CELEBRATING 70 YEARS! - LADY GODIVA RIDES AGAIN aka BIKINI BABY .. 1951 BRITISH LION / LONDON FILMS ..

 

A London Films Release
LADY GODIVA RIDES AGAIN
starring
Pauline Stroud    Diana Dors     Dennis Price  John Mc Callum     Stanley Holloway  Gladys Henson Eddie Byrne   Kay Kendall    Cyril Chamberlain   George Cole  Dora Bryan   Sidney James   Alastair Sims
 &  Joan Collins as Beauty Contestant!
Written by Frank Launder & Val Valentine             Music by William Alwyn
Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper                    Produced by Sydney Gilliat

                                    Directed by Frank Launder
(c) 1951 91Mins B/W Available on Region 2 DVD from Network UK.

Made in 1951 this is Joan's first film, although she is only glimpsed as a beauty queen contestant, but it was a start and she was delighted to be working with the legendary duo of Sydney Gilliat & Frank Launder, who produced the film as well as classics, The St Trinian's series and The Green Man. The film was inspired by the 1950 Miss Kent beauty competition.

Joan's co-stars were also popular British stars including Dora Bryan and Sidney James and of course legendary Diana Dors. Joan had tested for the leading role of Marjorie Clarke, the small town girl who wins the beauty pageant and becomes involved in the not so glamorous world of films! The role went to Pauline Stroud who only made a handful of films after this and whose last screen appearance was for TV in 1972. Joan however went on to have a long and continuing career!

Joan spent three day's freezing in a bathing suit at Leas Cliff town hall in Folkestone by the sea. Diana Dors played the more experienced beauty queen Dolores August, who has a string of titles and by hook or by crook (usually by crook),plans to land the title of Miss Fascination. In the film Diana has to wear some revealing bikini's, which would have been too racy for the American film censors of the time. For the export prints, extra shots with Diana and the other girls in less revealing bathing suits had to be filmed. Star Pauline Stroud was not keen on her costumes and commented to the press.

" I shall be glad when this is over! I dislike parading in a swimsuit!"

The beauty parade scenes took six hours to shoot with Diana along with starlets Jean Marsh, Simone Silva, Dana Wynter and Joan, parading up and down the studio pre-fabricated stairs.The tabloid newspapers of the time, compared the casting of the female lead as similar to the hunt for Scarlet O'Hara! No wonder Pauline Stroud's career was Gone With The Wind!! Although we only get a fleeting glance at Joan, the film has a wonderful cast of characters with many of Britain's popular faces of the day and is well worth an afternoon's viewing..

                           Most recent dvd/bluray release from Network..

Order the bluray of Lady Godiva Rides Again here!

Order the dvd of Lady Godiva Rides Again here!

The USA release was retitled 'Bikini Baby' and gave Diana Dors the star billing..