London in the Raw

A typical effort from Arnold Miller.As usual the title,advertising and trailer hint at a lot more than is actually in the film.The film is a pot pourri of unrelated items.It starts off with women going to a gym,a man having his bald head repaired,a visit to a pub restaurant,a Cypriot social evening,a belly dancer,a Jewish amateur dramatic society,and of course semi naked women sitting still posing.There is quite a lot of music and I would add that it is totally unerotic.This film would have been shown at the Compton cinemas,most of which were in London's west end.One can only guess what the punters would have made of it.On the disc released by the BFI there are a number of extras including 25 minute short Strippers,which really takes you behind the scenes at a strip club of the period.

People who say this is a sexploitation movie didn't watch it.

It's basically a movie showing the quirkiness of Londoners with maybe 5 minutes of topless nudity (with pasties) thrown in toward the end of the film.

It's really a pretty boring flick. Turns out what the filmmakers thing are interesting profiles of everyday life in London winds up being a giant bore.

It's made in the Mondo format. A voice over introduces the scene then you watch it with more narration. But none of the segments are interesting.

Even the brief nudity segment falls flat. You will be bored out of your mind. One positive note -- the color looks like it was filmed in technicolor. It really pops.

There is not much reason to recommend a viewing of this film except that the BFI Blu-ray release includes some great supplementary material and the film itself is of interest in that it was released barely a year before almost everything started to change, both in London and beyond. Nineteen sixty four, I had just started work and the drab 50s continued, for a bit. I believe the listings magazine was What's On, catering almost exclusively for 'business men' who could and even wanted to pay to be in expensive clubs and bars just to stand close to young women. In 1968 Time Out would burst upon the scene and suddenly it was youngsters being told where this and that was and we loved it. Can't remember feeling particularly well off myself but it didn't prevent youngsters starting to dictate the offerings within that tantalising square mile of Soho and forcing the tired old men to drift away or stick to the shabby stairways to their particular form of heaven. Back to the film and this depicts almost too accurately a seemingly sad time when the emphasis was on paying for company, be it physical or not. It is well put together and progresses from those wanting to look good to then watching girls take their clothes off but starts unbelievably with the most disgusting and prolonged sequences of hair grafting. Things move on with a decent voice over but never quite get the least bit close to what the title promises and some of those patrons in a Compton cinema must have wished they had brought a friend with them. Spot on though in some respects with due coverage to the all night Boots, Piccadilly Circus, essential for those unable to wait another day for their prescription shot. The commentary suggests there were 600 addicts in London then - how things change. Much coverage is given to the various expatriates from around the world, seeking link with their home country via various specialised clubs and restaurants. 'Seems strange to be here dancing', says a German student, 'We were told London had been destroyed'. There are also gatherings of Cypriots, carrying glasses of wine around on their head for some reason and a Jewish theatre group with a most forbearing audience. But if its raw sex you are looking for, little sign here, more a reminder that as the 50s ran on into the 60s what there was going on was only going on for the well off. And you seemed to have to be very old, very stupid and particularly bad looking to even get a look in.