The Brits simply don't get sex, and it is always educational to compare how the English do it on film with other countries. The Germans tend to take a regimented point of view and accompany it with oompah bands. The French are very matter of fact and photograph it beautifully. The Americans take it very seriously. And the Brits? So tied up with Victorian guilt are we that the only way we can bear to put sex in the public domain is to call it "bonking" and try to laugh at it. Hence a string of pre-internet so-called sex comedies which take the Carry On approach, but miss the point that the innuendo was what made the Carry Ons funny by taking it a step further and spelling everything out in full-frontal detail.

Au Pair Girls is a case in point. The flimsy plot is hardly worth mentioning, the script even less so (other than to point out that it's not actually very funny).

However, there are worthwhile things to observe (at least several of which belong to Gabrielle Drake, har har).

The first is that, so run down was the British entertainment industry (particularly in the 70s) that this film, in common with many of its ilk, boasts a decent array of relatively high profile talent, taking work where they can in order to pay their mortgages. I'm sure they would rather have been in Hamlet, but there you go - beggars can't be choosers (the aforementioned Miss Drake went on to TV success not long after exposing her frontage and nethers in this offering, for instance).

The second is that there are some pretty girls with no clothes on.

But that's about it, really.

AU PAIR GIRLS is a pretty decent example of the British sex comedy film of the 1970s, especially when compared to other entries in the genre during the decade. It has strong production values - thanks to being produced by the great Tigon Pictures studios - and even better direction courtesy of veteran helmer Val Guest, just before he went on to make possibly the ultimate example of the genre in 1974, CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER.

What stands out about AU PAIR GIRLS is the unusual and highly watchable plotting. Instead of having a single plot strand dragged out to feature length, this is a kind of anthology movie which follows the misadventures of four foreign au pairs who arrive in England and each find themselves in an unusual situation with their new-found employer. Chances are that if you don't like one of the stories then at least one of the others will be more appealing.

The arresting Gabrielle Drake stars in the most typical of the story lines about a girl who gets into various run-ins with the son of her new employer, played by Richard O'Sullivan. There's a lot of slapstick humour in this tale, and ample nudity from the beautiful Drake. Astrid Frank is a Swedish au pair who causes Geoffrey Bayldon to get hot under the collar before falling in with Trevor Bannister's photographer. Next up we get the oddest tale, an oddly touching story starring the one and only Me Me Lai (star of those Italian cannibal films) who has never looked more lovely and who falls in with a child-like man. The last tale, by far the darkest, involves Nancie Wait's virginal young woman who ends up being introduced to the sleazy side of the music world.

The supporting cast is quite good, with the ubiquitous John Le Mesurier popping up in a cameo and future CORONATION STREET actor Johnny Briggs doing his best to pick up the girls. There are bit parts for John Standing, Marianne Stone, and Milton Reid, plus the unusual sight of Ferdy Mayne playing a sheikh. What impresses most is that although the four actresses are all picked for their looks and willingness to go nude, they're actually quite talented performers who convince in their roles and evoke emotion in the viewer. More than your usual sex comedy, then.

You can pick apart this film for the cheesiness of some of its scenes, the not so great acting, especially the fake accents, and general flimsy story, but somehow this all works. The absolutely gorgeous Gabrielle Drake (sister of the late, great singer/songwriter Nick Drake) is so sexy, you forget her Scandinavian accent is pretty awful. There is copious nudity here, but there also is a story. I especially liked the scenes with Nan (Me Me Lay) and piano prodigy Rupert, they are more sweet than overtly sexy. The 70's brought a lot of these sex comedies, but this one is far less sleazy than many of them. Its not meant to be a classic, but it is in its genre. If you like these films, its worth watching. The ladies are amazing, which is meant to be the draw in the first place.