ADAMSONMANIA! Part 4: You Can Have Equal Rights And T&A, Too
The dawn of the '70s brought a new permissiveness toAmerican cinema, one aided and abetted by the development of a ratings codethat allowed filmmakers to bring racier material into their productions withoutthe threat of legal hassles. Savvyexploitation filmmakers learned to tie the new sexual liberation being enjoyedby American women around this time into sexy content for films that would alsoappeal to the men in the audience.
Al Adamson and Sam Sherman were both hip to theseconcepts and implemented them in a number of Independent-International filmsthat mixed sex appeal with a dash of women's lib. Here are five standoutsamples of this approach, all available on Severin Film's Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection blu-ray box set. Backgroundintro for these capsule reviews is derived from The Flesh And Blood Files, the excellent liner notes booklet byBill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes included in the box set.
TheNaughty Stewardesses: A number of exploitation films from theearly '70s played out sex fantasies against the backdrop of employment venuesfriendly to women. The role of stewardess lent itself perfectly to suchsalacious fantasies and the Adamson/Sherman team threw its hat in the ring withthis 1973 film. The plot follows a quartet of stewardesses from airport toairport as they try to balance personal fulfillment with sexual satisfaction. TheAdamson tendency towards leisurely pacing fits in nicely here, as the leadingladies - Marilyn Joi, Connie Hoffman and sexploitation vet Donna Desmond amongthem - are all fun to spend time with and you get nice location photography byGary Graver, including a nifty early-70s Vegas visit. Patient viewers will berewarded with a surprising second half that includes a visit to an undergroundporn set, a ransom, a sniper scene and some chases in the snow. Cowboy filmstar Bob Livingston was coaxed out of retirement to appear here by Sherman andwas rewarded with a few sex scenes at the age of 70, including a surprisinglyintense one with porn vet Sandy Carey. We should all be so lucky as to have afriend like Sam Sherman.
BlazingStewardesses: this is nominally a sequel to The Naughty Stewardesses that bringsback Hoffman, Joi and Livingston... but it's also the wildest bait-and-switchthat Adamson and Sherman ever pulled on the drive-in audience. The firsthalf-hour sets you up with the usual feminism-plus-sexploitation moves but thefilm then shifts gears radically as it allows Adamson and Sherman to indulge afetish for old-timey Hollywood entertainment. There are horseback robbery stuntsequences staged by a veteran of old-time westerns, Yvonne DeCarlo vamping itup (she even sings!), a geriatric love triangle and - in a move that oftenbreaks viewers of this film - the two surviving Ritz Brothers popping up to mugshamelessly for the camera and do the hackiest vaudeville comedy routines evercaptured on film. It's the weirdest/craziest thing Adamson and Sherman evermade, especially those Ritz Brothers routines: they're so intensely lame andshameless that they become unnerving.
NursesFor Sale: This is an Adamson patch-job that takes a Germanimport and refashions it into a sexploitation item for U.S. audiences. Thesource material is a vehicle for actor Curd Jurgens, who plays a ship captainwho dodging corrupt officials trying to jail him on phony charges so he canrescue a group of nurses being ransomed. After throwing out a few reels' worthof material from the original film, Adamson was drafted in to jazz up what wasleft by adding a few extra nurses who spend their screen time double-teaming aguy, getting assaulted or coerced by their kidnappers and giving each othercomfort when alone. As usual, the matching between new scenes and old footageis hopelessly off (the all-over-the-map accents of the new cast are a hoot) butthe German footage is entertaining and smartly-paced, the Adamson scenes bringthe sexploitation and the whole thing is over and done in less than 70 minutes.Thus, it's one of the quickest-moving flicks on the Adamson box set by defaultand a fun example of middle-of-the-bill drive-in fodder.
Jessi’s Girls: this feminist western was something of a passion project for Adamson, one that he made with outside financing when Sherman didn't think it would be marketable. Mid-'70s b-movie leading lady Sondra Currie toplines as a Mormon woman who is gang-raped by bank robbers who then shoot her and her husband. She survives, learns how to handle a gun and sets out for revenge with a group of other women dispossessed by Wild West sexism. As many western scholars are quick to point out, this one lifts its core premise from Hannie Caulder but the script takes the concept in interesting directions, adding the women's gang angle and then playing that out in surprising ways that take chances. It's a rock-solid little revenge tale that builds to a satisfying, action-driven ending and is bolstered by effective performances: Currie is an excellent, emotionally-complex lead and Adamson regulars Jennifer Bishop and Regina Carrol make strong impressions, rising to the occasion in the best roles they ever got in an Adamson film. Adamson's direction is more functional than stylish but you get the sense he's working at the edges of his ability here, making something he cared about.
Angels' Wild Women: Is this the auteur piece of the Adamson filmography or just a really inspired late-in-the-game biker flick? Either way, you'll be amazed by the amount of directorial verve that he brings to the proceedings here. It focuses on a group of femme bikers who operate as a sister club to a male biker outfit run by Speed (Ross Hagen). They hole up at a rural commune while Speed's gang takes care of a drug deal and run afoul of a Manson-esque cult leader. Adamson really threw himself into this one, writing the script solo and bringing all manner of creative visuals (career-best cinematography by Adamson regular Louis Horvath) and editing schemes to each scene. He even makes a meta-cameo as a director of drive-in movies! Each of the vignettes making up the episodic plot has a nice payoff and the heroines are depicted as smart, loyal and tough. If that's not enough, you get nice performances from Jill Woelful, Carrol and Volante (the latter in particular turns in her best Adamson flick performance here) and a killer original rock score. Simply put, this is Schlockmania's favorite film in the entire box set.