Rating: C+
Dir: Terence Young
Star: Jayne Mansfield, Leo Genn, Karlheinz Böhm, Christopher Lee
a.k.a. Playgirl After Dark
Watching this, you can see why Mansfield got the reputation as a knock-off version of Marilyn Monroe, being similarly blond, voluptuous and willing to use it. This film was made effectively on loan from Fox, and its advertising at the time as “an exposé of sexy, sordid Soho, England’s greatest shame,” has not aged particularly well. You’d probably see more flesh on stage at a Taylor Swift concert nowadays. Mansfield plays Midnight Franklin, the star and effectively den mother at the Pink Flamingo strip-club, run by former army officer, Johnny Solo (Genn). There’s a similar establishment, the Diamond Horseshoe, on the other side of the street, run by a rival, Diamonds Dinelli.
The tussling between them is one of multiple plot threads here, also including jailbait newcomer, Ponytail. She’s played by future Carry On star, Barbara Windsor, though hardly makes a convincing 16-year-old. However, Ponytail is involved in the best dramatic scene, Midnight trying to dissuade her from visiting a customer’s flat. “I’ve seen a hundred girls go out those doors with creeps who call themselves producers, impresarios and the rest. Little Mr Fixits, all of them. Some of the girls came back with promises as long as a slide trombone. One came back with a baby. Some never came back at all. But nobody ever came back with a future. And you’re not going to be any different, Ponytail. Am I getting through?” It’s as good as Monroe, I’d say.
Beyond that, there is visiting journalist Robert Jouvel (Böhm), mysterious Euro-totty Lilliane Decker (Danik Patisson), and Solo’s assistant and venue compere, Novak (Lee), who is quietly working for the opposition, hoping to replace his boss. This takes concrete form in an extortion racket, until a carelessly-enabled microphone clues Midnight into the schemes of her co-employee. Not all of these story-lines work equally well, but as smut goes (and in the very early sixties, it hardly did), this is quite classy stuff. The burlesque numbers get decent production, and the club doesn’t seem to be catering to the dirty mac brigade. If the Pink Flamingo truly was “England’s greatest shame,” I’m not sure whether to be impressed or disappointed. Might want to book a ticket for France, in the hope their greatest shame is better.
For the Gallic cut of this did feature alternate takes with scantier clothing in the routines. On the other hand, in America, the film was released in black-and-white – Mansfield presumably being deemed too much for Technicolor – and with animated clothing added to its lead during the title song. The bits removed by the censors made it into Playboy, as the poster above says. There’s a fan restored version on YouTube (look for the “Pink Flamingo” cut) that is close to a full edit, and was the one I watched here. Although hardly salacious by modern standards, and despite the woeful under-use of Lee, the dramatic elements combined with the undeniable eye-candy do still make for passable entertainment.