442:, Darius Drewe praised the film as Winter's best demonstration of his "multi-layered", "singular" vision. He suggested that while the film touches on themes of realism and loneliness, certain elements, such as the story of Emma and Wayne, are more about "how sometimes life is neither tragedy nor fairy tale, just matter-of-factly unremarkable." He criticised the pacing, commenting that the plot "seems to amble sexlessly for 60 minutes before remembering what film it's in and suddenly jumping to several consecutive scenes of softcore action." He compared the structure of the film – "a series of vignettes" – to that of the comedy drama
431:. He commented: "This may not be a withering triumph of cinematic art, but it is certainly a sight better than most of the films into whose bag it has been put ... The stories do have point – not much, perhaps, but what there is you do get – and it does add up to more than an excuse for titillation. Also I chuckled a lot, if that is any recommendation."
459:
to be one of a number of films that he dubs "suburban report" features: films employing a "multiple narrative" built around a "thematic focus" (in this case, characters' use of escorts) "and/or a narrator, storyteller or 'expert' to guide us through". He suggests that the virginal character David
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Harvey and Sheila: Harvey
Matelow is a corrupt businessman who books an escort, Sheila, to take with him to a casino. Later, he tricks his way into her flat and rapes her. He is interrupted by Sheila's boyfriend, who photographs him in the act and proceeds to blackmail him, stealing his money and
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Vicky and Lester: To impress her old school friends, Vicky shows up at a reunion accompanied by Lester, a black male escort who has agreed to pose as her fiancé. Over the course of the party, Vicky's female friends fantasise about Lester and discreetly pass him their telephone numbers. Back at
451:
In a review for website The
Spinning Image, Graeme Clark comments: "Until the cast begin taking their clothes off, this is achingly slow, and you're not sure if it's meant to be a comedy or not, but things pick up when the mood turns to sleaze ... ... come across as pretty strange,
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as a "sexploiter with pretensions" whose acting "is better than might be expected." He added that Winter "profitably pays as much attention to all the background flummery of the social settings ... as he does to the walking clichés who inhabit them."
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Emma and Wayne: Emma is a company director weary of the business world. As an amusement, she hires a male escort, Wayne, to accompany her to a high-level
Christmas party. Returning to Emma's house, Emma and Wayne have
285:
James and Ian are
Scotsmen visiting London for the first time. They pick up two women and take them to dinner at a restaurant, where they are shocked to see an exotic dancer give an explicit solo
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threatening to publish the photographs if he goes to the police. Realising that he has been set up, the humiliated Harvey is kicked out of the flat. Left alone, Sheila and the boyfriend have sex.
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In the film's epilogue, the normally shy and reserved Hugh arrives at work and greets his female colleagues by cheerfully slapping one of them on the rear with his morning newspaper.
266:, Barry, to a nightclub and then back to her hotel room. Barry is put off by Mary's overbearing nature and slips away while her back is turned, leaving her heartbroken.
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roots the film's impression of "suburban sensibility" in ideas of a "last sexual outpost" or "notion of 'catching up', a sort of sexual democracy."
259:. After dinner at an Italian restaurant, they take a taxi back to Susan's flat, where both admit their loneliness. Susan takes Hugh's virginity.
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illustrating the gap between the sophistication it aspired to and the rather sour, seedy reality it ended up as."
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Mary and Barry: Mary is a wealthy widow whose outward pride conceals her inner loneliness. She takes a young
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Set in London, the film tells six stories of people seeking companionship in the run-up to
Christmas.
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598:. Vol. 41, no. 485. London, UK: British Film Institute. pp. 124–125.
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questioned the choice of title, pointing out that the film features both
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Combs, Richard, ed. (December 1974). "5 Critics on the Month's Films".
562:. Vol. 41, no. 491. London, UK: British Film Institute.
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Vicky's flat, Lester hesitantly indulges Vicky's interracial
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British Low
Culture: from Safari Suits to Sexploitation
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Hugh and Susan: Hugh, a young office clerk, spends his
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Combs, Richard (June 1974). Combs, Richard (ed.). "
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663:It'll Be Lonely This Christmas: An Exploration of
628:(16 November 1974). "Cinema: Doing It To Death".
379:gave the film one star out of four. Reviews in
827:Films about prostitution in the United Kingdom
8:
34:
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498:British Film Institute Collections Search
722:. London, UK; New York City, New York:
481:
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699:from the original on 8 November 2018
16:1974 British film by Donovan Winter
817:English-language independent films
207:written, produced and directed by
14:
832:Films directed by Donovan Winter
455:Commentator Leon Hunt considers
360:Max Mason as Sheila's boyfriend
1:
822:Films about male prostitution
255:on a night out with Susan, a
787:1970s English-language films
812:British sexploitation films
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807:British independent films
596:The Monthly Film Bulletin
559:The Monthly Film Bulletin
403:The Monthly Film Bulletin
357:Teresa Van Ross as dancer
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792:1970s exploitation films
237:All Lovers Are Strangers
19:Not to be confused with
802:British Christmas films
470:List of Christmas films
434:In his introduction to
797:1974 independent films
693:thespinningimage.co.uk
661:Drewe, Darius (2011).
531:British Film Institute
438:' 2011 DVD release of
345:Ken Gajadhar as Lester
336:Barbara Wise as Sheila
303:Maria O'Brien as Susan
782:1970s Christmas films
318:Richard Wren as Barry
726:. pp. 94, 106.
634:. pp. 636–637.
837:Films set in London
777:1970s British films
718:Hunt, Leon (1998).
668:(DVD liner notes).
382:The Daily Telegraph
354:James Hunter as Ian
327:Gil Barber as Wayne
445:Saturday Night Out
205:sexploitation film
134:Donwin Productions
21:Escort Girl (film)
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537:on 6 October 2019
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492:Escort Girls
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376:The Listener
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371:Gavin Millar
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322:Marijke Mann
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280:rape fantasy
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200:Escort Girls
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172:Running time
149:Release date
88:Barbara Wise
84:Marijke Mann
40:UK DVD cover
29:Escort Girls
580:Back cover.
307:David Dixon
264:male escort
221:David Dixon
211:. It stars
64:Produced by
46:Directed by
772:1974 films
766:Categories
527:bfi.org.uk
503:28 October
476:References
406:described
388:Daily Mail
203:is a 1974
176:95 minutes
127:Production
56:Written by
724:Routledge
703:6 October
672:. NN0009.
640:0038-6952
604:0027-0407
568:0027-0407
541:6 October
118:Edited by
697:Archived
464:See also
448:(1964).
351:as James
342:as Vicky
287:sex show
189:Language
107:Gus Coma
72:Starring
648:1766325
612:2594020
576:2594020
523:(1974)"
324:as Emma
315:as Mary
309:as Hugh
192:English
181:Country
158: (
143:Variety
129:company
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425:female
385:, the
231:. Its
757:IMDb
728:ISBN
705:2019
644:OCLC
636:ISSN
608:OCLC
600:ISSN
572:OCLC
564:ISSN
543:2019
505:2023
427:and
391:and
297:Cast
270:sex.
243:Plot
235:was
227:and
160:1974
156:1974
755:at
594:".
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373:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
