The Smashing Bird I Used to Know ** (1969, Madeleine Hinde, Renée Asherson, Dennis Waterman, Maureen Lipman, Derek Fowlds) – Classic Movie Review 9275

‘One step up from the gutter and one kiss away from jail!’

Director Robert Hartford-Davis’s 1969 drama The Smashing Bird I Used to Know [School for Unclaimed Girls] stars Madeleine Hinde [Madeline Hinde] as Nicki Johnson, who murders her mother’s lover and ends up in reform school with Sarah, played by a very young Maureen Lipman.

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know is a torrid, exploitative prison drama, as dated as its title, but with good performances from a decent cast, though the lesbianism and full frontals make it seem that the producers were not going for the arty cinemagoers of the day.

The screenplay writers are John Peacock and Robert Hartford-Davis.

Also in the cast are Renée Asherson, Dennis Waterman, Lesley-Anne Down, Patrick Mower, Faith Brook, Janina Faye, David Lodge, Derek Fowlds, Colette O’Neil, Megs Jenkins, Cleo Sylvestre, Valerie Wallace, Michelle Cook, Tania, Carol Rachell, Cherith Mellor, Cynthia Lund, Douglas Fisher, Sheila Steafel, Valerie Van Ost, Helen Christie, Joanna David and Heller Torren.

It is shot at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, and in Oxford.

It is made by Titan International Productions and Lucinda Films.

Hinde has an introducing credit in her film debut. She retired in 1981. It is also Lesley-Anne Down’s film debut.

RIP Derek Fowlds (1937 – 2020).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9275

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