Au Pair Girls (1972) - Review

Classic sexploitation films generally follow a set of rules that range from the silly to the destructive. In the more silly category, the viewer must accept it as normal that women drop their dresses routinely and without thought, and that people fall into and out of love (or the sack) at the drop of a hat. On the more destructive side in sexploitation is the cavalier treatment of rape - where rape is typically no big deal or even presented as just a normal part of a female's sexual experience.

In 1972's Au Pair Girls, from experienced Hammer Films director Val Guest, we get a lot of the silly and a little of the destructive. The movie tells the story of four very attractive au pairs that arrive in England. Each has a story about their first day's experiences in England, ranging from falling in love to learning about the very worst of humanity. 

Two of the stories are silly wastes of time that have little redemptive value beyond the attractive women that throw their dresses off at every opportunity. One is a Swedish girl that throws her dress off at every turn, professes only a desire to watch color TV, and that attracts the interest of a Sheik that wants to wine her and dine her (she prefers to jump on his bed during which her dress, naturally, slips off). 

The second story is of a Danish girl that flirts with a horny Englishman that was sent to pick her up and when her dress gets ripped up they drive around with her nude trying to find her some clothes. These two stories are complete filler and there for no other reason than to get Astrid Frank and Gabrielle Drake naked. Both are certainly gorgeous, of course. 

A third story takes a more depressing approach, depicting a virgin that is served up by the host family's daughter to a strung out, second rate pop star. After a dumb montage of her learning how to dress like the cool kids, Guest manages to make this story half interesting (with an air of dread hanging over it). Rather than finding an interesting way to resolve matters, however, the film resorts to the more dangerous of the sexploitation cliches. 

And so the third bit devolves into an offensive bit about how a man that rapes the au pair finds out she was a virgin, takes pity on her, and helps her learn that the whole free love thing isn't her scene. Rather than being angry, the woman just mourns that the memory of losing her virginity will be that she lost it to a rock star that she realizes doesn't really love her. I admit that I was hoping for at least a little revenge plot - maybe that strung out rocker gets what is coming to him for his devious plot - but instead the film shrugs its shoulders at rape and manufactures a sexist, fluffy cautionary tale.

The fourth and best bit features Me Me Lai as an au pair hired by a family to serve as a playmate to a young adult male suffering from a major arrested development problem. You have to accept the rules of the soft-core movie - that Lai falls in love with this immature guy right out of the box - but if you can do that the story takes a surprisingly poignant turn as Lai tries to make it work with the guy until she realizes that his immaturity is too much to overcome. 

The fourth story doesn't go nearly far enough down the road to turn this into a truly surprising gem. It is instead interrupted every couple minutes by the two more idiotic stories in play. Nonetheless, any time you can watch a sexploitation film and actually find yourself interested in the human drama, even if for a moment, it's a major win for the film. Credit to Lai for selling the emotional angle better than anyone else here.

Once the four women run from their circumstances, they all decide to join that Sheik's harem and run off with him. Yes, really.

Guest knows his craft and how to put together a film in a workmanlike and coherent manner. He had, after all, directed some forty films by the time he made Au Pair Girls. He does very little out of the ordinary with the camera but Guest's technical proficiency gives the film a very professional, quality look and feel. He also successfully manages to edit together four disconnected stories without ever losing the thread. It's completely coherent throughout, if entirely silly. I'd note quickly that there is some mildly interesting music here, although Guest plays it over and over until it goes from being catchy to approaching torture.

This is definitely a cut above most of the B-movie sexploitation films technically. Alas, as it is so grounded in a workmanlike, professional manner, there's nothing daring, odd, weird, or particularly interesting here. Trading off technical proficiency for some gonzo moments can be worth it. Middle of the road is generally not where one wants to be when it comes to exploitation films. 

This film is a cut above the average exploitation movie on a lot of levels, but it is also simply too average and, in a perverse way, too good to be of much use as proper grindhouse-type entertainment. It's interesting enough that you probably won't feel enraged that you spent 90 minutes of your life on it, but not nearly fun or smart enough to recommend. There is definitely plenty of nudity if that is what you're after. It also would help if you're into heavy pubic hair. This film is a treasure for the study of early 70s grooming habits. 

Screened on Amazon Prime Instant.