that Kenny plans to leave her and go off with Jennifer. Just as Kenny makes a pass at Jennifer, a woman's hand is shown stabbing Kenny to death with a letter opener. The club staff, thinking Jennifer killed Kenny, lock her up and call the police. Jennifer screams that she didn't do it, and the real culprit, jealous Greta, emerges from behind a curtain. Meanwhile, Dave, Tony and Dodo confront some Teddy Boys who vandalise Tony's car and smash his guitar. Paul and Nichole arrive on the scene searching for Jennifer just as the police drag her, in hysterics, out of the strip club. The police release Jennifer to Paul and Nichole, and they head for home, arms around each other, as Dave throws his broken guitar in a rubbish bin and proclaims "Funny, only squares know where to go."

Cast

* David Farrar as Paul Linden * Noëlle Adam as Nichole *

as Jennifer Linden * Adam Faith as Dave *

as Tony * Shirley Anne Field as Dodo *

as Kenny King *

as Greta * Nigel Green as Simon *

Margot Bryant Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant (8 March 1897 – 1 January 1988), known professionally as Margot Bryant, was an English stage, teleivison and actress best known for playing Minnie Caldwell in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from its inc ...

as Martha *

as Plaid Shirt (Beat youth) * Michael Kayne as Duffle Coat (Beat youth) *

Claire Gordon Claire Gordon (16 January 1941 – 13 April 2015) was an English film actress and comedian known for leading and cameo roles in many British films from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, and for working with most of the television comedy stars of ...

as Honey * Robert Raglan as F.O. official * Nade Beall as Official's Wife * Norman Mitchell as Club doorman * Pascaline as strip dancer with scarf * Diane D'Orsay (Moyle) as strip dancer in white négligée

Production

When the original script, entitled "Striptease Girl," was submitted to the British Board of Film Censors in March 1959, the reviewer termed it "machine-made dirt" and "the worst script I have read for some years". The project was then renamed "Beat Girl" and nudity was reduced, but censors still objected to scenes of strip tease, juvenile delinquency, and teenagers playing "chicken" by lying on railway tracks in front of an oncoming train. Ultimately, the film received an "X" certificate, causing its release to be delayed because it was queued behind a glut of other X-rated films. When finally released it performed reasonably well at the box office in UK, despite receiving bad reviews. The movie was filmed at

MGM-British Studios MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired ...

at Borehamwood,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, UK, with exteriors filmed in

and

(located in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

). After Adam Faith was cast, John Barry was asked to compose the film soundtrack, because he had already been collaborating with Faith as an arranger. Barry was subsequently hired to score Faith's next films, '' Never Let Go'' and '' Mix Me a Person'', leading to Barry's successful career as a composer and arranger of film music. In addition to the ''Beat Girl'' soundtrack LP reaching number 11 in the album charts, the song "Made You," composed by John Barry and

Trevor Peacock Trevor Edward Peacock (19 May 1931 – 8 March 2021) was an English actor, screenwriter and songwriter. He made his name as a theatre actor, later becoming known for his Shakespearean roles. Later in his career, he became best known for playing ...

and performed in the film by Faith, achieved minor hit status before being banned by the BBC for suggestive lyrics. A sample from the title track is used in The Rockafeller Skank, a 1998 single by

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

, for which Barry receives a co-writer credit. Pascaline, the Haitian exotic dancer who appears in a sequence performing with a scarf, had performed in real life as an exotic dancer at the

Crazy Horse Saloon Le Crazy Horse Saloon or Le Crazy Horse de Paris is a Parisian cabaret known for its stage shows performed by nude female dancers and for the diverse range of magic and variety 'turns' between each nude show and the next. Its owners have helped ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Some versions of the released film have cut the original striptease sequences (which included topless nudity), some exposition scenes set in the strip club, the "chicken" game scene, and/or some opening exposition scenes with David Farrar and Noëlle Adam on a train and then with Gillian Hills at their London home.

Reception

The film was bought for distribution by Victoria Films and did "exceptionally well" playing over 1,000 theatres.

References

External links