Beat Girl

For some seemingly insignificant reason this 'X' rated film (meaning you had to be over 16 to see it) caused a bit of a furore at the time of its release. As to why that is, or was, is quite frankly hard to understand though admittedly moral standards back then were different.

From the opening shot of the young 'Beatniks' coming down the stairs into a nightclub it is only too obvious that the 'squares' who made this piece of off-kilter hokum have got it quite wrong. A cursory look at Tony (Peter McEnery) and Plaid Shirt (Oliver Reed) ‘in action’ is more than sufficient to get my meaning. Reed's dancing steps are so over the top it’s positively ridiculous, while clean-cut McEnery looks like a vicar's son lost among the lost. Since when did beatniks look so gauche and harmless? At least the ‘beat girl’ of the title seems competent enough to move to the groove!

‘Beat Girl’ Jennifer (a 14-year old Gillian Hills) is a very bored and somewhat rebellious young girl, well, wouldn't you be if your dad was a 'square' (we hear this word repeatedly throughout the film). Dad Paul Linden is played by David Farrar, wearing the same chalk-striped suit throughout and looking like he’s not enjoying himself (apparently he wasn't). Wild child Jennifer is rather annoyed when, after a three months absence, daddy arrives home at their posh South Kensington pad with his new and considerably younger French wife Nichole (Noelle Adam). Nichole tries hard to befriend her new and wayward stepdaughter but from the outset Jennifer prefers to go on the warpath. Having failed to turn up at a meeting for lunch, Nichole even goes to a coffee bar where Jenny hangs out with her 'beatnik' friends including musician Dave (Adam Faith) and Tony’s chick Dodo (Shirley Anne Field – Adam Faith’s real life love interest). The coffee bar in question just happens to be across the road to 'Les Girls', a Soho strip joint run by the seedy Kenny King (Christopher Lee). On her way out Nichole bumps quite by chance into an old acquaintance from Paris, Greta (an uncredited Delphi Lawrence) who just happens to work at Kenny's Club. Although Greta greets Nichole the elegantly dressed woman pretends not to know her. This attracts our vindictive 'Beat Girls antennae and soon she's on Nichole's case… doing everything to make her life a misery. After a little visit to Kenny’s club it doesn’t take our Jenny long to discover that her new stepmother is a former Parisian stripper and possibly something even worse (by 1960’s standards). During her ‘visit’ Kenny (by means of a double-sided mirror) gets a bit of a thing for the under-age Jennifer. Jennifer seems be turned on by a striptease performance courtesy of Haitian exotic dancer Pascaline, and also by the power the ecdysiast wields over the sleazy raincoat brigade. In the meantime, however, she will have to get her kicks hanging out with her gang. We are treated to a party at Chislehurst Caves, an 'exciting' car race and a game of ‘chicken’ (putting their heads on a railway line with a train coming towards them). Afterward, they head off for a wild party at Jen's Kensington home, during which she decides to do a strip and shortly after is confronted by Nichol and dad. Suffice to say, things are heading for an ugly climax in Kenny's Club…

Anglo-French director Edmond T.Greville clearly didn’t have a clue. Then again, had writer Dail Ambler (little known Pulp/Noir novelist Betty Williams) any actual idea what a 'beatnik' is? Had anyone read their Jack Kerouac? It would seem unlikely; especially when the 'coolest' line in the film is delivered by Adam Faith's 'ultra-cool' guitar playing Dave (whose character is a mass of seething contradictions): “I don't fight man, it's for squares!” Yeah, right on daddy-o! Here, beatniks are simply depicted as bored reckless youths and young rebels without any cause whatsoever. In fact, Gillian Hills admitted in an interview that “no one really knew what was going on.”

It must be said that Gillian Hills is refreshing in the lead part, especially considering her age. Adam Faith is Adam Faith (he would improve as a one dimensional actor) though one is inclined to think that at least he may have had some inkling about the beat generation. Reed and McEnery simply don’t cut it as ‘beatniks’ and Enery’s character ‘Tony’ in particular protrudes as much menace as a fluffy Easter bunny. Noelle Adam, with heavy French accent, is acceptable and tries hard. And yes, the late Christopher Lee as the slimy Kenny delivers at best an adequate portrayal which would have been perfect for the lesser known actor Maxwell Reed.
All in all, the film really does not live up to John Barry's tremendously dynamic score which is easily the most memorable thing about the film… It’s so suggestive of imminent danger around the corner. What danger? Still, as off beam as it is, this does not mean to say that Beat Girl isn’t fun to watch!