The Yellow Teddy Bears

1963 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis

July 1963 (1963-07) (UK)
July 1964 (1964-07) (US)

Running time

88 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

The Yellow Teddy Bears (also known as The Yellow Teddybears; USA release titles: The Yellow Golliwog, Gutter Girls and The Thrill Seekers) is a 1963 British exploitation^[1] drama film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Jacqueline Ellis, Iain Gregory, Raymond Huntley and Georgina Patterson.^[2]^[3]

Plot

Linda Donaghue is a pupil at a Peterbridge New Town Grammar School for Girls, where a girl wears a lapel badge – a yellow teddy bear – as a mark that she has slept with a man. Linda finds she is pregnant, by window cleaner and part-time pop singer Kinky Karson. An abortion is arranged, but is halted by Linda's father. Biology teacher Anne Mason realises the significance of the badge, and tells her class about her own experiences. The school governors ask her to explain what is going on. She resigns, and storms out of the meeting claiming that the system does not properly explain the differences between love and lust.

Cast

Jacqueline Ellis as Anne Mason
Iain Gregory as Kinky Karson
Georgina Patterson as Pat Long
John Bonney as Paul
Annette Whiteley as Linda Donaghue
Douglas Sheldon as Mike Griffin
Victor Brooks as George Donaghue
Anne Kettle as Sally
Lesley Dudley as Joan
Jill Adams as June Wilson
John Glyn-Jones as Benny Wintle
Raymond Huntley as Harry Halburton
Harriette Johns as Lady Gregg
Noel Dyson as Muriel Donaghue
Richard Bebb as Frank Lang
Ann Castle as Eileen Lang
Micheline Patton as Mrs. Broome
The Embers as themselves

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Silly, sordid, and splendidly ludicrous cautionary tale, set in a school which appears to teach only biology (diagrams of the human body) and art (copying from nude statuary). All the customary unsavoury ingredients are dragged in, the acting is nothing to speak about, and the direction hits a new low."^[4]

Variety said "This probe into juvenile delinquency is clearly inspired by a case reported some time ago of a school where some of the girl pupils wore yellow gollywogs as a sign that they'd surrendered their virginity. The teddybears in his film are the same flaunting symbols. It is a competently made film, with several good performances, and directed tactfully by Robert Hartford-Davis, but the screenplay is too superficial and full of cliches for this not overly original subject to make much impact ... Miss Ellis gives a spirited performance as the biology mistress. Miss Whiteley, as the goodtime girl, and Georgina Patterson, as her innocent friend, are convincing though both lack experience."

In his essay The Yellow Teddybears: Exploitation as Education,^[5] Adrian Smith wrote: "The script is generally sympathetic in tone to the viewpoint of the schoolgirls, and condemns the outdated attitudes of parents and authority figures, the latter represented by the school governors. It contains dialogue which contributes to the notion that the filmmakers are genuinely attempting to address a social problem."

References

^ Murphy, Robert (1992). Sixties British CInema. london: British Film Institute. p. 78. ISBN 0851703240.
^ "The Yellow Teddy Bears". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^ Hamilton, John (2005). Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser. FAB Press. pp. 26–29. ISBN 978-1903254271.
^ "The Yellow Teddy Bears". Monthly Film Bulletin. 30 (348): 122. 1963. ProQuest 1305824412 – via ProQuest.
^ Smith, Adrian (2022). "The Yellow Teddybears: Exploitation as Education". In Egan, Kate (ed.). Researching Historical Screen Audiences. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 166–182. doi:10.1515/9781474477833-013. ISBN 9781474477819.