Beat Girl

Architect Paul Linden has been travelling away in Europe for over three months and returns with new, much younger French wife Nicole in tow. Nicole's first challenge is Paul's sixteen year old daughter Jennifer, who is going through a typically teenage difficult period of being rebellious as she discovers her new sexuality and has places where her and her friends can hang out away from adults and squares. When Nicole starts trying to get to know her better, Jennifer reacts by digging for dirt on her stepmother.

This film got a rare screening on BBC4 recently so I watched it out of retro-curiosity. For my money Beat Girl turned out to be a surprising good film, partly because I was watching it on its own terms. What I mean by this is that I quickly accepted that this was not going to be a sharp examination of teenage alienation but rather a bit of an exploitative b-movie of rebellion, beatniks, stripping and jive music. In this area it works really well and is actually one of the better "troubled youth" b-movies that I've seen. Sadly this is not because it gets the adult characters right – because where it matters, it doesn't. The parents are clunky authority figures and Nicole is little more than a plot device.

No, where Beat Girl works is in creating an enjoyable sense of grimy rebellion and sass that is what these films is supposed to be all about. The locations and music are a large part of this because it does give the film an authentic feel to be in seedy strip-clubs and laidback coffee houses, while the music is roundly cool and of the period. One of the main things that the film is worth seeing for is a wonderful turn from Gillian Hills in her debut film role. She is sexy with genuine fire behind her eyes and a great attitude – I'm not really into bad girls but I fell in love right here! Only marginally sexier is dancer Pascaline who does a strip so hot that I had to check two things: the first being that this was made in 1960, the second being my watch, to confirm that, yes, BBC4 were screening it before the watershed! Anyway, back on Hills, she is great and drives the film with her harsh and convincing teenage girl. Alongside her Adam and Farrar are a bit clunky while her various peers seem quite clichéd and dated in a way that Hills' fire prevents. Lee has a real sleazy menace and there are appearances from Reed and Faith to increase the "oh look its" count. Overall Beat Girl is a dated and slightly trashy rebellious teen b-movie. In terms of message and plot it is not great but it is worth a look due to the cool points that the locations, direction, music and very hot Hills give it.

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.

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.

I was a bit disappointed by this film. Some may see the young star as bravely standing up against the cruel older generation, but personally I just found her annoying.

One previous review talks about how her father was completely unable to accept his wife having been a stripper. His initial inability to accept this is only a brief passing stage, and he does accept his wife. After this scene they both work

together to find his daughter, who is allowing herself to be seduced by a sleazy strip-joint owner (Christopher Lee acting extremely well).

My main disappointment with this film is that it isn't as laughable as the cover suggests. There is a small amount of risible dialog, but not enough.

Beat Girl, known as Wild for Kicks in the U.S., was another entry in the juvenile delinquent sub-genre started by the likes of High School Hell Cats and Teenage-Age Crime Wave, which took a look at the 'troubled' youth of the post-World War II generation when rock 'n' roll was moulding the clean-cut teenagers into misanthropic tearaways. Directed by Edmond T. Greville, Beat Girl is far too silly and melodramatic to leave any lasting impact, but there is a joy to be had with watching a bunch of pretty 1960's teenagers mope and complain in what would likely be classed as acceptable rebellious behaviour nowadays, and to see Swinging 60's London in all its glory.

The story concerns Jennifer (Gillian Hills), the 'beat girl' of the title, and her struggle to accept a new addition to the household. Her rich and rather liberal father Paul (Black Narcissus' David Farrar) dotes on his young, beautiful daughter, but remains concerned about her late night partying and dead-beat friends. Her behaviour takes a downturn when he brings home his new young and gorgeous French wife Nichole (Noelle Adam), who Jennifer takes an instant disliking to, as most children of divorce do. Nichole makes all the effort to bond with her new step-daughter, but Jennifer would rather be hanging out at the local jazz dive with her friends (including real-life musician and teen idol Adam Faith). After a chance encounter reveals Nichole's past life, Jennifer becomes intent on revealing the big secret to her work-obsessed father.

My main issue with Beat Girl is that it isn't totally clear whose side we're meant to be on. On one hand, the parents are shown as forward-thinking and modern while the youngsters (including a baby- faced Oliver Reed) squabble on a dusty floor over a half-drunk bottle of gin. On the other, the apparently misguided youth act out for good reason, and ultimately pose no actual threat ("Fighting's for squares, man!"). The film improves when it dabbles in the sleazy side of London, particularly as Jennifer's curiosity over strip joint Les Girls leads to shady club owner Kenny (Christopher Lee) trying to recruit the jailbait as one of his main attractions, which also leads to the sight of some surprisingly revealing routines. This is exploitation after all, and there's a wonderful sense of grime in these moments. Ultimately, Beat Girl suffers from long periods of off-putting melodrama and silly dancing, but there is a tremendous raunchiness to the film also.