The Stud — The Stud(DVD)
The Stud appeared in 1978, and it was based 1969 novel of the same name by Joan’s sister Jackie. It was directed by Australian Quentin Masters, who only had three other directorial credits to his name- hippy road movie Thumb Tripping(1972), Blue mountain set thriller A Dangerous Summer (1982), and car thieve focused action/ adventure Midnite Spares (1983). The Stud is well enough shot 70’s picture, with a good sense of pacing, flow and effective drama. Though as expected with a 1970’s club set film, there’s a lot of flare flapping ‘n’ booty swinging dance action going on.
The films set in and around exclusive London club The Hobo- which is owned by a wealthy Arab businessman Benjamin(Walter Gotell), who only passing interest in the club. Leaving it’s running to Fontaine (Collins) and clubs manager/ host Tony (Oliver Tobias), who is an ex waiter that Fontaine brought into the job. Early on we find out Tony & Fontaine are having an affair, with the films first fleeting soft-core sex scene between the pair taking place in a surveillance camera set lift. Initially, the film focuses in on the night-to-night running of the club, the various characters that attend the club, and the different women Tony takes back to his murky off a busy London street apartment. Fairly soon Tony starts to get fed up with being at Fontaine’s sexual beck & call, planning to set up his own club. Meanwhile, she has her own plans, to get Tony out to Paris, where she wants to introduce him to some of her swinging friends.
Collins, is of course great as deviously scheming & constantly randy Fontaine. Tobias is good as the cocky-yet-manipulated Tony. We have a good selection of memorable sleazy club goes, like rowdy and tubby politicians, seedy men who are attracted to either very young or older women, and coke-sniffing rock stars. The soft-core sex scenes are largely tame and brief, though they are a few more prolonged ones, most notable of these been a pool set orgy- with swing sex, full-on Collins nudity, and some mixed-male & female bounding. All in all The Stud is a great slice of sleazed 70’s British drama- with a good cast, well-filmed club scenes, and lots of cheekily amusing dialogue.
Moving onto this new DVD, and its a region free disc. The print here looks good with its 70’s pallet nicely enhanced & good/ even skin tones for the more flesh bound moments- not sure what Screenbound have done to the print, but it’s not bad at tall. Moving onto the extras front, and the only new thing we get is an on-screen interview with the film's producer Edward Simons- this runs at around thirteen minutes, and gives you a good insight into how the project came about & its filming schedule. He goes onto discuss the premiere, PR they did for the film including setting a competition to find a Stud that one of the UK papers ran- all told a most interesting interview. Next, we get The Making Of Joan Collins- this from it looks like some point in the 1980s, and finds Michael Parkinson interviewing Ms Collins, and a selection of clips of her work, ending with Parkinson looking awkward as she does her daily workout- this runs fifty-three minutes, and again is worth a watch. Lastly, we get original trailers for The Stud, and its follow-up The Bitch.
It’s great to have this 1970’s UK sleaze classic back in print once again. It’s a pity there wasn’t a commentary track, or maybe a few more new interviews- but what we have here is good enough, and hopefully, this release will help introduce the film to a new generation of fans.