Pleasure Girls

Released by: BFI
Released on:
Director: Gerry O'Hara
Cast: Ian McShane, Klaus Kinski, Francesca Annis, Anneke Wills, Suzanna Leigh
Year: 1965
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The Movie:

Shot on location in the London of the early 1960s, Gerry O'Hara's The Pleasure Girls follows a young woman named Sally (pretty, dark haired Francesca Annis) who moves from the country to the big city to share a house with her schoolmates, Angela (Anneke Wills) and Dee (Suzanna Leigh). As she adjusts to life in London and starts checking out the social scene, she becomes involved with a sex starved young man named Keith Dexter (Ian McShane) while Dee messes around with their landlord, the wealthy but married Nikko Stalmer (Klaus Kinski). Completing the triumvirate of relationships is Angela's ongoing tryst with Prinny (Mark Eden), a cash starved user of a man who isn't above fencing the jewelry that was given to his girlfriend by her late grandmother in order to get some money. Meanwhile, Dee's brother, Paddy (Tony Tannger), comes to terms with his homosexuality and tries to figure out where his relationship his partner, Ivor (Jonathan Hansen) stands.

As the various relationships develop, the girls ultimately have to decide if they even want to be involved with these guys in the first place. Each of the three relationships is different from the other, but as the movie plays out it becomes obvious that the male characters have their own agenda. You can't quite call the movie a feminist statement, it's a bit too exploitative for that to really apply, but the film is ahead of its time in the way in which it develops, and this becomes quite obvious in how it ends (though to elaborate much more would be heading too far into spoiler territory).

Compared to O'Hara's earlier sexploitation picture, That Kind Of Girl (also available on Blu-ray from the BFI's Flipside label), The Pleasure Girls is a bit more emotionally involving. The characters are considerably more fleshed out than they are in most exploitation films of the era and the performances are stronger as well. Annis plays Sally as a smart girl who doesn't necessarily need to define herself by engaging in a somewhat one-sided relationship with McShane's Keith and as we see her use her brain rather than her body, we grow to like her more. Kinski is his usually quirky self as the sleazy landlord, philandering his way through Dee's bedroom when it suits him and obviously not willing to invest much more than simple carnalities with the young woman who just can't see through his shifty ways.

Probably the most surprising aspect of the film is how it approaches homosexuality so maturely. In an era when gay men were almost always portrayed as foppish stereotypes, Tony Tannger is allowed to play Paddy as a smart and clever man with an interesting personality and a good head on his shoulders. Sure, the character is a bit on the effeminate side but the movie doesn't pander to clichés all that much in this department, which is a rarity for a B-picture made in the mid-sixties.

O'Hara's film features some interesting footage of the London of the day as well as a few interesting scenes of period goofiness like go-go dancing and what not. As such, the film is a bit campy at a little dated, but there's half of its charm right there. Where it succeeds is with its showcasing of believable and not always perfectly wholesome relationships. Throw in some strong performances from a talented cast, some impressive and atmospheric black and white cinematography and a screwy, if catchy theme song from The Three Quarters and you can see how The Pleasure Girls is pretty interesting stuff

Video/Audio/Extras:

NOTE: This review is based off of a test disc that may or may not differ from finished, retail product.
The BFI's 1.66.1 anamorphic widescreen 1080p high definition transfer, taken from the film's original negative, is excellent. There's a healthy coat of natural looking film grain present throughout but no real print damage and the tonal reproduction of the black and white image is very strong and natural looking, without ever looking artificially pumped up. Though it does look like a bit of DNR has been applied in some shots, eliminating some fine detail along the way, this is sporadic and not constant and really not that big of a deal. Shadow detail is also strong, with nice inky black levels staying strong and consistent without smearing the backgrounds or hiding anything from the camera. Close up shots of the actors are very crisp and even the frequent scenes that take place in dreary, smoky, dark night clubs look quite good.

The English language 48 kHz/24 bit PCM 2.0 Mono track, which comes with optional closed captioning in English only, doesn't have a ton of range and shows the limitations of its source but is otherwise fine, especially when the music kicks in. There are no problems with hiss or distortion to complain about nor are there any issues with the levels. The film's soundtrack in particular (which from a technical stand point is one of the more important aspects of the production - lots of jazz here for those who dig it) sounds quite good with a nice, strong low end and some really impressive clarity showing off every instrument in every song. On top of that, the dialogue is always crisp and clear and perfectly balanced.

As is the norm with the BFI's Flipside releases, there is a pair of oddball short films included in the extra features section, the first of which is James Scott's The Rocking Horse, a twenty-five minute black and white film from 1962 shot on location in London. The story follows a 'Teddy Boy' who falls in love with a painter and it does an interesting job of exploring the male-female relations and stereotypes of early swinging sixties era London. The second short is The Meeting, a ten minute black and white short directed by Mamoun Hassan in 1964. It follows a brief love affair between a pretty young woman and a mysterious man that, as it plays out, makes you questions just who is in control of the scenario. Both shorts compliment the feature quite well both stylistically and thematically. Also quite interesting is the inclusion of the alternate export cut of The Pleasure Girls, which runs only a minute longer than the British theatrical cut but which includes roughly twelve minutes of alternate footage, much of which is slightly racier as it includes some nudity from the female cast.

Rounding out the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer, animated menus and chapter stops. All of the extras on the disc are in high definition. The BFI have also included a very nice booklet of liner notes that features essays from film historian Sue Harper, director Gerry O'Hara and bios for a few of the key players. The book also includes biographical and credit information for the feature and the included short films.

The Final Word:

The Pleasure Girls isn't a masterpiece by any stretch but it is an interesting and fairly entertaining look at how previously traditional relationships and roles between men and women were changing in the sixties. The film has a great cast and features some interesting performances, particularly from McShane and of course, Kinksi. The BFI's Blu-ray release features an excellent transfer, nice audio and some solid extras, making this worthwhile for anyone interested in sixties era British exploitation