title: Lady Godiva Rides Again
text: Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.
  
  The film was released in the United States under its original title in 1953 by Carroll Pictures, then was re-released in the United States as Bikini Baby, to capitalize on the profile of supporting player Diana Dors, who was given star billing with the new title.
  
  It also features Joan Collins in her film debut as an uncredited beauty contestant. Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in England, also appears as an uncredited beauty queen. Ruth, who was four months pregnant at the time, had dyed her hair black and had styled it into a bob. Other young starlets in the film included Diana Russell, Dana Wynter (billed as Dagmar Wynter), Anne Heywood (billed as Violet Pretty), Yvonne Brooks, Simone Silva, Jean Marsh and Pat Marlowe. It also featured Sid James in one of his first film roles. Trevor Howard has an uncredited cameo as a cinema patron.
  
  Plot
  
  On a rainy Sunday afternoon in Coventry Johnny takes his girlfriend to the cinema. In the intermission between films, as Johnny gets an ice-cream, she sees an advertisement on-screen asking for girls to compete for the position of Lady Godiva in the annual street festival. She decides she will enter.
  
  Cast
  
  Pauline Stroud as Marjorie Clark 
  Bernadette O'Farrell as Janie 
  George Cole as Johnny 
  Stanley Holloway as Mr. Clark 
  Gladys Henson as Mrs. Clark 
  John McCallum as Larry Burns
  Dennis Price as Simon Abott 
  Diana Dors as Dolores August 
  Eddie Byrne as Eddie Mooney 
  Kay Kendall as Sylvia Clark
  Cyril Chamberlain as Harry
  Lyn Evans as Vic
  Dora Bryan as Publicity Woman
  Sid James as Lew Beeson 
  Richard Wattis as Casting Director
  Renee Houston as Beattie
  Arthur Howard as Soap Publicity Man
  Michael Ripper as Joe - Stage Manager
  Dana Wynter as	Myrtle Shaw
  Leslie Mitchell as TV interviewer
  Tommy Duggan as a Compere
  Felix Felton as a Councillor
  Anne Heywood as Dorothy Marlowe, beauty pageant contestant
  Alastair Sim as Hawtrey Murington (uncredited)
  Googie Withers as Susan Foster (uncredited)
  Trevor Howard as a cinema patron extra (uncredited)
  Joan Collins as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
  Ruth Ellis as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
  Jean Marsh as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
  
  Production
  The film was inspired by the Miss Kent 1950 beauty competition held at Leas Cliff Hall in Kent. Frank Launder, joint producer of the film with Leslie Gilliatt, was one of the judges in the competition.  Audrey Hepburn tested for the title role but was judged too thin.
  
  The film was originally called Beauty Queen.
  
  The filmmakers reportedly tested over 500 women to play the lead role including Joan Collins and Audrey Hepburn. The actor picked was Pauline Stroud. Her  only previous film experience was as Vera-Ellen's stand-in in Happy Go Lovely (1951). Collins was given a bit part.
  
  It was the first time John McCallum, who was Australian, played an Australian in a British film. Kay Kendall was cast as Stroud's sister after Launder saw her in a BBC play; the film helped revive Kendall's career after London Town.
  
  Filming took place in June–July 1951. The production filmed on location in Folkestone, Kent. The Leas Cliff Hall was used as the location for the beauty competition, and The Metropole was the setting for the seaside hotel hosting the Fascination Soap Pageant. Folkestone West station features in the film for the railway scenes where Marjorie Clark (Pauline Stroud) arrives and meets Dolores August (Diana Dors) and her consorts, Larry and Vic. The now closed Rotunda Amusement Park was also used for the scenes where Larry (John McCallum) and Marjorie visit and go on rides.
  
  Diana Dors appeared in a swimsuit in one scene. She shot two versions – one in a bikini for release in Europe, another in a more conservative swimsuit for release in America. American censors  objected to the content of the film, including the revealing nature of outfits worn by Diana Dors.
  
  Reception
  Filmink said Dors "livens up every scene she appears in and her part is too small (she disappears in the second half); once again, the movie would have been better had Dors played the lead."
  
  References
  
  External links
  
  Lady Godiva Rides Again at the British Film Institute
  
  Lady Godiva Rides Again at Letterbox DVD
  
  1951 films
  1951 comedy films
  British comedy films
  Films directed by Frank Launder
  Lady Godiva
  Films set in England
  Films set in London
  Films shot in Kent
  Films shot at Shepperton Studios
  Films scored by William Alwyn
  British black-and-white films
  Films about beauty pageants
  British Lion Films films
  London Films films
  1950s English-language films
  1950s British films