The Look of Love (4 Stars)

This is the true story of Paul Raymond, the man who arrived in London with five shillings (less than a dollar) in his pocket and died a billionaire. Rather than concentrating on his path to riches the film follows his relationship with the woman he loved most in the world, his daughter Debbie.

Paul Raymond was born as Geoffrey Quinn in 1925. He avoided serving in the second world war by pretending to have a heart condition. He made his first money selling goods on the black market. After the war he worked in a fairground as a mind reader. His first step on the road to riches was in 1951 when he opened England's first strip club. With the money he made he had the foresight to invest in property, buying hundreds of buildings in London's Soho area at a time when they were cheap. However, his main interest was in presenting naked women to the public. The first women he showed weren't allowed to move on stage, but as laws became more liberal they could dance and even simulate erotic acts. He insisted that he wasn't selling pornography, it was all about art, but he was often fined for indecency. He didn't care about the fines, because every court case brought him publicity and more customers.

From strip clubs he branched out into theatres and music halls, but everything he did featured nudity, whether it was full nudity or just bare breasts. In 1971 he bought the men's magazine "Men Only", which soon became England's best selling men's magazine, selling more copies in England than any other English magazine, also outselling imported magazines like "Playboy" and "Penthouse". When "Men Only" fell to third place in the late 1980's he reacted by buying his competitors' companies, giving himself a monopoly.

In his personal life Paul Raymond was amoral. He was married twice, followed by a long relationship to the columnist Fiona Richmond, but he was never faithful to any of the women in his life. This alienated his son Howard, but his daughter Debbie stuck with him whatever happened. At first it might have been teenage rebellion; after the divorce from his second wife Debbie remained with her mother, but finding her too strict she went to live with her father. This was Debbie's downfall. Paul doubtlessly loved his daughter, but he should have been stricter with her. He never criticised her for using cocaine. A good father would have done everything to make her stop.

Debbie wanted to have a career as an actress and singer. Her father did everything he could to support her, giving her the lead role in his performances. Everyone around her knew that she had no talent. Everyone except for her father. This is excusable. I would have done the same in his position, as far as putting her on stage was concerned. I wouldn't have let her use drugs. She died of a heroine overdose in 1992. Did Paul recognise his guilt? I don't know. What I do know is that after her death he became a recluse, rarely leaving his penthouse. All the joy had gone from his life.

The film is simple but overpowering, framed by scenes of Paul as an old man alone in his room watching family videos. Maybe the film should have told more. The story starts in 1958, when he was already a wealthy man. I would have liked to see his early struggles. In the first half of the film Paul is portrayed as a superficial pleasure seeker, and it's difficult to like him. While watching the second half, as the relationship with his now adult daughter deepened, I had tears in my eyes. There's nothing more beautiful than the relationship between father and daughter.