ESCORT GIRLS is a British slice of grubby sexploitation from one-man-band Donovan Winters, who wrote, directed, and produced the thing. Winters once had an acting career of sorts in the 1950s before turning his hand to such exploitation fare as SOME LIKE IT SEXY and GIVE US TOMORROW, and ESCORT GIRLS sees him weaving together a number of sub-plots based around the theme of escorts, both male and female.
What becomes quickly apparent watching this is just how depressing a film it is. It seems that all of the main characters are lonely and lacking something, mainly human company; they're using escorts out of desperation. As such the frequent sex scenes feel grubby and tend to use actresses who are either middle aged or not particularly attractive, no offence intended to them. It's hard to imagine this succeeding as a work of titillation akin to the softcore porn genre with its idealistic portrayal of beautiful women.
What ESCORT GIRLS does work as is a time capsule of '70s values and ideals. The viewer is treated to many scenes of London in all of its grubby glory, and the contrasting lives between the working and middle classes. Many of the scenes feel very dated, particularly in regard to the racist retorts aimed at a black escort and the later jaw-dropping fantasy scenes of him in full tribal regalia. Latter scenes of desperate middle-aged women seeking the company of young men feel very sad indeed and leave a depressing aftertaste in the mouth. It's hard to know what Winters was aiming to achieve with this film.
What becomes quickly apparent watching this is just how depressing a film it is. It seems that all of the main characters are lonely and lacking something, mainly human company; they're using escorts out of desperation. As such the frequent sex scenes feel grubby and tend to use actresses who are either middle aged or not particularly attractive, no offence intended to them. It's hard to imagine this succeeding as a work of titillation akin to the softcore porn genre with its idealistic portrayal of beautiful women.
What ESCORT GIRLS does work as is a time capsule of '70s values and ideals. The viewer is treated to many scenes of London in all of its grubby glory, and the contrasting lives between the working and middle classes. Many of the scenes feel very dated, particularly in regard to the racist retorts aimed at a black escort and the later jaw-dropping fantasy scenes of him in full tribal regalia. Latter scenes of desperate middle-aged women seeking the company of young men feel very sad indeed and leave a depressing aftertaste in the mouth. It's hard to know what Winters was aiming to achieve with this film.