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Cabaret Girl

This ultra-kitsch documentary goes behind the scenes at Murray's Cabaret Club, where Christine Keeler was later a showgirl.

Documentary 1956 26 mins Silent

Overview

Submerge yourself in gleefully gaudy 50s kitsch with this flamboyant fly-on-the-wall documentary, which shows just what it took to become a glamorous nightclub hostess. Beak Street, Soho, was the lurid location of Murray's Cabaret Club, a steamy cellar bar where women in skimpy costumes sang and danced for the well-to-do. Notable patrons included Princess Margaret and the Kray twins.

Club owner Percival 'Pops' Murray - seen here lecturing would-be showgirls, inspecting their costumes and smoking endless cigarettes - hired Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler for his cabaret some years after this film was shot. Keeler was later at the heart of the Profumo affair, which effectively destabilised Macmillan's Conservative government.