source: Contest Girl

The Beauty Jungle

When this film was released beauty contests were very popular.Miss UK,Miss GB,Miss World and Miss Universe etc.This film initially sets out to expose the sleaze behind the glamour.Ian Hendry is a cynical journalist who plays Svengali to Janette Scott's Trilby.The problem is that rather like Dr Frankenstein having created a being he is unable to stop her going off on an eventual self destructive path.All well and good up to the point that Scott wins the Rose Of England contest.It seems as is the film looses interest in the sleaze and is seduced by the glamour.As a result the last three quarters of an hour pass very slowly and are rather boring.It is also rather difficult to accept the scene where Scott offers herself to Hendry who refuses because she doesn't love him.Rather out of character .The film is at least for its first hour an interesting view of a phenomenon which has now passed into social history.

I saw this film long back and liked it very much. This is an honest depiction about the ugliness behind beauty business. Late Ian Hendry is good and so is Janette Scott. The dark side of beauty business is vividly shown here, the middle class ambitions and its inability to take hard failure ultimately is wonderfully depicted here. Film also points a finger towards brutal journalistic trends which needs scapegoats or people who could be used as stories. It uses them and spits them away (like the case of leading lady of this picture). It is a wonder, why this film is not even heard of these days when so many fashion shows are taking place. This tells behind the scene truths about such beauty events and nothing much has changed. It also has a shattering end that will move you to tears. 7 out of 10.