31 March 2016

BFI Flipside Presents 1959 Cult Classic Beat Girl On April Home Release






BFI Flipside is back! Edmond T Gréville’s legendary British 1950s juvenile delinquency flick Beat Girl is one of three British cult classics that will be released on the BFI’s Flipside label on 25 April 2016.

Remastered from original negatives, Beat Girl is presented in Dual Format Edition (DVD and Blu-ray discs) and packed with extras including three versions of the film, a new interview with the film’s star, Gillian Hills, three short films and an illustrated booklet.

Restless teen Jennifer (Gillian Hills, Blow-up, A Clockwork Orange) escapes her square papa (David Farrar, Black Narcissus) at Soho’s Off Beat coffee bar, rocking it with beatnik Dave (a super-cool Adam Faith), sensual singer Dodo (Shirley Anne Field) and icy-eyed Plaid Shirt (Oliver Reed). But a secret from Jennifer’s French stepmother’s past leads to the Les Girls strip joint, run by the sleazy Kenny King (Christopher Lee).

Beat Girl, which features John Barry’s fantastic first soundtrack, is released alongside two more new Flipside titles – Expresso Bongo (Val Guest, 1959) and Symptoms (José Ramón Larraz, 1974).

A special screening of Beat Girl takes place at the Regent Street Cinema, London, W1 on Wednesday 20 April at 6.30pm followed by a Q&A with Gillian Hills, hosted by BFI National Archive Fiction Curator, Vic Pratt. Tickets are available now.



Special features
-Newly remastered in 2K and presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
-Original theatrical version (87 mins): from the negatives, preserved by the BFI National Archive
-Alternative version (92 mins, Blu-ray only)
-Alternative sequences (3 mins, DVD only)
-Extended version (92 mins): featuring additional sequences with David Farrar and Noëlle Adam
-An Interview with Gillian Hills Interview (2016, 25 mins): the film’s star recalls her experience of working on Beat Girl
-Cross-Roads (John Fitchen, 1955, 25 mins): supernatural short, starring the legendary Christopher Lee
-Beauty in Brief (c.1955, 4 mins): forgotten saucy 1950s pin-up short which recalls the milieu of Beat Girl
-Goodnight with Sabrina (c.1958, 3 mins): glamour short starring 1950s TV bombshell Sabrina, aka Norma Sykes
-Illustrated booklet with new writing by Gillian Hills, Vic Pratt, Jonny Trunk and Jo Botting, and full film credits

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