Beat Girl (1959)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Edmond T. Gréville

Writer:

Dail Ambler (writer)

Release Date:

20 October 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

My Mother was a stripper...I want to be a stripper too!

Plot:

Paul, a divorced architect, marries Nichole, a woman from Paris. His teen daughter Jenny has fallen...

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Strip Tease | Delinquent | Murder | Independent Film

Cast

David Farrar	...	Paul Linden
Noëlle Adam	...	Nichole
Christopher Lee	...	Kenny King
Gillian Hills	...	Jennifer Linden
Adam Faith	...	Dave
Shirley Anne Field	...	Dodo (as Shirley-Anne Field)
Peter McEnery	...	Tony
Claire Gordon	...	Honey
Oliver Reed	...	Plaid Shirt
Michael Kayne	...	Duffle Coat
Anthony Singleton	...	Green Pants
Robert Raglan	...	F.O. Official
Nade Beall	...	Official's Wife
Margot Bryant	...	Martha
Nigel Green	...	Simon

Also Known As:

Wild for Kicks (USA)

Runtime:

USA:83 min | UK:89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:12 (1998) | UK:X (1959) (cut) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Willoughby Film Productions

Trivia:

Gillian Hills receives an "introducing" credit

Quotes:

Jennifer: Next week - boom! - the world goes up in smoke. And what's the score? Zero!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Chasing Rainbows - A Nation and Its Music: Outsiders? Music on the Margins (#1.5)" (1986)

Soundtrack:

It's Legal

Surprisingly Frank Commentary on British Youth Rebellion

Beat Girl goes where few American JD's films dare to go. It comments on the nature of revolt, the need for revolt and the reasons for revolt. In one scene, when "the gang" are hanging out in a cave-like nightclub, the kids begin to talk about their experiences during the Blitz, their disgust with their middle-class conservative parents and their boredom with everyday life. These are not the typical American "young thrill seekers" of the 50's and 60's, moralistically raised by immoral parents. These are the burnt out products of modern society, angry at a world that offers them nothing of any meaning. More shocking is the reaction the the Beat Girl's father to his new wife's past life-he is horrified, and mad at having been deceived into thinking he was marrying a "nice French girl". He has no sympathy or imagination-if she was a stripper, she must have been a tramp. His incapacity to love her unconditionally compares to the emotionless "love" he expresses for his daughter. On the whole, this is social commentary of the first degree.