The Beauty Jungle
The Beauty Jungle (also known as Contest Girl) is a 1964 British film directed by Val Guest.
| The Beauty Jungle | |
|---|---|
 Film Poster | |
| Directed by | Val Guest |
| Produced by | Val Guest |
| Written by | Val Guest Robert Muller |
| Starring | Ian Hendry Janette Scott Edmund Purdom |
| Music by | Laurie Johnson |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
| Edited by | Bill Lenny |
| Distributed by | The Rank Organization (United Kingdom) Continental Distributing (United States) |
Release date | 25 August 1964 |
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot
Shirley lives in Bristol. While on a seaside holiday at Butlins holiday camp a young typist Shirley Freeman (Janette Scott) is persuaded by a local journalist Don MacKenzie (Ian Hendry) to enter a beauty contest. When she wins, she decides to give up her previous career and life and take up entering beauty contests full-time. Her parents disown her.
Shirley comes second in a heat for the "Rose of England" contest, but her friend points out to the judges that the winner has not followed the rules and she is disqualified so Shirley wins by default, winning £300 and a trip to Monte Carlo. They enjoy the trip together, but Don changes the booking at the hotel from two single rooms to one double room. Whilst in Monte Carlo she enters yet another beauty contest, "Miss Trapeze", this is a chaotic contest set in a circus, but nevertheless she wins, winning 500NF. The contest orgamisers Mr Carrick and Mr Armand invite them to dinner.
Returning to Britain she does a photo-shoot in Torquay with photographer Walter Carey (Ronald Fraser). She then enters the final of "Miss Rose of England" and wins, winning £1000.
She is then entered as "Miss England" in the "Miss Globe" contest held on the Cote d'Azur. Here Don has to stay at a different hotel and Shirley has to share a hotel room with Miss Peru, but she comes only 6th despite naively sleeping with one of the male judges the night before the contest. Disillusioned with the beauty profession she stops entering beauty contests completely.
Later on, after being required as reigning champion to judge a beauty contest in the UK, she sees that her younger sister Elaine (Janina Faye) has entered the contest and just immediately walks away completely from the beauty profession and all of its hypocrisy and sordid publicity stunts.
Cast
- Ian Hendry[1] as Don Mackenzie
- Janette Scott as Shirley Freeman
- Ronald Fraser as Walter Carey
- Edmund Purdom as Rex Carrick
- Jean Claudio as Armand
- Kay Walsh as Mrs. Freeman
- Tommy Trinder as Charlie Dorton
- Norman Bird as Mr. Freeman
- Janina Faye as Elaine
- Aliza Gur as Miss Perù
- David Weston as Harry
- Peter Ashmore as Lucius
- Sid James as Butlin Judge (as "Sydney James")
- Jacqueline Jones as Jean Watson
- Jackie White as Barbara Lawton
- Jerry Desmonde as Swimming Pool MC
- Alan Taylor as TV Commentator
- Eve Eden as Angela Boynton
- Lionel Blair as Talk of the Town Producer
- Francis Matthews as Taylor
- Nikki Peters as Cora
- Raymond Young as "Miss Globe" host
- Margaret Nolan as Caroline
- Arlette Dobson as Miss America
- Donna Pearson as Miss Sweden
- Sandy Sarjeant as Miss Spain
- Barbara von der Heyde as Miss Germany
- Paul Carpenter as American Tourist
- Donald Hewlett as Advertising Man
- Former Miss World Rosemarie Frankland makes her screen debut in a guest appearance.
- Norman Hartnell, Lydia Russell, Duchess of Bedford, Stirling Moss, Linda Christian, and Joe Brown appear as themselves judging the Rose of England at the Talk of the Town.
Production
Much of the early footage in the film was shot at Weston-super-Mare (including the now-demolished lido), Butlins Bognor Regis[2] and the Redcliffe area of Bristol.[3]
References
Director Guest had planned a movie on beauty contests back in the 1940s (PICTUREGOER magazine;15.10.1949;p6)
- "Official Website of Ian Hendry". Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- "IMDB". Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- http://www.reelstreets.com/index.php/reelstreets-films?task=view&id=57&film_ref=beauty_jungle,_the_-_orphan