Drive-In Double Feature #21 — Drive-In Double Feature #21
From Dark Force Entertainment Drive-In Double Feature #21 takes in two 70’s grindhouse films that promise lots of flesh & sleaze, and sadly don’t really deliver. We have All The Young Wives- a rural-based drama with fleeting nudity, and My Pleasure Is My Business- a raunchy farce, which is neither funny nor sexy.
First, out of the bag, we have 1973’s All The Young Wives( aka Naked Rider, You All Come). From its alternative titles/ opening credits of a nude woman looking longingly out of a window, you’d be expecting soft/maybe hardcore- but in reality what we have here is regional rural drama, with fleeting moments of nudity.
The film is largely captured in the countryside near Atlanta, Georgia- with one or two scenes in the city itself. It was directed by Jamaica New York-born William Diehl. He just had one other directional credit The Secretary(1972) which was apparently a comedy-drama set against the backdrop of rich southern elegance- though seemingly it was still sold as something it wasn’t as poster artwork features a bra wrapped around a notebook.
Things open moving between a group of men shooting quail in the autumnal countryside, and the already mentioned nude lady standing at the window looking longingly out. The lead character here is Big Jim(Gerald Richards) a tubby middle-aged man, with crooked gravestone-like teeth- he’s the boss of the other two men, and he’s constantly showing off/belittling them. He claims he’s hurt his ankle so he hobbles back to the large hunting lodge- here is one of the men's wives, and we get the implication that some fleshy bonding has happened between the two.
We next switch to Big Jim’s large ranch house- where we meet our other two lead characters- Melody(Linda Cook) his ex-cheerleader trophy wive, and thirty-something horse trainer Sam(Edmund Genest)- who is keen to get to know Melody so invites her to an early morning run of Big Jim’s racehorse.
For the first half or so of the one hour & twenty-some minute playtime- we move back and forth between Big Jim & his two men hunting, and Melody & Sam’s developing relationship.
The remainder of the film sees us going into the nighttime city for a brief trip, where we go to a groovy club with a swimming pool in. We see the shady/ sleazy going on of Big Jim & his male staff. We get a few horse races, and a great down, dirty, and bloody fistfight.
Acting wise all of the cast is fine, though the most memorable is Richards, as the arrogant/constantly belittling/ cheating Big Jim. All in all All The Young Wives is fine for what it is, a regional drama with an engaging enough unfold.
The print for this film is very ropy- with line damage from the off, and as we go through bigger blobs/ tears/ rips- though it is still watchable.
The other film here is 1975’s My Pleasure Is My Business, which I guess is best described as a raunchy comedy, that teases flesh & sex- but never really gets there. I’d say it’s on par with a slightly more dirty carry-on, but with late 70’s seediness to it.
It was directed by Toronto, Ontario, Canada Al Waxman- who had four other features to his name, as well as nineteen TV credits. He’s most known as an actor having ninety credits to his most notable Lt Bert Samules in Cagney & Lacey, playing the role in one hundred and twenty-six episodes. His other feature-length director's credits are drama The Crowd Inside(1971), suicide-focused romantic comedy Tulips (1981), cop returning from the dead thriller White Light (1991), and drug pusher-focused crime thriller Death Junction (1994).
My Pleasure Is My Business is centred around world-famous adult star Gabriele- played by Xaviera Hollander- former call girl & Madame, who wrote the best-selling 1971 memoir The Happy Hooker- which sold over 20 million copies.
When the film opens Gabriele is put on a plane out of America, as she has been sleeping with the president-to-be. We then get very politically incorrect/ racist stereotype-laced credits, as she tries to land in one country after the other, and is sent away for being ‘too sexy’.
As we get into the film, she’s allowed to land in the made-up country of Gestalt, as the country's president is going through some controversy- and he wants the focus off him. The film runs at one hour and twenty-seven minutes, and I must say it was a real chore to get through- as it’s only very vaguely amusing( I normally enjoy raunchy/ sex comedy), the lead is very obnoxious & a little gone to seed, and the whole thing is just a badly strung together farce.
So moving down the characters Ms Gabriele encounters we have- the country's president His Excellency( Henry Ramer) a tubby American Italian wise guy, and his overtly camp assistant. A fez-wearing & moustached hotel owner- who is keen to get it on. A chief of police, who acts like a stupid redneck gunslinger. There’s a tubby German female sexual therapist who never gets any pleasure. An adult film director, who is constantly shooting one corny dirty film after another.
My Pleasure Is My Business wasn’t for me- I guess if you like the idea of a more dirty/ seedy Carry-On, with fleeting( and I mean fleeting) nudity- you might get something from this. The print for this film is slightly better than the first- though is still fairly damaged/ worn.
No extras here- aside from the option of watching them in Drive-In-Mode
It’s good to see Dark Force Entertainment carrying on with the Drive-In Double Feature series, as they are putting out lesser-known/ seen grindhouse fare…yes only the first film appealed to me, but who knows if you enjoy dirty farces you may get something from the second film.