Keep It Up, Jack
1974 · Directed by Derek Ford · UK
Keep It Up, Jack (1974) is another entry from the incorrigible Derek Ford, he who brought What’s Up Nurse!, Groupie Girl and many other sexploitation favourites to the cinemas of the early 1970s. Mark Jones plays the put-upon Jack, a quick-change artist who finds himself the recipient of a redundant brothel from his dead Auntie. While perusing the “house of ill repute” he chances upon Virginia, played by the prolific sexploitation star Sue Longhurst. She has never met Auntie, so Jack hatches a plan to impersonate his dead relative and bring the business back with the help of Virginia and her contacts of girls and punters.
What ensues is a catalogue of saucy encounters involving whipped cream, occult whipping and a champagne-soaked threesome. The film is punctuated with the a cappella harmony “Keep It Up, Jack”, just to remind the viewer that Jack has more on his plate than he can really deal with. Jack falls in love with new girl Fleur, played by the cute Maggi Burton, and a plot is made to kill off the character of Auntie so Jack can finally get his girl.
As 70s sexploitation goes it has the usual bedroom farce, nudity and some racy scenes that are a staple of Derek Ford’s oeuvre. The Guardian’s Derek Malcolm wrote: “you might think that with a modicum of talent, the film might be mildly erotic or passably funny. But believe me, it’s not.” It has gained a more favourable cult retro-reputation since that scathing review, and I think it is a must-see for fans of British sex comedies.
