Contest Girl (1964)
6/10
Local Girl Makes Good
15 September 2019
The British cinema had recently been cautiously dipping a toe in the salacious when veteran director Val Guest showcased former child star Janette Scott's transformation from an unspoiled young brunette into a glamorous swimsuited blonde in Eastmancolor & CinemaScope (with appropriately trashy music by Laurie Johnson) for this fascinating reminder of that long ago era when Britain was finally losing its inhibitions following the Lady Chatterly trial and the Profumo Scandal. (As well as of Ian Hendry as a dashing young blade before his drinking prematurely aged him.)

Miss Scott remains, however, an innocent abroad, and a more interesting film might have been one that concentrated upon the two seasoned contest regulars played by Jacqueline Jones & Jackie White we see earlier on to whom this is just a living; although that might have deprived us of the fantastic ending in which the impact is revealed that big sister's corruption has had upon her bright-eyed kid sister played by Janina Faye.
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