Au Pair Girls

Au Pair Girls

Year: 1972

Runtime: 85 mins

Language: English

Director: Val Guest

Comedy

Four attractive foreign women arrive in England to work as au pairs. While living with their host families, they quickly form close, intimate relationships not only with their employers but also with many of the people they encounter, creating a web of personal connections across the community.

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Timeline & Setting – Au Pair Girls (1972)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Au Pair Girls (1972). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Early 1970s

The events unfold in the early 1970s Britain, a period marked by shifts in social mores and the rise of youth culture. Fashion, music, and a permissive climate provide a backdrop for comic sexual escapades and the blurring of employer-employee boundaries. The narrative uses the era’s disposable wealth and international travel to set up the contrasts between wealth, class, and desire.

Location

Heathrow Airport, London

The opening sequence follows four au pairs arriving at Heathrow and proceeding to an overseas employment agency in London. Much of the story unfolds in London settings—the agency offices, the Howards' and Wainwrights' homes, and other venues that underscore the city as a backdrop for mobility and opportunity. The airport setting frames the theme of travel, border-crossing boundaries, and the lure of a chance for a better life.

✈️ Airport 🏙️ London 🎬 1970s

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:26

Main Characters – Au Pair Girls (1972)

Meet the key characters of Au Pair Girls (1972), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Anita Sector (Astrid Frank)

Anita is assigned to the Howards, but she proves rebellious and calculating: she floods the house, goes on a date with Malcolm, and eventually ends up alongside a wealthy sheik. Her bold, unscrupulous nature drives her to seek opportunity through risky, boundary-pushing choices.

💃 Bold 🧭 Resourceful ⚖️ Defiant

Randi Lindstrom (Gabrielle Drake)

Randi is placed with Mr. Wainwright’s family and becomes entangled with his son Stephen. Her attraction leads to a reckless, improvised moment—opening up discussions of desire and propriety within a patriarchal setting.

💃 Bold 💞 Seductive 🧭 Impulsive

Nan Lee (Me Me Lai)

Nan serves Rupert as a playmate while exposing Rupert’s immaturity and her own agency. She seduces him and leaves, reflecting independence but also the transactional nature of the arrangement.

👧 Youthful 🕊️ Discerning 🗺️ Adventurous

Christa Geisler (Nancie Wait)

Christa is the virgin placed with the Fairfax family. Her status makes her a target for manipulation by Carole’s schemes, revealing the exploitation embedded in the employment setup. She ultimately asserts some autonomy by choosing to leave.

💎 Innocence 🧭 Vulnerable 💥 Exploited

Rupert (Julian Barnes)

Rupert is the Tryke family’s son, groomed as a concert pianist. His sheltered world is challenged by Nan’s seduction, highlighting a gap between his age-appropriate development and adult-style interactions.

🧒 Youth 🎼 Talent 🗺️ Naive

Stephen (Richard O'Sullivan)

Stephen is Mr. Wainwright’s son who becomes involved with Randi. Their naked car encounter the next morning reveals the collision of desire with parental oversight and business concerns.

💼 Privilege 💘 Desire 🧭 Recklessness

Mr Wainwright (John Le Mesurier)

A businessman whose household becomes a microcosm for social hierarchies and control. His reaction to the affair with his son illustrates tension between propriety and sensual caprice.

💼 Wealthy 🧭 Controlling 🎭 Complex

Mrs Howard (Daphne Anderson)

Part of the host family, she embodies the authority of employers who set the stage for the au pair placements and the social environment in which the events unfold.

👩‍💼 Authority 🗺️ Domestic 🕊️ Traditional

Mr Howard (Geoffrey Bayldon)

The husband in the Howards’ household, whose discomfort with Anita signals early friction in the assignment and a clash of personalities.

👔 Authority 🕳️ Discomfort 🧭 Social

Lord Tryke (Harold Bennett)

A patriarch whose status and expectations frame Rupert’s upbringing and the social milieu that Nan navigates and eventually disrupts.

🕰️ Aristocracy 🛡️ Protection 🗺️ Elite

Lady Tryke (Rosalie Crutchley)

The aristocratic matriarch who anchors the Tryke household and social circle in which the children are groomed.

👑 Aristocracy 🕊️ Etiquette 🕯️ Wealth

Ricky Strange (Steve Patterson)

A pop star used in Carole and Christa’s scheme to arouse and entertain the Fairfax family. He embodies a fame-driven temptress culture that preys on young women’s ambitions.

🎤 Pop Culture 💫 Fame 🌀 Exploitation

Buster (John Standing)

A boorish figure who serves as a vehicle for sexual misadventure and humor, representing the male gaze and casual sexuality that threads through the plot.

💬 Boorish 🌀 Humor 💥 Repercussion

Mrs Fairfax (Marianne Stone)

The Fairfax family matriarch whose household provides the setting for Christa’s experiences and the wider social game of seduction.

👩‍🦳 Domestic 🕯️ Social 💼 Wealth

Carole (Lyn Yeldham)

A scheming friend who masterminds a ruse to help Christa attract Ricky, while pursuing her own interest in Ricky’s attention and the social cache it affords.

🧭 Manipulative 🧠 Cunning 🕊️ Social

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:26

Major Themes – Au Pair Girls (1972)

Explore the central themes of Au Pair Girls (1972), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💰 Exploitation

The plot centers on young women lured into overseas placements and then coerced into sexual arrangements or used as conveniences by wealthier men. The Overseas Employment Agency and the wealth of the Sheik El Abab illustrate how labor and sex are commodified for entertainment and profit. Each grooming sequence reveals power imbalances and a casual attitude toward coercion that underpins the comedic tone.

🗺️ Mobility

Movement is a core driver of the story: from airport arrivals to long car rides and new households. The au pairs navigate different social spaces—agency offices, city homes, and luxurious destinations—reflecting the era's promises of escape and opportunity. This mobility highlights the fragility of the young women's autonomy as they are shuffled between strangers and social expectations.

🎭 Agency

The women exercise varying degrees of agency, from Anita's sharp manipulation to Christa's reluctant participation and Nan's pointed seduction. The narrative depicts moments where characters resist expectations, choose a path of independence, or recognize the costs of their choices. Yet the ending suggests the cycle continues as alliances shift and new plans form.

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:26

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Au Pair Girls Summary

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Au Pair Girls Summary

Au Pair Girls Timeline

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Au Pair Girls Timeline

More About Au Pair Girls

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