You can pick apart this film for the cheesiness of some of its scenes, the not so great acting, especially the fake accents, and general flimsy story, but somehow this all works. The absolutely gorgeous Gabrielle Drake (sister of the late, great singer/songwriter Nick Drake) is so sexy, you forget her Scandinavian accent is pretty awful. There is copious nudity here, but there also is a story. I especially liked the scenes with Nan (Me Me Lay) and piano prodigy Rupert, they are more sweet than overtly sexy. The 70's brought a lot of these sex comedies, but this one is far less sleazy than many of them. Its not meant to be a classic, but it is in its genre. If you like these films, its worth watching. The ladies are amazing, which is meant to be the draw in the first place.
25 Reviews
Not your typical British sex comedy
Leofwine_draca30 June 2016
AU PAIR GIRLS is a pretty decent example of the British sex comedy film of the 1970s, especially when compared to other entries in the genre during the decade. It has strong production values - thanks to being produced by the great Tigon Pictures studios - and even better direction courtesy of veteran helmer Val Guest, just before he went on to make possibly the ultimate example of the genre in 1974, CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER.
What stands out about AU PAIR GIRLS is the unusual and highly watchable plotting. Instead of having a single plot strand dragged out to feature length, this is a kind of anthology movie which follows the misadventures of four foreign au pairs who arrive in England and each find themselves in an unusual situation with their new-found employer. Chances are that if you don't like one of the stories then at least one of the others will be more appealing.
The arresting Gabrielle Drake stars in the most typical of the story lines about a girl who gets into various run-ins with the son of her new employer, played by Richard O'Sullivan. There's a lot of slapstick humour in this tale, and ample nudity from the beautiful Drake. Astrid Frank is a Swedish au pair who causes Geoffrey Bayldon to get hot under the collar before falling in with Trevor Bannister's photographer. Next up we get the oddest tale, an oddly touching story starring the one and only Me Me Lai (star of those Italian cannibal films) who has never looked more lovely and who falls in with a child-like man. The last tale, by far the darkest, involves Nancie Wait's virginal young woman who ends up being introduced to the sleazy side of the music world.
The supporting cast is quite good, with the ubiquitous John Le Mesurier popping up in a cameo and future CORONATION STREET actor Johnny Briggs doing his best to pick up the girls. There are bit parts for John Standing, Marianne Stone, and Milton Reid, plus the unusual sight of Ferdy Mayne playing a sheikh. What impresses most is that although the four actresses are all picked for their looks and willingness to go nude, they're actually quite talented performers who convince in their roles and evoke emotion in the viewer. More than your usual sex comedy, then.
What stands out about AU PAIR GIRLS is the unusual and highly watchable plotting. Instead of having a single plot strand dragged out to feature length, this is a kind of anthology movie which follows the misadventures of four foreign au pairs who arrive in England and each find themselves in an unusual situation with their new-found employer. Chances are that if you don't like one of the stories then at least one of the others will be more appealing.
The arresting Gabrielle Drake stars in the most typical of the story lines about a girl who gets into various run-ins with the son of her new employer, played by Richard O'Sullivan. There's a lot of slapstick humour in this tale, and ample nudity from the beautiful Drake. Astrid Frank is a Swedish au pair who causes Geoffrey Bayldon to get hot under the collar before falling in with Trevor Bannister's photographer. Next up we get the oddest tale, an oddly touching story starring the one and only Me Me Lai (star of those Italian cannibal films) who has never looked more lovely and who falls in with a child-like man. The last tale, by far the darkest, involves Nancie Wait's virginal young woman who ends up being introduced to the sleazy side of the music world.
The supporting cast is quite good, with the ubiquitous John Le Mesurier popping up in a cameo and future CORONATION STREET actor Johnny Briggs doing his best to pick up the girls. There are bit parts for John Standing, Marianne Stone, and Milton Reid, plus the unusual sight of Ferdy Mayne playing a sheikh. What impresses most is that although the four actresses are all picked for their looks and willingness to go nude, they're actually quite talented performers who convince in their roles and evoke emotion in the viewer. More than your usual sex comedy, then.
Silly sexploitation
lastliberal5 February 2009
So, it's cheesy sexploitation from the 70s, but it is really funny. It's like watching Benny Hill with nudity. The nudity is all part of the comedy.
Gabrielle Drake manages to lose her clothes in a barn with the employer's son after they break down in the country. They never do make it home.
Astrid Frank is with an older couple. She has no qualms about parading around naked. Even when she is dressed, knickers are optional. She manages to get picked up by a sheik on her first night.
Me Me Lai of cannibal fame is with a very wealthy family. The son is a pianist - and a virgin! He gets lucky before everyone else.
Nancie Wait is in the hands of a wild daughter her first night. She ends up rocking away her virginity with a rocker.
Lots of laughs.
Gabrielle Drake manages to lose her clothes in a barn with the employer's son after they break down in the country. They never do make it home.
Astrid Frank is with an older couple. She has no qualms about parading around naked. Even when she is dressed, knickers are optional. She manages to get picked up by a sheik on her first night.
Me Me Lai of cannibal fame is with a very wealthy family. The son is a pianist - and a virgin! He gets lucky before everyone else.
Nancie Wait is in the hands of a wild daughter her first night. She ends up rocking away her virginity with a rocker.
Lots of laughs.
Pretty average English 70s sexploitation comedy, which is worth watching for the utterly gorgeous Gabrielle Drake if nothing else.
Infofreak21 July 2004
'Au Pair Girls' is a cheesy "naughty" sexploitation comedy from the early 70s. During this period before hard core porn was readily available these kinds of movies were very popular in England. They mixed unsophisticated slapstick comedy, Benny Hill-like double entendres and lots of naked babes. Thirty years later they are enjoyable as kitsch but have little else going for them. 'Au Pair Girls' story concerns the misadventures of four beautiful girls sent to England to work as (yes, you guessed it!) Au Pair girls. They are Randi (Gabrielle Drake), Astrid (Anita Sector), Nan (Me Me Lay) and Christa (Nancie Wait). Randi ends up losing her clothes in a barn after the son of her employer (Richard O' Sullivan from the popular 70s sit-com 'Man About The House) gives her a lift and his car breaks down in the country. Astrid, a nutty Swedish girl obsessed with colour TV, gets picked up by a Sheik (Ferdy Mayne) while on a date at a casino. Nan is hired by Lady Tryke (Rosalie Crutchley) to be a companion for their socially inept but musically gifted son (Julian Barnes), who quickly falls in love with her. Christa is taken to a club by her employers liberated daughter Carole (Lyn Yeldham) and is seduced by a rock singer Ricky Strange (Steve Patterson). People raised on British sit-coms of the 60s and 70s will notice several familiar faces in the supporting cast, most notably John Le Mesurier ('Dad's Army'), who plays Richard O'Sullivan's Dad, and Trevor Bannister ('Are You Being Served?'), who plays his photographer pal. Of the four girls Gabrielle Drake, sister of legendary folk singer Nick Drake, and a cult figure in her own right from appearing as the purple wigged Lt.Gaye Ellis in the series 'UFO', is the most beautiful and shows some genuine flair for comedy. I've had a crush on her for many, many years and her full frontal nude scenes are reason enough to watch this movie! I didn't recognize the actresses who played Astrid or Christa, but Me Me Lay went on to become a cult figure from her appearances in the cannibal movies 'Man From Deep River', 'The Last Cannibal World' and 'Eaten Alive' as well as co-starring in Lars Von Trier's 'The Element Of Crime'! Another interesting thing about 'Au Pair Girls' is that it was directed and co-written by none other than Val Guest, the man behind the early Hammer classics 'The Quatermass Xperiment' (aka 'The Creeping Unknown'), 'Quatermass 2' and 'The Abominable Snowman'. I must admit that the involvement of Val Guest and Me Me Lay aside, the main attraction here is the utterly gorgeous Gabrielle Drake. Apart from that it's pretty average.
What a pair.
morrison-dylan-fan11 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Talking to a family friend about the recent airing of the Comedy film Man About The House,I was surprised to find out that he had not seen a well-known Sex Comedy featuring leading Man About The House actor Richard O'Sullivan,which led to me deciding that it would be the perfect time to meet a pair of Au pair's.
The plot:
Arriving to the UK from a number of different European countries,4 women called Randi Lindstrom, Anita Sector, Nan Lee and Christa Geisler join an Au Pair agency.Shortly after joining the agency,each of them are sent out to assist families,with Randi Lindstrom getting greeted by a businessmen called Stephen,whilst Anita Sector is taken to a Rock concert,so that she can lose her innocence.
View on the film:
Despite being dismissive of the movie after it failed to be seen as 'high art' co-writer/ (along with David Adnopoz and David Grant) director Val Guest takes a rather daring approach to the flesh on display in the title,with Guest showing each of the beautiful women fully naked,instead of the 'cheeky peak' that was the traditional route taken for British Sex Comedies at the time.
Whilst sadly being limited to a supportive role, Richard O'Sullivan gives a delightfully awkward performance as Stephen,whilst Me Me Lai gives the film an unexpected shot of melancholy as Nan Lee and Astrid Frank reveals a real sense of sorrow as Anita Sector.
For the screenplay,the writer's initially give the movie a light & fluffy appearance,but disappointingly soon take the title into an extremely sour direction,due to the 'playful' frolics that the Au pair's find themselves involved in having a deeply uncomfortable predatory undertone,with the ending to Anita Sector's storyline,taking all the fun out of,what should have been a wonderful (Au) pair.
The plot:
Arriving to the UK from a number of different European countries,4 women called Randi Lindstrom, Anita Sector, Nan Lee and Christa Geisler join an Au Pair agency.Shortly after joining the agency,each of them are sent out to assist families,with Randi Lindstrom getting greeted by a businessmen called Stephen,whilst Anita Sector is taken to a Rock concert,so that she can lose her innocence.
View on the film:
Despite being dismissive of the movie after it failed to be seen as 'high art' co-writer/ (along with David Adnopoz and David Grant) director Val Guest takes a rather daring approach to the flesh on display in the title,with Guest showing each of the beautiful women fully naked,instead of the 'cheeky peak' that was the traditional route taken for British Sex Comedies at the time.
Whilst sadly being limited to a supportive role, Richard O'Sullivan gives a delightfully awkward performance as Stephen,whilst Me Me Lai gives the film an unexpected shot of melancholy as Nan Lee and Astrid Frank reveals a real sense of sorrow as Anita Sector.
For the screenplay,the writer's initially give the movie a light & fluffy appearance,but disappointingly soon take the title into an extremely sour direction,due to the 'playful' frolics that the Au pair's find themselves involved in having a deeply uncomfortable predatory undertone,with the ending to Anita Sector's storyline,taking all the fun out of,what should have been a wonderful (Au) pair.
Just worth it for the ladies
christopher-underwood28 May 2008
I remember rather enjoying this a few years back but coming to it again, I wonder why. I guess it always looks good and the girls do rather well but the men do rather let the side down. Why oh why in so many English films about sex do we have to have such inept men along side the pretty girls? What is more this begins predictably enough as a sex farce similar in vein to the Confessions films but about a third of the way through (whilst we are beginning to enjoy the presence of the lovely Me Me Lai) the film asks us to start taking it seriously. Not only that but the central rock club and cannabis sequences are very forced and just look stilted. In short this is neither as innocently silly or as intelligently serious as it seems to intend. Richard O'Sullivan maybe, as such a central figure, could have helped but I reckon this to be one of his worst performances. Just worth it for the ladies.
Pretty Poor
honkingmanc10 June 2008
The plot has already been described by other reviewers, so I will simply add that my reason for wanting to see this film was to see Gabrielle Drake in all her undoubted glory.
Miss Drake has to be one of the sexiest, prettiest examples of "posh totty" to have been committed to celluloid. Of her era and ilk, only the equally exquisite Jane Asher comes close. What was it about actresses with musical brothers? (Nick Drake and Peter Asher) For those who like me have admired Gabrielle, her scenes in this movie will not disappoint. She has a magnificent figure and none of it is left to the imagination here.
As a whole, the movie is very poor and being of its time, very cheaply made. The song that covers the opening credits seems to go on forever and is appalling.
Miss Drake has to be one of the sexiest, prettiest examples of "posh totty" to have been committed to celluloid. Of her era and ilk, only the equally exquisite Jane Asher comes close. What was it about actresses with musical brothers? (Nick Drake and Peter Asher) For those who like me have admired Gabrielle, her scenes in this movie will not disappoint. She has a magnificent figure and none of it is left to the imagination here.
As a whole, the movie is very poor and being of its time, very cheaply made. The song that covers the opening credits seems to go on forever and is appalling.
Much better than I expected
Gatorman919 February 2014
I decided to check this movie out on Netflix in spite of the uninspiring description given for it, which made it sound like a typical grade B- exploitation flick, just because I wanted to see Gabrielle Drake in something other than reruns of the 1960's TV series *UFO*. But granting that I'm an American too young to have seen much of this genre of films from this era, I found this movie much more enjoyable than I expected. It was thoroughly professionally produced, with consistent and thoroughly professional acting, editing, photography and comedic effects and timing from one end to the other. The plot -- actually, plots (here there are four of them) work perfectly well for what they are, are not especially predictable, and are light on the clichés, and there is some pretty witty dialog, too. Several times I caught myself laughing out loud. Moreover, the, er, mature parts actually fit the true definition of that word for a change, as it seemed to me that the filmmakers were not the least bit shy about how they handled them, being quite unembarrassedly frank to the point of in-your-face (not to mention actually more believable in certain small details than typical American-made Cinemax 2:00 AM fare) in the way they were handled. It may not be high art, but like, say, *Gilligan's Island*, I thought it was quite good for what it was. I'm not surprised to learn that the director actually seems to have a reputation for doing good stuff in other genres.
What passed for sexy in 1972.
dave13-112 April 2012
Pretty foreign girls take au pair jobs in England and get seduced into naughty situations by a variety of local louts.
The look is cheap and the whole proceedings are played for sensationalism and cheap laughs, rather like a D-list Carry On film, which incidentally was how this piece was advertised when it first played on cable TV in the 80s. The characters have little depth, and there is nothing in the way of a story, just random episodes leading to shedding of clothes. For its genre it wasn't terrible, and the girls are pretty attractive (especially the obviously British Gabrielle Drake playing a Scandinavian, and the amusingly named Asian actress Me Me Lay), but keep expectations low.
The look is cheap and the whole proceedings are played for sensationalism and cheap laughs, rather like a D-list Carry On film, which incidentally was how this piece was advertised when it first played on cable TV in the 80s. The characters have little depth, and there is nothing in the way of a story, just random episodes leading to shedding of clothes. For its genre it wasn't terrible, and the girls are pretty attractive (especially the obviously British Gabrielle Drake playing a Scandinavian, and the amusingly named Asian actress Me Me Lay), but keep expectations low.
You have to see it to believe it
neil-47623 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
The Brits simply don't get sex, and it is always educational to compare how the English do it on film with other countries. The Germans tend to take a regimented point of view and accompany it with oompah bands. The French are very matter of fact and photograph it beautifully. The Americans take it very seriously. And the Brits? So tied up with Victorian guilt are we that the only way we can bear to put sex in the public domain is to call it "bonking" and try to laugh at it. Hence a string of pre-internet so-called sex comedies which take the Carry On approach, but miss the point that the innuendo was what made the Carry Ons funny by taking it a step further and spelling everything out in full-frontal detail.
Au Pair Girls is a case in point. The flimsy plot is hardly worth mentioning, the script even less so (other than to point out that it's not actually very funny).
However, there are worthwhile things to observe (at least several of which belong to Gabrielle Drake, har har).
The first is that, so run down was the British entertainment industry (particularly in the 70s) that this film, in common with many of its ilk, boasts a decent array of relatively high profile talent, taking work where they can in order to pay their mortgages. I'm sure they would rather have been in Hamlet, but there you go - beggars can't be choosers (the aforementioned Miss Drake went on to TV success not long after exposing her frontage and nethers in this offering, for instance).
The second is that there are some pretty girls with no clothes on.
But that's about it, really.
Au Pair Girls is a case in point. The flimsy plot is hardly worth mentioning, the script even less so (other than to point out that it's not actually very funny).
However, there are worthwhile things to observe (at least several of which belong to Gabrielle Drake, har har).
The first is that, so run down was the British entertainment industry (particularly in the 70s) that this film, in common with many of its ilk, boasts a decent array of relatively high profile talent, taking work where they can in order to pay their mortgages. I'm sure they would rather have been in Hamlet, but there you go - beggars can't be choosers (the aforementioned Miss Drake went on to TV success not long after exposing her frontage and nethers in this offering, for instance).
The second is that there are some pretty girls with no clothes on.
But that's about it, really.
four stereotypes show their bits
jaibo28 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The "saucy" misadventures of four au pairs who arrive in London on the same day in the early 1970s. There's a Swedish girl, a Danish, a German and a Chinese. The story contrives to get the clothes off all of them, involve them in some Carry On-type humour and couple them with various misfits from the British film and TV culture of the time, including Man About the House star Richard O'Sullivan, future Coronation Street rogue Johnny Briggs and horror film stalwart Ferdy Mayne (playing a sheik). There's a pretty risqué amount of female nudity on display, for those who like that kind of thing (but obviously nothing hardcore).
Most of the film is pretty thin and inconsequential; the girls are stereotypes, and German Anita especially suffers from some kind of infantalising disorder - she's a moron obsessed with colour TV who acts like a kind of uninhibited child & dresses to deliberately show her private parts; in another more serious film, she would be a psychiatric case. The most interesting section of the film involves the Swedish girl being taken to a club in London where some dodgy types are still trying to swing, being seduced by a middle-aged rocker, losing her virginity and realising that the scene is not for her. These sequences have some energy in them and point to a more intriguing film than we've ended up with, in which promiscuity and the dregs of the music business and upper classes live soulless and seedy lives (there's a fine turn by John Standing as an impotent public school roué). The strangest of the stories has the Chinese girl (future cannibal film veteran Me Me Lay) getting off with her childish piano prodigy employer, falling mutually in love with and then leaving in the middle of the night for no good reason at all, except some orientalist notion that "Chinese birds are inscrutable, ain't they?!" The film is pretty demeaning to its women characters and there's a smattering of homophobia in the dialogue and one of the characterisations. The end is striking, as Mayne's sheik for no earthly reason (except they have to end the film somehow) whisks all of the girls away to his Arab kingdom for what looks to all the world like a future in the white slave trade, which they are all delighted about.
Stuff and nonsense for the most part then, but directed with a fair amount of skill by veteran Val Guest, which puts it as a piece of film-making a notch above most of the 70s Brit sexploitation flicks.
Most of the film is pretty thin and inconsequential; the girls are stereotypes, and German Anita especially suffers from some kind of infantalising disorder - she's a moron obsessed with colour TV who acts like a kind of uninhibited child & dresses to deliberately show her private parts; in another more serious film, she would be a psychiatric case. The most interesting section of the film involves the Swedish girl being taken to a club in London where some dodgy types are still trying to swing, being seduced by a middle-aged rocker, losing her virginity and realising that the scene is not for her. These sequences have some energy in them and point to a more intriguing film than we've ended up with, in which promiscuity and the dregs of the music business and upper classes live soulless and seedy lives (there's a fine turn by John Standing as an impotent public school roué). The strangest of the stories has the Chinese girl (future cannibal film veteran Me Me Lay) getting off with her childish piano prodigy employer, falling mutually in love with and then leaving in the middle of the night for no good reason at all, except some orientalist notion that "Chinese birds are inscrutable, ain't they?!" The film is pretty demeaning to its women characters and there's a smattering of homophobia in the dialogue and one of the characterisations. The end is striking, as Mayne's sheik for no earthly reason (except they have to end the film somehow) whisks all of the girls away to his Arab kingdom for what looks to all the world like a future in the white slave trade, which they are all delighted about.
Stuff and nonsense for the most part then, but directed with a fair amount of skill by veteran Val Guest, which puts it as a piece of film-making a notch above most of the 70s Brit sexploitation flicks.
Gabrielle Drake!
trevorandrewmillar-7076911 March 2018
Delightful Surprise
CelluloidDog28 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Actual rating = 6.8, sad to see only a 5.1 on IMDb. No spoilers except a few quotes below which I felt compelled to add since the film is underrated and undervalued for the script/gags.
A light, sexy farce. A pleasant surprise for what I thought might be a laughably bad film as I only watched this as it queued up in my Netflix list, I think because I watch a good amount of everything including foreign films. An English sexploitation (or is it really? aren't most movies in that sense exploitation either of violence, one's fears as in horror films, etc), it is surprisingly well-written and has a terrific sense of humor. I wouldn't call it a sexploitation film, but it almost seems mainstream in a genuinely better written and acted film. Many English comedies can run a bit local, but this one has a more universal humor with plenty of double entendre, gags, etc. Very cleverly done script.
The first few minutes open fairly poorly, boring and one wonders if this will be a $50,000 film. But it actually gets better and has a light, witted humor about. There is plenty of gratuitous frontal nudity but it's barely erotic but done in humor. As one commentator mentioned, not unlike watching Benny Hill. Some people say the stereotypes of the girls and the silliness of Astrid Frank who constantly asks for color TV runs dry, but keep in mind, it's a light comedy, very much in the late 60s, early 70s style. I actually thought Anita Sector (played by Astrid Frank), B.W. Wainwright, the farm and mechanic hands Fred ("can't do nothing") and Burt, and Lord Tryke ("Port") more for some of humorous characters. Even the sheik with "ordained' lines. The jokes "My friends, they call me Randi" " so do mine" run on the light, witty side. Gabrielle Drake and Nancie Wait are beautiful to watch. The worst and least interesting character was the conceited Ricky Strange, a terrible voice for a "singer" and a boring character, more hippy and trash than the others. Even Buster was more interesting. Goofy and bizarre was the relationship between Nan Lee and the sheltered, strange Rupert ("what do you think of your new playmate?" "I like it"). The photographer scene was hilarious, "what is this?" "Boobless bath oil". Although comedic, it leaves a distaste in most of the girls mouths as in one night, none succeed at their jobs except Anita comes to the rescue of the others.
Acting is very good except for the girls (except Nancie Wait did a good job as the virgin), probably because they were asked to act silly. Today we watch plenty of violent films. One wonders if this genre is a bit healthier but again, in almost any film, nothing is real. As imaginary as the character Stephen Wainwright's fantasies. It almost seems to have influenced a series like Austin Powers and is actually better written although production is lesser. But a well-written although silly comedy.
A light, sexy farce. A pleasant surprise for what I thought might be a laughably bad film as I only watched this as it queued up in my Netflix list, I think because I watch a good amount of everything including foreign films. An English sexploitation (or is it really? aren't most movies in that sense exploitation either of violence, one's fears as in horror films, etc), it is surprisingly well-written and has a terrific sense of humor. I wouldn't call it a sexploitation film, but it almost seems mainstream in a genuinely better written and acted film. Many English comedies can run a bit local, but this one has a more universal humor with plenty of double entendre, gags, etc. Very cleverly done script.
The first few minutes open fairly poorly, boring and one wonders if this will be a $50,000 film. But it actually gets better and has a light, witted humor about. There is plenty of gratuitous frontal nudity but it's barely erotic but done in humor. As one commentator mentioned, not unlike watching Benny Hill. Some people say the stereotypes of the girls and the silliness of Astrid Frank who constantly asks for color TV runs dry, but keep in mind, it's a light comedy, very much in the late 60s, early 70s style. I actually thought Anita Sector (played by Astrid Frank), B.W. Wainwright, the farm and mechanic hands Fred ("can't do nothing") and Burt, and Lord Tryke ("Port") more for some of humorous characters. Even the sheik with "ordained' lines. The jokes "My friends, they call me Randi" " so do mine" run on the light, witty side. Gabrielle Drake and Nancie Wait are beautiful to watch. The worst and least interesting character was the conceited Ricky Strange, a terrible voice for a "singer" and a boring character, more hippy and trash than the others. Even Buster was more interesting. Goofy and bizarre was the relationship between Nan Lee and the sheltered, strange Rupert ("what do you think of your new playmate?" "I like it"). The photographer scene was hilarious, "what is this?" "Boobless bath oil". Although comedic, it leaves a distaste in most of the girls mouths as in one night, none succeed at their jobs except Anita comes to the rescue of the others.
Acting is very good except for the girls (except Nancie Wait did a good job as the virgin), probably because they were asked to act silly. Today we watch plenty of violent films. One wonders if this genre is a bit healthier but again, in almost any film, nothing is real. As imaginary as the character Stephen Wainwright's fantasies. It almost seems to have influenced a series like Austin Powers and is actually better written although production is lesser. But a well-written although silly comedy.
Mike Shadow & Five O'Clock Shadow
richardchatten9 November 2019
Ribald remarks about au pair girls and milkmen used to be a mainstay of 1970s Britain, and just as Derren Nesbitt wrote and directed a film called 'The Amorous Milkman' (from his own novel!) a couple of years after this, here the hilarious subject of au pair girls gets a film to themselves in the hands of veteran writer-director Val Guest.
Despite his background with Will Hay, Guest's thrillers were always better than his comedies; and you know what sort of territory you're in when even before the credits are over you've already seen a mike shadow before you've heard any dialogue. But it's a disarmingly good-natured affair in bright colours, and both Gabrielle Drake as a Danish au pair (far sexier on TV a few years earlier carrying a clipboard while dressed as a dominatrix in 'UFO') and Astrid Frank as a Swedish one manage to be charmingly ditsy and stay in character even when starkers.
Despite his background with Will Hay, Guest's thrillers were always better than his comedies; and you know what sort of territory you're in when even before the credits are over you've already seen a mike shadow before you've heard any dialogue. But it's a disarmingly good-natured affair in bright colours, and both Gabrielle Drake as a Danish au pair (far sexier on TV a few years earlier carrying a clipboard while dressed as a dominatrix in 'UFO') and Astrid Frank as a Swedish one manage to be charmingly ditsy and stay in character even when starkers.
Fun, sexy oddity of a spoof
Patsy-922 June 2001
I watched this movie the same day I first saw The Day the Earth Caught Fire, quite unaware that both movies had the same director. Had I not been alerted to this fact, I would never have guessed. It is a spoof of soft core British porn films to an extent, but also injects interesting dramatic material. The story is of four gorgeous girls who come to England as au pairs (doubtless using the Gorgeous Woman Only au pair service). Each of them only keeps their job for one day, for various reasons. Danish Randi is stranded with the rich kid son of her employer when his car breaks down, her clothes are soaked and they end up spending the night in a parking lot. Swedish Anita (a fun, delightful character who seems so liberated that she doesn't realize there's any alternative) shocks her employer by marching about the house nude and ends up being picked up at a casino by an amorous sheik (in the sheik's abode, a man sounds a gong every time he walks through the door). German Christa, a near-prudish virgin, is indoctrinated into London's swinging underground by her employer's daughter who wants to offer her as a sacrificial virgin to a rock star. Chinese Nan is taken to a manor house and begins a sad little affair with a sheltered pianist man-child, who seems to have the emotional maturity of a child half his age.
The odd thing is that the first two plots are funny and ridiculous, but the second two are tragic, as Christa realizes she has squandered her virginity on the ungrateful rock god and Nan scarcely seems happy to be regarded as a new plaything by her new bedmate. Both stories have tears. What's going on here? This stands in clear opposition to the brassy, fun nature of the other plots (and the atrocious upbeat theme song - you've got to hear it to believe it), and the ending that ties together all four girls in a riotously offhand and silly manner, as they all trot off to be the sheik's handmaidens, no questions asked. Also odd is that there's not all that much sex (though there is plenty of nudity). Anita does not actually have sex at all (and she doesn't seem to mind much, either!), and though the others do, it's hardly explicit at all.
All the girls are likeable, which is more than can be said for the men. Nan's swain, who refers to her as "it" early on, like she's one of his model ships, is a particular repellent creation, although strangely one of the most repellent, who slips his hand into Christina's pants, actually proves quite respectful of her. For a porn film, this is a rather well acted one. Guest handles the actors well, and provides some nice little touches (as when Anita applies a puff of perfume between her legs). The Au Pair Girls is a particular oddity, but not an unrewarding one.
The odd thing is that the first two plots are funny and ridiculous, but the second two are tragic, as Christa realizes she has squandered her virginity on the ungrateful rock god and Nan scarcely seems happy to be regarded as a new plaything by her new bedmate. Both stories have tears. What's going on here? This stands in clear opposition to the brassy, fun nature of the other plots (and the atrocious upbeat theme song - you've got to hear it to believe it), and the ending that ties together all four girls in a riotously offhand and silly manner, as they all trot off to be the sheik's handmaidens, no questions asked. Also odd is that there's not all that much sex (though there is plenty of nudity). Anita does not actually have sex at all (and she doesn't seem to mind much, either!), and though the others do, it's hardly explicit at all.
All the girls are likeable, which is more than can be said for the men. Nan's swain, who refers to her as "it" early on, like she's one of his model ships, is a particular repellent creation, although strangely one of the most repellent, who slips his hand into Christina's pants, actually proves quite respectful of her. For a porn film, this is a rather well acted one. Guest handles the actors well, and provides some nice little touches (as when Anita applies a puff of perfume between her legs). The Au Pair Girls is a particular oddity, but not an unrewarding one.
Exercise in Nostalgia for Ageing Roués
JamesHitchcock26 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Tigon British Film Productions were best-known as rivals of Hammer as makers of horror films, but their "Au Pair Girls" is an example of that other mainstay of the British cinema during the seventies, the softcore sex comedy. The reason why these two types of film should have been mainstays of the British cinema was that, at least during the earlier part of the decade, the British Board of Film Censors was considerably less censorious than the management of the country's television networks, so the cinema could cater for those with an interest in those subjects, primarily sex and horror, which were banned from the airwaves. (By the end of the decade the TV industry had started to catch up with the cinema in permissiveness).
During this period the figure of the au pair girl was something of a recognised sex symbol; every blue comedian's joke book contained at least one crack about lecherous husbands unable to keep their hands off the au pair, so making a sex film about their misadventures must have seemed an obvious step. Four au pairs- Anita (Swedish), Randi (Danish), Christa (German) and Nan (Chinese)- arrive at Heathrow Airport in order to take up their positions. Although nearly all au pairs in Britain at this period were European, Nan seems to have been added to the mix to make the film seem more exotic. Or possibly because an Anglo-Burmese actress just happened to be available. "Randi" is not a common baptismal name in Denmark, but was presumably used here to give the scriptwriter a chance to make some obvious puns.
The film then follows the "adventures" (euphemism for sexual couplings) of each of the four girls. There isn't a lot of plot beyond what is necessary to get from one sex scene to the next. Anita ends up as the lover of an Arab sheikh and eventually a member of his harem. Randi beds Stephen, the son of the family with whom she is staying, much to the disgust of his father. Christa starts off as a shy, innocent virgin, but is quickly converted to the cause of promiscuity by Carol, the daughter of her family, and both end up in bed with a hirsute rock star. The weirdest plot line is the one involving Nan. Like Randi, she seduces the son of her hosts, but whereas Stephen is a fairly normal young man, Nan's lover, Rupert, is a brilliant but immature concert pianist who behaves like a spoilt child. (Rupert's family home is Oakley Court in Berkshire, a stately home used in other films of the period such as "And Now the Screaming Starts!")
Plot, however, is not what sold films like this in the seventies. What the target audience of young men wanted to see was female flesh, and plenty of it, and they would not have been disappointed. Although all the couplings involved are heterosexual- it would be a number of years before it became obligatory for soft core sex comedies to include a token lesbian scene- director Val Guest somehow manages to get away without showing much male flesh, something in which his target audience would have had little interest.
"Au Pair Girls", however, has very little to interest modern viewers, even those interested in erotica, as like most seventies softcore it is very tame by today's standards. Seen as comedy it is feeble in the extreme, even though it features cameo appearances by mainstream comedy actors such as John ("Dad's Army") Le Mesurier and Richard ("Man about the House") O'Sullivan. (Those puns on Randi's name are about as close as it ever gets to anything resembling a joke). Gabrielle Drake, who plays Randi, was to go on to become a respected mainstream actress herself on British television and doubtless regarded this as one of the more embarrassing entries on her CV.
The film recently turned up on the specialist British film channel "Talking Pictures", but I cannot think why they showed it, except perhaps as an exercise in nostalgia for the now-ageing roués who would have flocked to it in the 1970s. 2/10
During this period the figure of the au pair girl was something of a recognised sex symbol; every blue comedian's joke book contained at least one crack about lecherous husbands unable to keep their hands off the au pair, so making a sex film about their misadventures must have seemed an obvious step. Four au pairs- Anita (Swedish), Randi (Danish), Christa (German) and Nan (Chinese)- arrive at Heathrow Airport in order to take up their positions. Although nearly all au pairs in Britain at this period were European, Nan seems to have been added to the mix to make the film seem more exotic. Or possibly because an Anglo-Burmese actress just happened to be available. "Randi" is not a common baptismal name in Denmark, but was presumably used here to give the scriptwriter a chance to make some obvious puns.
The film then follows the "adventures" (euphemism for sexual couplings) of each of the four girls. There isn't a lot of plot beyond what is necessary to get from one sex scene to the next. Anita ends up as the lover of an Arab sheikh and eventually a member of his harem. Randi beds Stephen, the son of the family with whom she is staying, much to the disgust of his father. Christa starts off as a shy, innocent virgin, but is quickly converted to the cause of promiscuity by Carol, the daughter of her family, and both end up in bed with a hirsute rock star. The weirdest plot line is the one involving Nan. Like Randi, she seduces the son of her hosts, but whereas Stephen is a fairly normal young man, Nan's lover, Rupert, is a brilliant but immature concert pianist who behaves like a spoilt child. (Rupert's family home is Oakley Court in Berkshire, a stately home used in other films of the period such as "And Now the Screaming Starts!")
Plot, however, is not what sold films like this in the seventies. What the target audience of young men wanted to see was female flesh, and plenty of it, and they would not have been disappointed. Although all the couplings involved are heterosexual- it would be a number of years before it became obligatory for soft core sex comedies to include a token lesbian scene- director Val Guest somehow manages to get away without showing much male flesh, something in which his target audience would have had little interest.
"Au Pair Girls", however, has very little to interest modern viewers, even those interested in erotica, as like most seventies softcore it is very tame by today's standards. Seen as comedy it is feeble in the extreme, even though it features cameo appearances by mainstream comedy actors such as John ("Dad's Army") Le Mesurier and Richard ("Man about the House") O'Sullivan. (Those puns on Randi's name are about as close as it ever gets to anything resembling a joke). Gabrielle Drake, who plays Randi, was to go on to become a respected mainstream actress herself on British television and doubtless regarded this as one of the more embarrassing entries on her CV.
The film recently turned up on the specialist British film channel "Talking Pictures", but I cannot think why they showed it, except perhaps as an exercise in nostalgia for the now-ageing roués who would have flocked to it in the 1970s. 2/10
Terrible
Sergiodave25 August 2020
Hard to believe that a man who wrote and directed 'The day the earth caught fire' (1961) could have descended to this absolute rubbish. Very bad 70's attempt at titillation, making carry on films look amazing. Avoid like the plague.
"Posh totty"
BandSAboutMovies15 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as Au Pair Girls, this was filmed on the estate of George Harrison and was based on a script by producer David Grant. The original story was much more sexually explicit than what the final film ended up being thanks to director Val Guest, who disliked the pornographic ideas that Grant had.
Guest also directed The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2, The Camp On Blood Island and The Day the Earth Caught Fire before making Confessions of a Window Cleaner, Toomorrow and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.
There are four au pair girls:
The Danish Randi (Gabrielle Drake, Lt. Ellis on Gary Anderson's UFO) works for a mean businessman and when his son picks her up at the airport, she ends up sleeping with the young man before they even get up to his boss' office.
Swedish Anita (Astrid Frank) teases Mr. Howard, the older man she's working for, yet doesn't realize that she's doing it. Then she ends up getting picked up by a sheik (Ferdy Mayne) who wants to take her back to his home.
Chinese Nan (Me Me Lai, not having to deal with cannibals this time) works in a large mansion where she falls for a concert pianist and German Christa (Nancie Wait) loses her heart and virginity to a rock star.
We follow each story throughout the movie, going from girl to girl as their dramas unfold. Some of the stories are ridiculous, some are sad and all try to be sexy. It doesn't always succeed, but it is a travelogue film too if you enjoy that.
Guest also directed The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2, The Camp On Blood Island and The Day the Earth Caught Fire before making Confessions of a Window Cleaner, Toomorrow and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.
There are four au pair girls:
The Danish Randi (Gabrielle Drake, Lt. Ellis on Gary Anderson's UFO) works for a mean businessman and when his son picks her up at the airport, she ends up sleeping with the young man before they even get up to his boss' office.
Swedish Anita (Astrid Frank) teases Mr. Howard, the older man she's working for, yet doesn't realize that she's doing it. Then she ends up getting picked up by a sheik (Ferdy Mayne) who wants to take her back to his home.
Chinese Nan (Me Me Lai, not having to deal with cannibals this time) works in a large mansion where she falls for a concert pianist and German Christa (Nancie Wait) loses her heart and virginity to a rock star.
We follow each story throughout the movie, going from girl to girl as their dramas unfold. Some of the stories are ridiculous, some are sad and all try to be sexy. It doesn't always succeed, but it is a travelogue film too if you enjoy that.
A cut above
Groverdox3 June 2016
"Au Pair Girls" is an above average Brit sex comedy, a cut above the rest simply by virtue of never being unbearably awful. It is unusually generous with the full frontal nudity, and thankfully spares us the sight of hideous, balding men in their birthday suits that these movies often inexplicably include.
The "plot" is something to do with four sexy "au pairs": young women from around the world staying with host families in England. There's an Asian one, a German one, a Scandinavian one (of course), and another whose origins are not made plain. The Scandinavian is played by the gorgeous Gabrielle Drake - sister of Nick - and she looks so good you may not notice she doesn't even try an accent.
As with all other British sex comedies, this is a comedy in name only. You'll be hard pressed to even detect an attempt at humour, unless someone slipping over is supposed to be funny.
Still, I say no humour is better than painfully unfunny humour.
The "plot" is something to do with four sexy "au pairs": young women from around the world staying with host families in England. There's an Asian one, a German one, a Scandinavian one (of course), and another whose origins are not made plain. The Scandinavian is played by the gorgeous Gabrielle Drake - sister of Nick - and she looks so good you may not notice she doesn't even try an accent.
As with all other British sex comedies, this is a comedy in name only. You'll be hard pressed to even detect an attempt at humour, unless someone slipping over is supposed to be funny.
Still, I say no humour is better than painfully unfunny humour.
Au Poor - The dirty version of "Mind Your Language"
ninjaalexs6 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
What an awful film.
A group of Au Pair girls from different countries: Germany, Holland and Sweden (I think) to be fair the accents and characters are interchangeable. They come to England to do housekeeping duties. What we are treated to are a bunch of dirty old men trying it on with younger "crumpet" and a distasteful subplot were an Au Pair is goaded to lose her virginity.
The film starts off promising with some impressive airport footage and a good theme song. After that the jokes are women being caught in the shower by a husband and wife and crass stereotypes. I've lost a rib. The women are incredibly attractive, but with such a threadbare plot you would get more enjoyment flipping through a 1970s Pirelli Calendar. Like a lot of these British Sex Comedies they feel like an overlong sitcom episode with no jokes and full frontal female nudity. Not worth your time.
Blu-Ray from Jezebel has a pretty good print with soft colours and is an upgrade from DVD, but not massively. Audio is only Mono, but is lossless. Best of all is it is region free.
A group of Au Pair girls from different countries: Germany, Holland and Sweden (I think) to be fair the accents and characters are interchangeable. They come to England to do housekeeping duties. What we are treated to are a bunch of dirty old men trying it on with younger "crumpet" and a distasteful subplot were an Au Pair is goaded to lose her virginity.
The film starts off promising with some impressive airport footage and a good theme song. After that the jokes are women being caught in the shower by a husband and wife and crass stereotypes. I've lost a rib. The women are incredibly attractive, but with such a threadbare plot you would get more enjoyment flipping through a 1970s Pirelli Calendar. Like a lot of these British Sex Comedies they feel like an overlong sitcom episode with no jokes and full frontal female nudity. Not worth your time.
Blu-Ray from Jezebel has a pretty good print with soft colours and is an upgrade from DVD, but not massively. Audio is only Mono, but is lossless. Best of all is it is region free.
Basically, this is 1970's Softcore!
collectorofsorts12 January 2023
I downloaded this because of the George Harrison angle (it was filmed on his estate). And I think I was expecting more of a playful cheesecake type of film. Not one that had full frontal stuff in it. And had it often.
So, it was different from what I was expecting. But it wasn't bad. There was sort of a plot, or multiple plot arcs. And who doesn't enjoy watching a movie with four attractive college aged ladies from a simpler time (1970s) doing full frontal?
I'm surprised that I'm rating a nudie film a seven, to be honest. I've only reviewed three or four of them before and never one this highly. But this was enjoyable. And I'll probably watch it again.
So, it was different from what I was expecting. But it wasn't bad. There was sort of a plot, or multiple plot arcs. And who doesn't enjoy watching a movie with four attractive college aged ladies from a simpler time (1970s) doing full frontal?
I'm surprised that I'm rating a nudie film a seven, to be honest. I've only reviewed three or four of them before and never one this highly. But this was enjoyable. And I'll probably watch it again.
a frothy, sexy confection
richard-perl-120 July 2004
What a fun filled, sexy movie! They certainly don't make them like this anymore. 4 sexy au pairs arrive in London and have all sorts of sexual misadventures. The tone is oddly innocent, as the considerable nudity evolves out of stock farcical situations, rather than any overt sexual desire on the part of the characters. It is only when the actresses accidentally lose their clothes that the male characters become rampant. Richard O' Sullivan literally gets 'Randi'(sic). The film certainly betrays the origins of the softcore feature as lying in the nudie cuties and naturism films of the old school. My special interest in 'Au Pair Girls' is that I am a huge fan of Gabrielle Drake. If any actress has ever looked better naked (she's slim but wonderfully curvy), or clothed, come to that (I've loved her since the original run of UFO - who else could carry off a purple wig!), I'll eat my hat.
Three Reasons to see this Movie:
desert_dilbert9 March 2017
Reason 1: Boobs. Due to the vintage of this movie, you are seeing all REAL boobs. All other reviews aside, this is a soft core movie. Plot, blah, blah...this is a great boob movie, period. There are many scenes of toplessness and more. Some of the best real, natural boobs ever caught on film. A must have on blu-ray or better for any boob lover.
Reason 2: Bush. Again, the date of this movie dictates forested naughty bits. You do see this, many times. Awesome.
Reason 3: Aviation history. Watch the opening credits to accurately see how people flew before the 747 and other wide-bodies. There's even a Russian airliner shown. Also shown are old terminals and many bygone airlines.
Remember, this is first, foremost and lastly a boob movie. If you love clothed women, watch something else.
Reason 2: Bush. Again, the date of this movie dictates forested naughty bits. You do see this, many times. Awesome.
Reason 3: Aviation history. Watch the opening credits to accurately see how people flew before the 747 and other wide-bodies. There's even a Russian airliner shown. Also shown are old terminals and many bygone airlines.
Remember, this is first, foremost and lastly a boob movie. If you love clothed women, watch something else.
Aren't comedies supposed to be funny?
lazarillo7 September 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this movie mainly because I wanted to see cult cannibal cutie Me Me Lai in one of her few non-cannibal roles. The movie is actually different vignettes about four different girls who come to England from various countries. The only thing they have in common is that they're all working as au pairs (and they're all incredibly stupid). The Swedish girl drives her employers crazy by walking around naked before she joins a harem (for the color TV). The Danish girl never even makes it to her employer's house but instead shacks with their chauffeur. These two episodes are high British silliness that would make Benny Hill blush, but the other two episodes are surprisingly downbeat. The German girl goes out with the family daughter and loses her virginity to a REALLY bad rock star (imagine a Brit Jim Morrison minus the looks, the charisma,and any shred of talent). Me Me meanwhile plays a Chinese girl (bet you didn't see that coming) who unaccountably falls in love with and beds her employer's lonely misfit son. (I am pleased to report, however, that at no time does she eat or get eaten by anybody). This movie isn't that bad, but it's not really that funny either. The main purpose seems to be to get the four leads (and a couple other girls) naked as often as possible. Not that I'm complaining though.
Decent Sexploitation
Michael_Elliott30 April 2014
Au Par Girls (1972)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
British sexploitation film about four beautiful women who travel to London so that they can work as Au Pair girls. I guess there's really not too much of a reason to go into the plot as we simply see all four of them end up nude and in various sexual situations. The most shocking thing about AU PAIR GIRLS is the fact that it was written and director by Val Guest who is best remembered for for various Hammer productions including the wonderful THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. I was really surprised to see how well he handled the material but then again, all he really had to do is make sure the ladies got naked throughout the running time and that the film never slowed down too much. This is a comedy so are there any laughs? I'd say not really as all of the situations are quite predictable and never overly funny. One girl gets hooked up with the son of her boss. Another gets to live with a weird older couple and so on. The film manages to be entertaining simply because of the four ladies. Gabrielle Drake, Me Me Lay, Nanci Wait and Anita Sector are the four ladies and all of them are obviously beautiful but they also manage to keep a smile on your face. Me Me Lay is probably going to be best remembered for a number of Italian cannibal films that she'd make later in her career. Another good thing is that the film is certainly proud of being made in the 1970s, which means we get some great visuals of the various styles and settings of the period. AU PAR GIRLS isn't a masterpiece and it certainly can't compare to many of the German sexploitation pics of this era but it's still worth watching for fans of the genre.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
British sexploitation film about four beautiful women who travel to London so that they can work as Au Pair girls. I guess there's really not too much of a reason to go into the plot as we simply see all four of them end up nude and in various sexual situations. The most shocking thing about AU PAIR GIRLS is the fact that it was written and director by Val Guest who is best remembered for for various Hammer productions including the wonderful THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. I was really surprised to see how well he handled the material but then again, all he really had to do is make sure the ladies got naked throughout the running time and that the film never slowed down too much. This is a comedy so are there any laughs? I'd say not really as all of the situations are quite predictable and never overly funny. One girl gets hooked up with the son of her boss. Another gets to live with a weird older couple and so on. The film manages to be entertaining simply because of the four ladies. Gabrielle Drake, Me Me Lay, Nanci Wait and Anita Sector are the four ladies and all of them are obviously beautiful but they also manage to keep a smile on your face. Me Me Lay is probably going to be best remembered for a number of Italian cannibal films that she'd make later in her career. Another good thing is that the film is certainly proud of being made in the 1970s, which means we get some great visuals of the various styles and settings of the period. AU PAR GIRLS isn't a masterpiece and it certainly can't compare to many of the German sexploitation pics of this era but it's still worth watching for fans of the genre.
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