The Yellow Teddy Bears

{{Short description|1963 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Use British English|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = The Yellow Teddybears | image = The_Yellow_Teddy_Bears_film_poster_(1963).png | caption = UK theatrical release quad poster | director = [[Robert Hartford-Davis]] | producer = [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]], [[Tony Tenser]] | writer = | screenplay = Donald Ford and [[Derek Ford]] | based_on = | starring = Jacqueline Ellis Iain Gregory | music = Malcolm Mitchell | cinematography = | editing = | studio = Animated Motion Pictures, Tekli Films | distributor = Compton Films (UK) Topaz (US) | released = {{Film date|1963|07||UK|1964|07||US}} | runtime = 88 minutes | language = English | country = United Kingdom | budget = }} '''''The Yellow Teddy Bears''''' (also known as '''''The Yellow Teddybears'''''; US release titles: '''''The Yellow Golliwog''''', '''''Gutter Girls''''' and '''''The Thrill Seekers''''') is a 1963 British [[Exploitation film|exploitation]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Robert |title=Sixties British CInema |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |year=1992 |isbn=0851703240 |location=london |pages=78}}</ref> [[drama film]] directed by [[Robert Hartford-Davis]] and starring Jacqueline Ellis, Iain Gregory, [[Raymond Huntley]] and Georgina Patterson.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Yellow Teddy Bears |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150057035 |access-date=20 November 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=John |title=Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser |publisher=FAB Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1903254271 |pages=26–29}}</ref> It was written by Donald Ford and [[Derek Ford]].

==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 (actor)|John Bonney]] as Paul * Annette Whiteley as Linda Donaghue * [[Doug Sheldon|Douglas Sheldon]] as Mike Griffin * [[Victor Brooks (actor)|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."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1963 |title=The Yellow Teddy Bears |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305824412 |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=30 |issue=348 |pages=122 |id={{ProQuest|1305824412}}}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|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 [[golliwog|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'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Adrian |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781474477833-013/html |title=Researching Historical Screen Audiences |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=9781474477819 |editor-last=Egan |editor-first=Kate |pages=166–182 |chapter=The Yellow Teddybears: Exploitation as Education|doi=10.1515/9781474477833-013 }}</ref> 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== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0058169}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD2E4hGbSr8&ab_channel=FlickVault-FullHDMoviesforFree ''The Yellow Teddy Bears''] on [[YouTube]] channel ''[https://www.youtube.com/@FlickVault Flick Vault]''.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yellow Teddy Bears, The}} [[Category:1963 films]] [[Category:1963 drama films]] [[Category:British drama films]] [[Category:Films directed by Robert Hartford-Davis]] [[Category:1963 English-language films]] [[Category:1963 British films]] [[Category:English-language drama films]]