The Playbirds
| The Playbirds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Willy Roe |
| Produced by | David Sullivan |
| Written by | Willy Roe |
| Starring |
Mary Millington Alan Lake Glynn Edwards Suzy Mandel Kenny Lynch |
| Distributed by | Tigon |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £120,000 |
The Playbirds is a 1978 British sexploitation film made by Irish-born director Willy Roe and starring 1970s' pin-up Mary Millington alongside Glynn Edwards, Suzy Mandel and Windsor Davies. When a series of female centrefolds from the glamour magazine Playbirds are murdered by an obsessive fanatic, Scotland Yard are called to investigate the lurid world of pornography.
History
Filmed over four weeks in the winter of 1977, The Playbirds was the official follow-up to Come Play with Me, which also starred Mary Millington. The actress collaborated with director Willy Roe on two further sexploitation pictures, Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair and Queen of the Blues, both released theatrically in the summer of 1979.
Cast
- Mary Millington ... WPC Lucy Sheridan
- Alan Lake ... Harry Dougan
- Glynn Edwards ... Inspector Holbourne
- Derren Nesbitt ... Jeremy
- Suzy Mandel ... Lena
- Windsor Davies ... Assistant Police Commissioner
- Penny Spencer ... WPC Andrews
- Gavin Campbell ... Inspector Harry Morgan
- Kenny Lynch ... Police Doctor
- Sandra Dorne ... Dougan's Secretary
- Dudley Sutton ... Hern
- Alec Mango ... Ransome
- Pat Astley ... Doreen
- Ballard Berkeley ... Trainer
- Michael Gradwell ... Terry Day
- Anthony Kenyon ... Dolby
- Ron Flangan ... Wilson
- André Trottier ... Kenny
- John M. East ... Media Man
- Gordon Salkilld ... Police Photographer
- Nigel Gregory ... Expert 1
- Tom McCabe ... Expert 2
- Pat Gorman ... Expert 3
- Susie Silvey ... WPC Taylor
- Theresa Wood ... Photo model
- Derek Aylward ... Older massage man (uncredited)
- Gloria Brittain ... Crucifix model (uncredited)
- Cosey Fanni Tutti ... Extra (uncredited)
- Howard Nelson ... Caped man (uncredited)
- Tony Scannell ... Man at depot (uncredited)
- Erika von Jump ... Foxy the Masseuse
- Kenny B Nichols ... Tramp at Car (uncredited)
Special Edition DVD
The Playbirds was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2010 by Odeon Entertainment. The film has been digitally remastered and the disc features an extensive stills gallery, production notes written by historian Simon Sheridan, plus Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza (1981) and Response, a short lesbian film, starring Mary Millington, made in 1974.
References
Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema by Simon Sheridan (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London) (2011)