Wild for Kicks

First and foremost, who is Gillian Hills? And second, why didn't she become a major star? After looking for this film for some time, I finally got a chance to check it out the other night. As JD films go, it wasn't a classic, yet it wasn't a clunker either. However, what compelled me to write a review of the film was the sexy young star of the film, Gillian Hills. Going by her bio, she was born in 1946, making her all of fourteen when she made Beat Girl. Well, this has got to be the sexiest fourteen year old ever! Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster, Sue Lyons, even Tuesday Weld can't hold a candle to Ms. Hills. Her performance is the glue which holds the bare thread plot together. Gillian plays Jennifer Linden, spoiled, rich teenager who, along with her beatnik friends, rebel against British society and it's rigid rules and traditions. If one thinks that Jennifer is being led astray by her friends, think again. If anything, it's Jennifer who is leading her friends down the dark and tawdry path. Jennifer is no one's puppet, and proves this in a game of "Chicken" on a railroad track. When her father brings home a much younger Parisian wife Nicole (Noelle Adams), Jennifer makes the woman's life a living hell. She tries to turn her father against Nicole when she finds out that the woman once danced as a stripper in Paris. Jennifer's scheme quickly turns against her and soon she finds herself being manipulated and lusted after by the sleazy strip club owner (played by the always villainous Christopher Lee). The ending to the film was a disappointment, wrapped up rather conveniently despite the fact a murder is committed. Still, Gillian Hills is a vamp on par with some of the best the screen has ever offered. I would assume that maybe it's her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot that may have stymied her career. I would love to see a film of her as an adult, and see if she still possessed that smoldering sexuality she displayed as a teen.

Once upon a time, Channel 9 in New York featured the Million DollarMovie, which ran one movie all day long for a full day, a programming technique that has been copied by modern cable and satellite TV's in their endless repeats of movies and shows.

But in the early 70's, before the invention of the VCR, Channel 9 was a film student's dream in that he or she could watch a movie over and over for one day and really study it.

Beat Girl arrived on Channel 9, a few years after its run in British and, presumably, American theaters. I watched about eight hours of Beat Girl, in the generous, endless loop provided by Channel 9. This movie fascinated the 13-yr.-old me who had never encountered such rebellion and hostility on the part of a school-aged daughter towards her father, who has returned from a trip with a step mother for whom the daughter is unprepared.

At 13, rebellious, unhappy, and edgy, I needed a "bad-girl" paradigm, and this movie supplied me with her. I loved the heroine and despised anyone who would stand in her way. She left such an impression on me that I have been fascinated by "bad girls" ever since.

However, the film is so bad -- or good, depending on your point of view of gritty, early 60s "To Sir, With Love" England -- that you might want to stick around to see what happens to this sullen chick who's accompanied by some stoner boys to some bad jazz music. Or not: this is one low budget film with fairly terrible acting but there is a gritty earnestness to this film.

Look for Oliver Reed, John McHenery, and Adam Faith in secondary roles. As in all of 50/60 flicks. look for a moral -- but look for the moments of rebellion, too. And dig that crazy music.

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 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.