The Smashing Bird I Used to Know

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know
U.S. publicity poster
Directed by	Robert Hartford-Davis
Produced by	Peter Newbrook
Written by	John Peacock
Starring	Renée Asherson Patrick Mower Dennis Waterman Madeleine Hinde Maureen Lipman
Music by	Bobby Richards
Cinematography	Peter Newbrook
Edited by	Don Deacon
Production company	Titan International
Release date	25 August 1969
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know is a 1969 British drama/sexploitation film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Renée Asherson, Patrick Mower, Dennis Waterman, Madeleine Hinde and Maureen Lipman. As with other Hartford-Davis films, The Smashing Bird I Used to Know contains elements from different genres including psychological drama and social commentary. It is best known however as a sexploitation piece featuring nudity, attempted rape and lesbianism. The film features the first screen credit of the then 15-year-old Lesley-Anne Down in a supporting role.

The film was not released in the U.S. until 1973, retitled School for Unclaimed Girls. More recent issues of the film in the UK have also used this title as being less dated and more indicative of the film's content.

Nine-year-old Nicki Johnson attends a funfair with her parents. Her father (David Lodge) takes her on a merry-go-round ride, where Nicki becomes frightened. Attempting to reach over to comfort her, her father instead falls from the ride and is crushed to death in its machinery. The tragedy leaves Nicki traumatised, particularly as in its aftermath she overhears comments suggesting that she was to blame for what happened, which leave her with a permanent sense of guilt.

Seven years on and Nicki (Hinde) is a troubled and confused teenager living with her mother, plagued by flashback nightmares and with an obsession with horses and riding stemming from the merry-go-round horror. Since being widowed, her mother Anne (Renée Asherson) has withdrawn emotionally from her daughter and has sought consolation with a succession of younger lovers. Her latest boyfriend Harry (Mower), who Nicki detests, is a sleazy con-artist who makes his living out of latching on to wealthy older women and fleecing them financially before moving on. Nicki is left largely to her own devices and often plays truant from school, spending the time with her boyfriend Peter (Waterman).

Returning home one day from a riding lesson, Nicki finds herself alone in the house with Harry. He attempts to seduce her, and when she proves resistant, taunts her with the fact that her trust fund is now in his control. A struggle ensues, during which Nicki stabs him several times leaving him seriously injured. For her trouble, she is sent to a remand home for young women with emotional and behavioural problems.