"Beat Girl" (1960)

(Also known as Wild For Kicks)

Starring: Noelle Adam, David Farrar, Gillian Hills, Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, Adam Faith, Pascalina

First, the lowdown: It’s teenagers gone wild, London-style.

My picture of London in the sixties has only been formed by the input I receive from movies of that era. So it’s no wonder that when I think of what it must have been like to live there and then, I come up with nothing but David Niven and Michael Caine chasing bad guys around in a checkerboard Austin Mini through a polka-dotted landscape with Big Ben tolling ominously in the background. According to the movies, not much was going on in London during the sixties except for crime, fashion, sex, and the occasional Beatles appearance. I thought I’d never get any insight on what it was like to raise a teenager in such a chaotic environment. Well, I thought wrong. Beat Girl introduces us to the steamy London underground beat scene (which looks surprisingly mod). Rich architect Paul has returned with his new upgrade French bride Nichole after doing something with his profession, nobody really knows. Paul’s spoiled daughter, Jennifer, sneaks out every evening to a sleazy coffee house filled with other teens, bad dancing, and an 18 year-old Oliver Reed hopped up on goofballs. Naturally opposed to anything that makes her parents happy with her, Jennifer takes an immediate disliking to Nichole (I’m thinking it’s because she’s French). Rather than get into a sexy stepmother/stepdaughter rivalry, Nichole tries her best to endear herself to Jennifer, which only causes more friction between the two. After Jennifer breaks a lunch date with Nichole, she trails her down to the same sleazy coffee house. There, Jennifer’s friends are busy ogling the British edition of Mamie Van Doren, who’s waiting for someone. Eventually taking the hint, Nichole leaves, only to be recognized by a local stripper, Greta. Looking for some way to torment her new guardian, Jennifer goes to the strip joint Greta works at and grills her for information about Nichole. Greta balks at first, but then her creepy boyfriend Christopher Lee strides in and presses her to spill her guts. Apparently Greta and Nichole worked together at a Parisian burlesque to afford rent. Now armed with shreds of Nichole’s scandalous past, Jennifer goes home to taunt her. But Jennifer’s exposure to the strip club scene has now fascinated her, and she wonders if she’s the kinda person who would disrobe to her skivvies in front of the salivating masses. From here on, it’s pretty much the standard pseudo-moralistic drama; with more scenes of Jennifer rebelling (“Against what?” one might ask), partying with friends in scummy locations, and being pawed on by Christopher Lee (ick).

Line of the movie: “It’s our thing, Daddy, and we do it for fun or just for kicks.” Jennifer with her hormones in bloom.

Two and a half stars. Take me to Funkytown.