Wild for Kicks

Trailer—Beat Girl

This film is quite a contrast.On the one hand you have David Farrar who is almost at the end of his film career,on the other you have Oliver Reed ,Adam Faith,Christopher Lee,Shirley Ann Field and Nigel Green on the way up.So there is a great contrast on acting styles,which don't really reflect well on the actors concerned.Gillian Hills as the teenage daughter,Nicolle Adams and Adam faith seem to have immobile faces and monotone delivery.Farrar was a lot older than Adams and there is no chemistry whatsoever between the two.From a dramatic point of view their inability to register any emotion kills this film stone dead.Just compare Adams performance with that of Simone Signoret in "Room At The Top" and you will see what I mean.This film was clearly meant for the exploitation market and earned itself an X certificate,now days it would probably warrant no more than a PG.No doubt this still fondly remembering this era and its music will be most interested in it.

Fun movie proves that even British film makers could do a trashy juvenile delinquent film - with added bonus of cool, jazzy, rock'n'roll sound track. Sixteen-year old beatnik art student rebels when her "square" middle-aged dad brings home a "French poodle" 24-year-old stepmom. She and her beatnik pals discover that her blonde bombshell step-mommy was once a Parisian stipper! A few hysterical scenes later the girl realizes the error of her ways and returns to her architect dad and step-mother. A must-see for any camp, bad movie film buffs!

Hard to believe that this tale of beat girls, beat boys and sundry strippers was once considered scandalous and had an 'X' certificate slapped on it when it first appeared. It's another warning on what can happen when you let your teenage daughter listen to jazz or worse still, jive music! Of course, it's mostly terrible but it has built up something of a reputation as a cult movie in recent years. (The club scenes and a chicken run stolen from "Rebel Without a Cause" are surprisingly good). David Farrar is the rich architect who remarries; his new wife is Noelle Adam and she has a shady past and newcomer Gillian Hills is his pouty teenage daughter who resents her. The cast also includes Christopher Lee, Adam Faith, (not at all bad), Peter McEnery and a young Oliver Reed, (billed here as Plaid Shirt). The director was Edmond T Greville who brought a middle-aged man's disapproving eye to bear on the proceedings.

What we've all been waiting for... Yes! It's another Christopher Lee strip-club!Hooray!Hurrah! But there's much more here. We have a (actually) 14 year-old Gillian Hills (later in Blow Up, when she'd reached the ripe age of 21), Jon Barry (and his Seven) doing the music and dreaming of James Bond, Adam Faith playing a beatnik-type-coffee bar-teenage-dreamboat... Everyone goes around saying "Daddio" and "Go, man, go" and "I'm real gone, man" and "Get out, you drivelling, jiving, beatnik scum" (honestly!), and not much happens... ..so they all go and play by having a drag race and then lying on a railway line and playing chicken... And Then! Someone called Laya Raki does an unbelievable striptease that will make your eyes water, (hers obviously did)... And Then!! Oliver Reed Starts Dancing!!... Sorry, I need to go and lie down for a bit...

"Beat Girl" is a very entertaining exploitation film, but it also has a sociological value - it shows the growing rock scene in pre-Beatles England, as well as the growing youth rebellion. There are many rock songs inspired in the sounds that came across the Atlantic that serve to spice the film up, but above all "Beat Girl" tells the story of Jennifer and her gang and the way she tries to get what she wants. She dares and dares (Jennifer's no chicken), till one day she goes too far... Jennifer has an understanding father whom she despises, a stepmother that she hates - excepting her gang, her rebellion is against all. Jennifer is sexy, charismatic and cynical, and the camera loves her, it's her film, and Gillian Hills is really something! "Beat Girl" is above all a good exploitation film. It shows scenes that were very daring for the time - Jennifer, the night clubs... For those that like exploitation films and rock, "Beat Girl" is a real treat.

I was a bit disappointed by this film. Some may see the young star as bravely standing up against the cruel older generation, but personally I just found her annoying. One previous review talks about how her father was completely unable to accept his wife having been a *. His initial inability to accept this is only a brief passing stage, and he does accept his wife. After this scene they both work together to find his daughter, who is allowing herself to be seduced by a sleazy strip-joint owner (Christopher Lee acting extremely well). My main disappointment with this film is that it isn't as laughable as the cover suggests. There is a small amount of risible dialog, but not enough.

David Farrar has just remarried to Noëlle Adam. His beatnik daughter Gillian Hills doesn't like him or his values or his new wife. She prefers hanging out in coffee houses with her friends Adam Faith, Shirley Anne Field and Oliver Reed ... dancing to John Barry music and talking wacky jive talk. When she discovers that her new stepmom has a connection to a *, she becomes involved with strip club owner Christopher Lee. Although this film's depiction of beatnik culture is far from accurate (Adam Faith sings for his friends quite a bit and his faux rockabilly songs don't exactly sound like beatnik fair) it is delightfully over the top and has an amazing cast for such junky fare. I really kind of loved it.

This film is notable for two early appearances: John Barry's (James Bond) first film score and an early role for Oliver Reed as a teenage reveller. In some ways reminiscent of a pubescent La Dolce Vita, the film succeeds for one reason alone - Gillian Hills makes a truly seductive and formidable she-devil in the form of Jennifer. Yes, the film is dripping in kitsch value, but one can't help but be absorbed the atmosphere, from the milk bar to the cave party, where English Elvis wannabe Adam Faith curls his lip to the drumming of an upturned guitar. Although before my time, I'm sure life in 1960 was never quite this with it, daddy-o. It's not the greatest film ever made, but the wonderfully sleazy theme by Barry sets the tone nicely, and it rates as one of the best teenage exploitation movies to come out of the UK.