A cult classic British film about late-fifties youth-rebellion set against an intoxicating Beatnik backdrop.
The film tells the story of Paul (David Farrar), a divorced architect who marries a Parisian named Nichole (Noëlle Adam), much to the displeasure of his teenage daughter Jennifer (Gillian Hills). In a bid to rebel Jennifer falls in with the London beatnik scene and a music-fuelled life of juvenile delinquency. Taking an immediate dislike to her stepmother Jenny goes out of her way to make life miserable for Nichole. When she discovers that Nichole is a friend of a stripper, she investigates and uses her stepmother's sordid past to embarrass her father.
With an all-star cast including David Farrar (Black Narcissus, The Small Back Room,) Shirley Anne Field (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Peeping Tom), Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings, Dracula) and a young Oliver Reed (Gladiator, Oliver!), the film is notable for its original music by composer John Barry, his first film commission, and the debut appearance of teen idol Adam Faith. Actress Gillian Hills went on to work with Antonioni (Blow Up) and Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange) and was the star of the cult television series The Owl Service.
BFI Flipside is dedicated to rediscovering the margins of British film, reclaiming a space for forgotten movies and filmmakers who would otherwise be in danger of disappearing from our screens forever. It is a home for UK cinematic oddities, offering everything from exploitation documentaries to B-movies, countercultural curios and obscure classics, If it's weird, British and forgotten, then it's Flipside.
• Newly remastered in 2K and presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition • Original theatrical version (87 mins) from the negative, preserved by the BFI National Archive • Alternative version (92 mins) (Blu-ray only) • Alternative sequences (3 mins) (DVD only) • Extended version (92 mins): featuring an additional sequences with David Farrar and Noëlle Adam • An interview with Gillian Hills (2016, 25 mins) • Cross-Roads (John Fitchen, 1955, 25 mins): supernatural short featuring Christopher Lee • Beauty in Brief (c.1955, 4 mins): forgotten saucy 1950s pin-up short • Goodnight with Sabrina (c. 1958, 3 mins): glamour short starring 1950s TV bombshell Sabrina, aka Norma Sykes • Illustrated booklet with new essays by Gillian Hills, Vic Pratt, Johnny Trunk and Jo Botting, and full film credits
