L'école du sexe

A huge financial success in 1969. Like most postwar British films of the forties & fifties the action of this film takes place in a big country house; but despite the title the budget for 'School for School' didn't stretch to similarly spacious interiors, so the lessons indoors are decidedly confined. (Writer-director Peter Walker makes matters even worse by seeming to have learned how to stage his actors by exclusively studying films made prior to 1914; even down to the comic bobby prowling about the undergrowth.)

The patrician hero, Derek Aylward, is required by the script to occasionally lapse into using uncouth expressions like "birds", "crumpet" and "lovely lolly"; while the one authentically foxy female in it is 'Deputy Headmistress' 50 year-old Rose Alba as drunken procuress The Duchess of Burwash, never seen without a double brandy in her hand.

Like most of Walker's films it's very cynical about what makes people tick; the men being generally gormless & easily manipulated and the women mercenary.

1st watched 10/21/2022 - (Dir-Pete Walker): *not original Mono* Early British sex-ploitation is barely watcheable for the full 80 minutes not because it isn't titillating - but because it gets boring. It's the story of a well-to-do man who keeps skirting the law despite his guilt as he only gets a suspension for money laundering. He than decides to start a supposed sex-ed school disguised as a finishing school for girls to get money back from wrongs against him by his many wives. It's portrayed as more of a way to tease older rich men with some physical therapy done in underwear, primarily for the audience. The first group bring great results somehow, but it finally catches up to them as the police are keeping their eye on things. It's amazing how this movie got an "X" rating from the British censors when it was released, but would definetly only get an "R" rating, at least in America today. The writer/director & producer was supposedly trying to make money off the lightening of restrictions in British cinema, but it definetly doesn't stand up in today's world. A very silly premise with a lot of teasing, but not enough to keep our modern folks interested, and the bottom-line it's also very poor filmmaking with some scenes that don't even make any sense. This is kind of like a slightly more raunchy extended Benny Hill episode, but not as funny.

Pete Walker was an exploitation filmmaker who made some ridiculous, entertaining flicks in the '70s, such as "The Flesh and Blood Show" and "Schizo". These were horror movies with an abundance of nudity.

He got his start in pure sexploitation, like the inexplicable "For Men Only", and "School for Sex", his second movie, which was a surprise hit in its native Britain.

The movie opens with a guy in court. Apparently he is in trouble with the law. Then we are shown the school of sex, with some girls in skimpy French maid type outfits.

There is a loquacious voiceover which is really just a distraction. When your narrator has verbal diarrheoa, you tend to stop listening and the voice becomes like white noise.

We are actually still in the court room. It appears the lawyer is detailing the protagonist's misbehaviour. The next scene is even more confusing: the guy with a woman in colour while black-and-white and possibly silent footage is intercut, because the woman is an actress, or something.

The theme seems to be that all the women we see the guy with fleeced him. He's some kind of aristocrat - Lord Wingate.

Some lady - perhaps an opposing solicitor - stands up to raise her objections about Wingate and he smiles and winks at her, briefly seeing through her clothing, "Immoral Mister Teas" style - and, charmed by the wink, she just sits down again. Uh huh. This Wingate ain't even that much to look at.

As you expect from sexploitation, the movie really doesn't skimp on nudity, showing bare breasts and pubic hair at only about five minutes in, and then barely letting a minute pass without showing more. After the montage of scenes showing Wingate's dalliance with topless and occasionally bottomless women, we move out of the courthouse and straight into a strip show.

And one thing that you can say for these movies is that the women are beautiful.

Wingate realises that men, no matter how wealthy and sensible, all have a weakness for "crumpet", ie. sex.

Wingate apparently intends to turn his old homestead into the titular "School for Sex", with the help of Fred, an elderly butler.

He is visited by an apparently alcoholic duchess who downs a brandy in one shot.

Elsewhere, four sexy ladies are travelling in the back of a van while a handsome young man hides in the back with them. He tells them to strip, which they do, to the consternation of the guy driving. A policeman happens upon them and they con their way into Wingate Manor. I didn't really understand that bit.

Then we see another pretty lady, older than the other ones so far, apparently being stalked by a guy with thinning red hair. This would be played for scares if it were made today. Here, it is depicted as though it were amusing.

The two both hide out at Wingate manor, where the lord employs the stalker, and doesn't even ask him what he's doing in his house.

The four girls from before arrive in the van, still attired in their tacky '60s underwear.

The action cuts to a man and woman apparently about to have sex on the manor grounds where they are discovered. The woman is naked, but surprisingly, Walker doesn't give us a good look.

We then get some scenes that show the "school of sex" in action. Women are shown being taught how to get a man's attention in one scene, and then how to give a massage in another - with Wingate as the model to be worked on.

Inexplicably, the stalker from before is shown giving the women calisthenics lessons, which they do wearing bikinis that do not cover their butt cracks.

I say it is inexplicable, because I'm not sure why the stalker would be tasked with this mission, or any other. A copper spies on them from the bushes, and is informed by some other guy that Wingate is up to no good and he's going to get to the bottom of it.

With these scenes, the movie surprisingly starts to limit the amount of nudity, though we still get beautiful girls, scantily clad.

The movie seriously lulls with some insignificant rubbish about coppers and townfolk finding out about the illegal goings on at the innocuously named School for Sex. They bust in on a ton of near-naked girls.

And then the movie's over, with yet another court scene.

I would not recommend sitting through "School for Sex" as I have just done. It does have some hot girls in it, but it is not erotic, and the nudity isn't shown very well after that first strip scene. Watch clips of it on Ancensored or YouTube, but don't waste your time watching the whole thing.

My local Blockbuster did not have the film I wanted so I rented this film instead. As I watched this film I thought I was watching a topless version of the Benny Hill show. The Benny Hill show included recurring sketches where Benny played "a dirty old man from Britain" trying to seduce an attractive young ladies. I thought this film had the similiar theme of the Benny Hill sketches except the girls were often topless in this movie. Even though the film was "wild" for the late 60's it may be consider only a comedy farce by today standards. I consider this a good movie when a person wants to watch a no plot comedy with topless ladies. Only warning is that the quality of the movie may be sub standard since this was a low budget film, and the color, tint, and sharpness may have faded.

I had decided to watch this on the basis that Nosher Powell was in this, the only other movie I have seen with him was Eat The Rich. He seemed to be mainly cast as a background heavy in things like The Sweeney, but as his name was prominent on the title it was obvious he had a larger part to play.

I am also interested in older UK movies, these sex based comedies seemed to be a big thing in the 70s and watching this it was hard to tell if it was 60s or 70s, however it was made in 69. No pun intended.

For me there wasnt a single person in this movie I recognised which suggested a low budget.

The story is about some rich gentry who is in court for running a brothel after being fleeced by a line of women leaving him broke, so he turns to immoral earnings. The bulk of the story being a flashback. Very little happens however. Its basically a set of scenes were women find a reason to strip under the guise of them being trained to seduce rich men.

What is striking is how the bodies of women have changed since the 60s. The women here have never set foot in a multi gym so their bodies are much more natural looking.

Overall the tone of this is a bit Benny Hill but without the silent treatment or the obvious humour. There is no sex on show however there is full on nudity in some scenes, that will be why its a X rating then.

Like most exploitation movies the poster promises more than it delivers, its just not engaging or entertaining.

As for Nosher, yes he has a prominent speaking role and looks very young in this. Despite being a bit part actor in the main he is probably the biggest name in this.

Hard to recommend expect for the curious....