Wild for Kicks (1960)

An impetuous teenage girl, resentful of her father's new wife, tries to wreck the marriage regardless of the consequences.

Director:

Edmond T. Gréville

Writer:

Dail Ambler (story and screenplay)

Stars:

David Farrar, Noëlle Adam, Christopher Lee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Farrar	...	Paul Linden
Noëlle Adam	...	Nichole (as Noelle Adam)
Christopher Lee	...	Kenny
Gillian Hills	...	Jennifer Linden
Adam Faith	...	Dave
Shirley Anne Field	...	Dodo (as Shirley-Ann 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

Storyline

Paul, a divorced architect, marries Nichole, a woman from Paris. His teen daughter Jenny has fallen in with the English beatnik scene and likes to hang out in cave-like clubs to listen to jazz and rudimentary rock'n'roll. Jenny takes an immediate dislike to her step mother, who is not that much older than she, and goes out of her way to make life miserable for Nichole. When Jenny discovers that Nichole is a friend of one of the strippers from the dance hall across the street, she investigates and uses Nichole's sordid past to embarrass her father. Meanwhile Jenny attracts the lecherous eye of Kenny, the owner of the dance hall.

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Plot Keywords:

teensploitation | psychotronic film | stripper | jazz | beatnik | 

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Taglines:

SEE: Uninhibited striptease. 'Melt! Melt! Melt!'

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild for Kicks

Filming Locations:

Old Compton Street, Soho, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Willoughby Film Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite playing a major role in the film, Delphi Lawrence (Greta) was omitted from the on-screen credits.

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Quotes

Jennifer: Love? That's the gimmick that makes sex respectable, isn't it!

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Alternate Versions

The original UK cinema version was described by the BBFC as "the product of squalid and illiterate minds" and the film suffered extensive cuts to all striptease/dancing sequences and the scene where the teenage gang lies on a railway line. Later UK releases and TV showings were fully restored and uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Talkies: Shirley Anne Field (2019)

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Soundtracks

Esméralda
interprété par Benny Bennett
disque ou enregistrement VOGUE PARIS

User Reviews

A genuinely sexy piece of filmmaking

BEAT GIRL is another film to explore the then-popular craze for Beatnik culture. Like THE PARTY'S OVER, it features Oliver Reed strutting his stuff in various dated dance scenes, and is interspersed with dialogue which sounds incredibly cheesy thanks to the way in which it has dated.

Unlike THE PARTY'S OVER, it's an attempt to provoke censors and audiences with plenty of 'sensation' drama, as in the American quickies. One of the main characters is a former stripper and indeed striptease sequences play a big part in the proceedings; one particular exotic dancer, all the way from Hawaii, perhaps one of the most explicit teases I've ever seen despite the lack of nudity. It must have been incredible for audiences back in 1960.

BEAT GIRL is actually a pretty decent little story. The youthful - and extremely attractive - Gillian Hills plays the girl who discovers her dad's new flame used to be a stripper, while at the same time she immerses herself in Beatnik culture. Most of the film is shot and set around a club in which Nigel Green and Christopher Lee play various sleazy characters. There's plenty of music here too, some of it courtesy of pop sensation Adam Faith, and despite the dating of the cultural material, it's never less than an engrossing - and surprisingly sexy - piece of film-making.