What a beautiful movie!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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 stripper, 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.

Before I had even seen this film, I was reading quotes like "possibly the best J.D. drama U. K. has ever produced". I still think "Violent Playground" could be the best (U.K.'s answer to "Blackboard Jungle") but I was really looking forward to this film. It is okay, more like "Dragstrip Girl" meets "Escort Girl" with a lot of gritty British realism thrown in for good measure. Adam Faith wasn't that famous in America but in England he was a huge star. He had an unusual style of singing, similar to Buddy Holly and "Beat Girl" was supposed to showcase his singing after his first few recordings flopped. Because of his collaboration with John Barry, after "Beat Girl" he was on his way. "I Did What You Told Me" is one of several rock and roll numbers sung by Adam Faith in this film.Paul Linden (David Farrar) is just back from the Continent with a new wife, Nicolle (Noelle Adam) - his 16 year old daughter Jennifer (the beautiful and voluptuous Gillian Hills) is not happy. She is a "poor little rich girl" who is looking for love and affection, but instead has a bedroom full of clothes and the latest fads from her often absent father. Her new stepmother is determined to give her a proper home life. Jennifer, an art student, hangs with a beatnik crowd at the "Off Beat" - a local hang out for teenagers. Most have a home life they are running away from. Parents that are reliving the War and can't understand "Jazz". The kids want to feel different from their parents, they "live for kicks" and want to be a person in their own right. They all have bad memories of the War and use phrases such as "square", "kook", "he sends me over and out" to build up a barrier between themselves and anyone who is not hip. Towards the end the gentle "beatniks" are superseded by the young and violent "teddy boys".Nicolle meets Jennifer for lunch and she also bumps into an old friend, Rita, who is a stripper. Jennifer, now taunts Nicolle, every chance she gets with a song "take it off, take it off", and begins to haunt "Les Girls" the strip club where Rita works. She also catches the eye of the sleazy manager Kenny King (Christopher Lee) who has dishonourable designs on her. Jennifer throws a party that gets out of hand - she performs a provocative strip tease but is stopped by the appearance of Nicolle. Nicolle reveals her childhood was similar to what Jennifer has experienced. Jennifer, who is really a frightened little girl is involved in a murder and things come full circle when Dave (Adam Faith) declares (after having his car trashed by some teddy boys) "Only squares know where to go"!!!Shirley Anne Field, who actually had her best year in 1960, with roles in "Peeping Tom", "The Entertainer" and "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", had the small role of "Dodo", one of Jennifer's friends (she even sings a song - "It's Legal". Oliver Reed has an extremely small role of "Plaid Shirt", a juiced up beatnik. The very catchy song played over the credits and through the movie is "The Beat Girl Song".Recommended.

I gave this a 10 because I only give two ratings, 10 or zero, pass or no pass. Let's talk about Brit Rock. I was 15 and growing up in the US when this movie came out and there was no such term as Brit Rock. When the Beatles, Stones, and the others came out I completely disregarded them. Who needs these guys doing Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley when we have the real thing. Eventually I came to appreciate what they were doing and soon developed a deep admiration for the British rock movement going back to the 50's. This movie, though fraught with awkwardness, has some very telling points. A very important point is made when the kids were discussing the war scars. We Americans knew nothing of that. To us rock was just a big jolly product. But these kids had a way more emotional need for it and they took it more seriously and they wound up exporting our own music right back to us and basically saved Rock and Roll. Now the bad part of this film is the pre posterous and thoroughly embarrassing "hip talk" although all the American rock films of the time did pretty well the same thing. And the plot is pretty tiresome but it still shows that basic need for rock, the big thing about rock has always been that need. It's like in the Lou Reed song, "her life was saved by rock and roll". Goofy as this movie is, it does convey that message.

On viewing this film on DVD (which was an atrocious copy but legal disc)it just goes to show how bad British film makers were at this time, as always London is portrayed as a seedy underbelly of sex, vice and moronic teenagers, fair enough but the makers of this film might have hired a decent scriptwriter!.Some of the dialogue is priceless especially from Adam Faith as the leader of this group of silly teens, he spouts the most inane sayings like "play down girl! play down girl!"...or something like that to our hot hot teen lead player who of course does not get on with rich Daddys new French wife (were'nt they all in that period!)and goes on the warpath against her and Daddy being a real naughty little lady hanging out with all these grubby coffee drinkers around seedy Soho clubs.Before the end of this film...if you can stick with that long you will probably have make an appointment with your doctor to get your toes uncurled, if thats not enough the theme tune (by The John Barry 7)will drive you nuts as its played what seems like every time they go in to a club.Unless you are a fan of really bad movies you would be wise to steer well clear of this rubbish, if you are a fan then may I suggest a double bill with another British pop turkey The Golden Disc, what a pair of....erm classics that would be!