During the thirties, forties and fifties the Windmill Theatre in London was a noted venue for semi-erotic revues featuring scantily dressed showgirls. The shows involved nude "tableaux" in which the models did not move, but never striptease. The theatre closed in 1964, however, partly because of competition from strip clubs which, because they were technically men's clubs rather than theatres were exempt from Britain's system of theatrical censorship which was not abolished until 1967.
"Secrets of a Windmill Girl" was made in 1966 as a tribute to the girls of the Windmill Theatre. It opens with the death of a young woman named Pat Lord in a road crash. The rest of the film is essentially one long flashback, telling the story of Pat's life as narrated by her close friend Linda Grey to the detective investigating her death. After leaving school, Pat and Linda found work as sales assistants in a shoe-shop, but soon afterwards left to fulfil their long standing ambition to become professional dancers. They find jobs at the Windmill Theatre and work there as part of its cast of showgirls until it closes. Much of the film takes the form of a semi-documentary look at the daily life of a Windmill Girl; the scriptwriter seems to have lost sight of the fact that Linda is supposedly talking to a police detective, who would not have been remotely interested in any of these facts. It is also notable that, although Linda is supposedly from a working-class background April Wilding uses very formal English and talks with an upper-class accent. (Pauline Collins as Pat is more convincing in this respect).
The film was obviously intended as an exploitation movie aimed at a young male audience who would be happy to watch anything featuring a line-up of half-naked girls. It was, significantly, originally released in Britain as part of a double bill with the nudist film "Naked as Nature Intended" which featured a cast of wholly naked girls. Pat and Linda are played by professional actresses but most of their colleagues are played by former Windmill Girls. Even so, the film is curiously moralistic in tone. A sharp distinction is made between Pat and Linda. Although she spends most of her working life prancing about on a stage in a skimpy costume, the script makes it clear that Linda is at heart a decent, old-fashioned girl with sound morals.
Pat, on the other hand, is clearly no better than she ought to be, if not slightly worse than she ought to be. During her shoe-shop days she reacts to the improper suggestions of the shop's middle-aged, physically unattractive owner with righteous indignation, but as soon as she steps through the doors of the Windmill she leaves all her morals on the mat. She succumbs to the improper suggestions of Richard, a middle-aged, physically unattractive theatrical producer, who has promised her a role in one of his shows, and becomes his mistress. When the Windmill closes, the virtuous Linda is rewarded for her virtue by winning a role in a big West End production, whereas the less-than-virtuous Pat is punished. Richard fails to make good on his promises, and Pat is unable to find work except in the sort of striptease shows she despises. (The film takes the line that Windmill-type revues are all good clean fun whereas striptease is just sleazy filth). As for Pat's death, that is presented less as a tragedy than as the working-out of one of the Rules of Life, namely that young women who are slightly worse than they ought to be are sooner or later bound to find themselves in the company of young men who drive their sports cars too fast and without regard to road safety.
Something which is never explained is exactly why Pat is unable to find work after the Windmill closes. West End casting directors, after all, normally pay more attention to talent than they do to people's private lives, and there is no suggestion that Pat is untalented. Indeed, it is even implied that she is a better dancer than the more successful Linda. Even if Pat was unable to find a job honestly, she could probably have found one dishonestly through Richard. Producers who operate on the "casting couch" basis generally find that they need to keep their promises unless they want to acquire the sort of reputation which would make it impossible to use that particular seduction technique in future.
The film's moralistic subtext seems ridiculous today and, indeed, I doubt if anyone took it very seriously even in 1966. It was probably a device to placate the censors in case they took exception to the sexy dance routines. Even in the seventies this film would have looked very dated, and in 2018 it looks like a curious fossil preserved from some strange prehistoric era. April Wilding seems to have disappeared without trace, but Pauline Collins went on to become a major figure in the British acting world, starring in "Shirley Valentine", one of the best British films of the eighties. "Secrets of a Windmill Girl" must be one of the entries on her CV that she keeps very quiet about. 4/10
"Secrets of a Windmill Girl" was made in 1966 as a tribute to the girls of the Windmill Theatre. It opens with the death of a young woman named Pat Lord in a road crash. The rest of the film is essentially one long flashback, telling the story of Pat's life as narrated by her close friend Linda Grey to the detective investigating her death. After leaving school, Pat and Linda found work as sales assistants in a shoe-shop, but soon afterwards left to fulfil their long standing ambition to become professional dancers. They find jobs at the Windmill Theatre and work there as part of its cast of showgirls until it closes. Much of the film takes the form of a semi-documentary look at the daily life of a Windmill Girl; the scriptwriter seems to have lost sight of the fact that Linda is supposedly talking to a police detective, who would not have been remotely interested in any of these facts. It is also notable that, although Linda is supposedly from a working-class background April Wilding uses very formal English and talks with an upper-class accent. (Pauline Collins as Pat is more convincing in this respect).
The film was obviously intended as an exploitation movie aimed at a young male audience who would be happy to watch anything featuring a line-up of half-naked girls. It was, significantly, originally released in Britain as part of a double bill with the nudist film "Naked as Nature Intended" which featured a cast of wholly naked girls. Pat and Linda are played by professional actresses but most of their colleagues are played by former Windmill Girls. Even so, the film is curiously moralistic in tone. A sharp distinction is made between Pat and Linda. Although she spends most of her working life prancing about on a stage in a skimpy costume, the script makes it clear that Linda is at heart a decent, old-fashioned girl with sound morals.
Pat, on the other hand, is clearly no better than she ought to be, if not slightly worse than she ought to be. During her shoe-shop days she reacts to the improper suggestions of the shop's middle-aged, physically unattractive owner with righteous indignation, but as soon as she steps through the doors of the Windmill she leaves all her morals on the mat. She succumbs to the improper suggestions of Richard, a middle-aged, physically unattractive theatrical producer, who has promised her a role in one of his shows, and becomes his mistress. When the Windmill closes, the virtuous Linda is rewarded for her virtue by winning a role in a big West End production, whereas the less-than-virtuous Pat is punished. Richard fails to make good on his promises, and Pat is unable to find work except in the sort of striptease shows she despises. (The film takes the line that Windmill-type revues are all good clean fun whereas striptease is just sleazy filth). As for Pat's death, that is presented less as a tragedy than as the working-out of one of the Rules of Life, namely that young women who are slightly worse than they ought to be are sooner or later bound to find themselves in the company of young men who drive their sports cars too fast and without regard to road safety.
Something which is never explained is exactly why Pat is unable to find work after the Windmill closes. West End casting directors, after all, normally pay more attention to talent than they do to people's private lives, and there is no suggestion that Pat is untalented. Indeed, it is even implied that she is a better dancer than the more successful Linda. Even if Pat was unable to find a job honestly, she could probably have found one dishonestly through Richard. Producers who operate on the "casting couch" basis generally find that they need to keep their promises unless they want to acquire the sort of reputation which would make it impossible to use that particular seduction technique in future.
The film's moralistic subtext seems ridiculous today and, indeed, I doubt if anyone took it very seriously even in 1966. It was probably a device to placate the censors in case they took exception to the sexy dance routines. Even in the seventies this film would have looked very dated, and in 2018 it looks like a curious fossil preserved from some strange prehistoric era. April Wilding seems to have disappeared without trace, but Pauline Collins went on to become a major figure in the British acting world, starring in "Shirley Valentine", one of the best British films of the eighties. "Secrets of a Windmill Girl" must be one of the entries on her CV that she keeps very quiet about. 4/10