Misbehaviour

Miss World might still go on but it doesn’t go on BBC television and might have been forgotten. And although objectifying people for their looks hasn’t gone away, the idea of selecting women from around the World and parading them in front of judges—like a Meat Market, perhaps, or like Crufts?—seems today like a terrible idea. Even if it was televised in the 80s and was part of growing up in that decade, this film concerns the 1970 contest, which was notable for many reasons, mostly because it was protested by the formative “Women’s Liberation” movement. The film tells the story from their point of view, notably Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley). Sally has a daughter from an ex, and at the beginning is being judged by a panel of men because she wants to enrol at a university—and it seems like Oxford or Cambridge. Finally being accepted by the University of London, Sally begins to study history and meets the women who will ultimately form the group with her.

However there are other sides to the story. The comedian Bob Hope is seen on a morale-boosting tour of the troops in Vietnam, accompanied by the 1969 Miss World, Austrian Eva Rueber-Staier. Hope doesn’t pronounce her name properly and introduces her only by name and her vital statistics. The scene is cringe-worthy and looks to be documentary footage and not staged.

The Miss World organisation is headed up by Eric Morley, a seedy man played with some sympathy by Rhys Ifans. Morley is assisted by Evelyn Alexander (Phylis Logan)—in real life the contest was developed by Morley from a seaside entertainment, starting in Mecca dance halls and ultimately packaged for worldwide television. He married his assistant, who is still in charge of Miss World to this day. 

The organisation is besieged by the women protestors and by the anti-Apartheid movement protesting the racist South African regime… Because the other thing about Miss World 1970 is that there was a white competitor from South Africa and a black competitor from “Africa, South”—which is how Morley sidesteps the inquisitive Peter Hain (who went on to become a Minister). The competition was ultimately won by Jennifer Hosten from Grenada—who had not competed before.

The film marshals different and competing opinions about Miss World. The lady from “Africa, South” has no rights in her own nation and so the competition represents for her a unique opportunity. At the same time the public are less interested in black women whether from Africa or the Caribbean. At home Sally’s daughter watches the show and pretends to be a competitor, which irritates Sally but the grandmother is fine with it. And Bob Hope is persuaded to agree to compère the contest as he is ‘interviewing’ a new “Personal Secretary”. The climate of work for “Personal Secretaries” is played for maximum sickly anachronistic contrasts. Greg Kinnear is made up to look very much like the comedian, and he plays him with a focus on the kind of jokes that wouldn’t get anywhere near a television now—and would be booed in most comedy shows. Whether this is a good or bad thing is down to the viewer: the film doesn’t smash home any of its points. The trailer gives away some of the actual protest but the full version demonstrates how just bags of flour and water pistols (that look like firearms) caused the near derailment of the whole thing. Bob Hope has a man in the pit with cue cards, and at the moment of the attack the card reads “Women’s Feelings” but the hapless cue-card guy ends up sheltering under it. Meanwhile, at a hotel, Hope’s wife (Lesley Manville) watches on television.

There’s probably a lot to say about Bob Hope’s attitude to women and in modern terms he’d probably be rightly pursued by the “Me Too” movement. The film can’t announce the end of the “patriarchy” and it’s always useful to remind everyone that comedians like Jim Davidson probably still make a living, and celebrate that it’s no longer on mainstream television. Maybe Miss World was an opportunity for some—the end titles show that each of the featured competitors, and all of the protesters—went on to live fulfilling lives although Pearl Janson from “Africa South” had to wait over 20 years for freedom. Keira Knightley is very good as Sally Alexander, and her (presumably fictional) encounter with Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is the quietest and possibly best moment of the film. Ms Mbatha-Raw is quietly dignified amongst her Grenadian colleagues who celebrate her win in Caribbean style. And Jessie Buckley is wonderful as Jo Robinson, the lady who takes Sally on, in a manner of speaking: challenging her and probably sharpening her.

The film could have had more of a bite: it’s subtle and you have to take in whatever viewpoint you might have—and you’ll only really be outraged if you’re still smarting about my Jim Davidson remark. It’s an important film because it’s written and directed by women—and it’s a fascinating and entertaining evocation of 1970s attitudes and how little—and how much—has changed.