The Pleasure Girls

The Pleasure Girls is a 1965 British drama film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Francesca Annis, Ian McShane and Klaus Kinski.

Plot
When Sally moves to London to pursue a modelling career, she moves in with Angela and Dee and discovers the world of the carefree "bachelor girl" in the Swinging London of the 1960s. Over one weekend – filled with parties, blossoming friendships, and romantic encounters with Keith and Nikko – the vivacious women learn about life's pleasures and pains.

Cast

 * Francesca Annis as Sally
 * Ian McShane as Keith Dexter
 * Klaus Kinski as Nikko Stalmar
 * Tony Tanner as Paddy
 * Mark Eden as Prinny
 * Suzanna Leigh as Dee
 * Anneke Wills as Angela
 * Rosemary Nicols as Marion
 * Carol Cleveland as Ella
 * Peter Diamond as Rat-Face
 * Tony Doonan as Reilly
 * Colleen Fitzpatrick as Cobber
 * Hugh Futcher as Pablo
 * Hal Hamilton as Peter 'E'-Type
 * Jonathan Hansen as Ivor
 * Yvonne Antrobus as waitress
 * David Graham as 1st gambler
 * Julian Holloway as hanger-on
 * Brian Cant as man in pub (uncredited)

Production
The film was based on a script by Gerry O'Hara. Film producer Raymond Stross liked the dialogue of one of O'Hara's other scripts and asked to read anything else the writer-director had. Stross suggested O'Hara write something set in Chelsea, so he wrote his script "A Time and a Place", which became The Pleasure Girls.

In a 2010 interview O'Hara said: "Probably our biggest star was Klaus Kinski, who got £900 for 10 days work in the film, just before he went off to appear in Dr. Zhivago. The entire shoot was only 20 days. It was shot in a house in Kensington; we didn’t have the money for a studio. Plus, it made the whole thing that much more realistic. Michael Reed shot it; he was very fast, very good. ... I hated the title, and I hated the title music. It had nothing to do with the film! But they didn’t consult me about it, so that’s what happened. Still, I think the movie is rather good."

Critical reception
On the film's release Kine Weekly said: "This is very nearly a very good film, but it lacks the essential fullness of construction. However with the aid of a title that promises more than the story provides, it should please quite a large public. ... Points of appeal: sex, pretty girls, saucy title and quota ticket".

Variety reviewed the film as "Slim, superficial yarn about young femme problems amid the bight lights; familiar situations, but some fair budding talent and occasional crisp direction of a routine pic".

Sight and Sound wrote: "The London portrayed here is in transition and full of contradictions; we're on the cusp of the permissive Swinging 60s, and there are new freedoms for bachelor girls sharing a flat. At the same time, the old hierarchies are still in place – 'nice' girls don't have sex before marriage. ... It's a fascinating social document and is less dated than might be expected. Some of the dialogue may now grate a little but there is menace and intensity to the storytelling."

Leslie Halliwell said: "The road to ruin sixties style, hackneyed but quite well observed." 

David Parkinson in The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "This attempt to show the problems facing a young model in the Swinging Sixties is an exasperating effort from writer/director Gerry O'Hara, who seems to think that incessant references to sexual freedom are enough to sustain a paper-thin story about the ever-changing relationships of Francesca Annis and her flatmates. The script strains every sinew to be gear and fab."

Home media
The film was published in dual format edition (containing both DVD & Blu-ray on the one disc) by the BFI. It was released as part of the "Flipside" strand. It was produced in an alternative export cut (Blu-ray only) and export version scenes (DVD only).