Mary Millington, the saucy queen of England’s swingin’ sexploitation (hardcore and otherwise) scene of the late ’70s/early ‘8os, set hearts a-flutter… and the crotch of men’s pants a-tightening… lived a mere 33 years, but her legacy continues to flourish… which brings us to the latest Blu-ray release from Arrow Video (along with MVD Entertainment); The Mary Millington Movie Collection!
The Collection contains five main features; Come Play with Me (1977), The Playbirds (1978), Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair (1979), Queen of the Blues (1979), Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions (1980), as well scads of extras, and the documentary Respectable – The Mary Millington Story (2015).
Come Play with Me concerns two codgers (Alfie Bass and George Harrison Marks… the latter of which wrote, produced, and directed the picture), forgers by trade, who decide to lay low at a health facility… a facility packed to the brim with horny nurses!
While not the star per se, Millington definitely stands out from the lovely ladies assembled, and it’s easy to see she was headed for greater things than playing second… or seventh banana in a low-tier sex comedy.
Come Play with Me features commentary courtesy of Millington documentarian Simon Sheridan and actress Sue Longhurst (as a note, the commentaries in this set focus on the guest and their career and how it dovetailed with Millington’s rather than taking a detailed look at the given film’s production), the film’s trailer, an at times touching conversation with Mark’s daughter Josie, and and Sex is My Business, an 8mm skin flick starring Millington.
The Playbirds features Millington as a policewoman who infiltrates the porn biz to catch a killer targeting centerfold models.
This film is definitely the best of the films assembled and showcases Mary’s appeal and charms (if not her acting chops) as well as featuring an absolute ass-load of bare flesh, sex, and a splash of the ridiculous… a true recipe for success if ya ask yours cruelly!
The Playbirds disc also contains a Sheridan commentary track (this time featuring the film’s producer/director Willy Roe), as well as featurettes on writer Harry Knights (who wrote for Playbird magazine which is central to the film’s plot) and girlie photographer George Richardson, and Response, another 8mm picture.
Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair concerns the titular playboy astrologer spends his days and nights balls deep in fortunes and fuckin’, but he soon finds himself in hot water with the law! Hilarity and boobs ensue.
What can I say… this is by far the most ludicrous of the assembled pictures, and the film definitely gets bonus points for that, as does the inclusion of legendary British sexpot Diana Dors.
As for bonus material here we get an interview with actress Sally Faulkner, a modern look at the locations utilized in Millington’s films, and a trio of 8mm pictures; Arabian Knights, Wild Lovers, and Party Pieces.
Queen of the Blues features Millington as a stripper who’s place of employment is being shook down by the local mob. Of course it’s up to the girls, and an unexpected helping hand, to save the day.
This would be the last film on this set to include Mary’s participation as she committed suicide in august of 1979… but this being a deep dive into the exploitation biz, we still have two films to review as the show must go on even if the star didn’t.
Case in point is Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions, also featured on disc four, which is a documentary detailing the stars life in often candid detail that was released a year after her death.
While that may seem a smidge ghoulish (and it is… but the doc is solid), the other film contained on this disc, Mary Millington’s World Striptease Extravaganza (1981) is the bottom of the barrel, and contains the loose plot of a stripping contest… and while not a downer of a film, it’s obvious attempt at a cash grab is depressing to say the least.
As for bonus material, we get Sheridan commentaries for the first two films (where he’s joined by actors Allan Warren and David Sullivan respectively), a featurette about Millington’s erotic audio recordings, a prologue for the film Emmanuelle in Soho (1981) which utilizes footage shot for Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions, and a new opening sequence created for the VHS release of Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions (where it was retitled as The Naked Truth).
Finally we get Sheridan’s feature-length documentary about Millington; Respectable – The Mary Millington Story.
This film is the star of the show, and presents a fascinating glimpse into Mary’s life told by the people that knew her best… friends, family, co-workers… all are spoken to, and all give candid testimonials about their all-too brief time with Millington.
As for special features we get a Sheridan audio commentary (featuring Sam Dunn of the British Film Institute), a doc on how Sheridan became so fascinated with Millington, and the film’s trailer.
Also included in the set is an 80 page book, also written by Sheridan, that contains scads of photos and info, and is honestly worth the price of admission alone.
If you love Millington, or are a fan of sexploitation flicks, this set is an absolute must own; it’s a solid collection of the star’s softcore output, and the bonus material is extraordinary. Highly recommended!
*Note: while this collection is a UK release, it played perfectly on my standard US 4K player
