Respectable: The Mary Millington Story

Narrated by actor Dexter Fletcher, Simon Sheridan’s enthralling film reveals the truth behind the extraordinary life of Mary Millington, Britain’s only genuine sex superstar. Speaking to those who knew her best, this fascinating documentary uncovers a story stranger than any fiction; one of lost innocence, sex, fame, fortune and tragedy that resonates as loudly today as it did four decades ago. In the late 1960s, there was a pretty blonde girl-next-door who truly personified the word ‘glamour’. Discovered by a local photographer, Mary Millington’s rise to the top was meteoric, controversial and scandalous. From illegally-shot pornography and high-class prostitution to becoming the most famous naked pin-up of the 1970s, her racy reputation could sell a million newspapers and one of the biggest box office films of all time. Celebrated in thousands of sexy photographs, moving pictures, libidinous words and even a notorious High Court obscenity trial, Mary fought vigorously against the Establishment for the right to express herself in the way that she wanted. In just a few short years she amassed a vast fortune and had affairs with the most powerful men in Britain. Her sexuality was accessible and her personality addictive. Everybody wanted a piece of ‘Britain’s Queen of Sex’. But Mary’s sexual bravado hid a darker side. She fought crippling insecurity and struggled to find her voice in a tumultuous decade of social change. Persecuted by the authorities, tortured by self-doubt and addicted to drugs, Mary died at the height of her fame. She was just 33. Documenting Mary’s bravery and determination to be a trailblazing sexual liberator, thwarted by a society not yet mature enough to accept her, this is the shocking, untold story of 1970s rebellion, painted against a backdrop of disco, politics and porn, where a beautiful girl sacrificed herself for her beliefs.