This is a very strange period piece...the closest mainstream Hollywood has come to porn. RD plays a washed-up director in the early 30's who was unable to survive the change to talkies and has resorted to making skin flicks in his mansion. The characters' behavior is exaggerated for humor but the underlying themes aren't funny...failure, impotence, the willingness of people to do anything to make it in the film...or any other business.
This was as explicit as they could go in 1974. Some of the scenes/dialogue cut close enough to make me squirm but the film did have an impact and was unforgettable. It was released with an X rating which buried it at the box office. Too bad. Imaginatively shot in what looked like three-strip technicolor.
One of the industry's forgotten gems.
6
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