Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Mondo Enquiry - Who are the Women in Red and Blue?

Whilst watching London in the Raw (1964), we noticed that two certain red and blue dress-clad ladies kept popping up throughout the swinging picture, usually chatting up a gentleman bloke or the like.



A question to pose then, a mondo enquiry of sorts as it were, is who are they?

Below is a rundown of their appearances in the film, replete with images thereof to help anyone in identifying them. Are they friends of co-director/writer/co-producer Arnold Louis Miller, or co-producers Stanley Long and Tony Tenser, or someone else involved in the production of the film? Did Miller & Co. originally plan to have two hostesses of sorts introduce each club segment? Did the film crew just decide to stalk these two gals on a night out? If you have any idea who they are and/or why they keep appearing in the film in various scenes, please do leave a comment and help shed some light on this mondo enquiry.

Appendix 1: A Listing of the Mystery Ladies' Appearances in the BFI DVD Theatrical Version of London in the Raw.


Nota bene: All times are approximate and are based on the Theatrical Version of the film as released on the British Film Institute (BFI) Flipside series DVD. The times are from the Theatrical Version as opposed to the Mystery Version due to the fact that the latter has fewer appearances of the mystery ladies than the former (with no appearances in the Mystery Version which also aren't in the Theatrical Version).

  1. The Lady in Blue (LB) first makes her appearance hitting the dance floor at The Whiskey a Go-Go just past 17 minutes into the film.


  2. The Lady in Red (LR) in turn makes her first appearance at the Flanagan's restaurant at about 20 minutes into the film, where she places an order.


  3. LB then appears at about 27 minutes, at The Paintbox where punters can try their hand at sketching nude models.


  4. Also notable is that at about 36.5 minutes, during the audience reaction shots of the Jewish theatre performance, we see another lady in red who is not the same as the aforementioned LR, but is nonetheless wearing the same dress as LR!


  5. At the Rheingold Club, about 40 minutes in, we now see LB and LR together as they enjoy a pint and celebrate Carnival.


  6. Not staying long at the Rheingold, it seems that LB and LR decided to go club hopping and popped into the Omar Khayyam Club for some hookah smoking a little before 43 minutes into the film.


  7. LB then appears to be on her own at about 47.5 minutes when she drops by the New Churchills Club.


  8. But not to worry, LB and LR are reunited again when they both visit the 21 Room Club at about 59.5 minutes where a classy geezer introduces them to gambling tokens.


  9. LB and LR make their final appearance just before the 68.5 minute mark at the end of the film, at The Blue Angel.


Once again, if you have any ideas about who these two recurring femmes are or why they're repeatedly in the picture, please do leave a comment.

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