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Released by: Retro-Seduction Cinema
Released on: 11/14/2006
Director: Joe Sarno
Cast: John Aristedes, Tammy Latour, Gretchen Rudolph, Fatima
Year: 1966
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The Movie:
One of Joe Sarno's first color movies, Moonlighting Wives is supposedly loosely based on a true story about a group of bored suburban women who ran a prostitution ring in their neighborhood. Interesting material for one of Sarno's suburban psycho-sexual melodrama's to be sure, but those expecting boat load's of kink and softcore bump and grind action might be taken aback by how tame this film really is when compared to much of his other work.
Joan and Charles Rand are your typical American suburban couple, or at least it would seem that way at first glance. Charles works hard to make a decent living for his wife but she spends beyond their means and finds herself bored by her man. To spice things up a bit and bring in some extra income, Joan decides to coax her stenography business partner into starting a local prostitution ring. As Joan realizes the earning potential that her new career can open up to her, she soon finds herself having no trouble at all talking other like-minded suburban housewives into joining her little business.
The ladies soon decide that if they want to make real money then they're going to have to go after some upscale male clientele and what better place is there for them to find what they're looking for than at the local country club! Joan's friend Nancy is having a fling with a man named Al who spends all his time at the club and before you know it, Joan's talked him into bringing her client after client and before you know it she's got a pretty solid roster of high profile clients paying to sample the goods that she and her co-workers have to offer.
With Joan bringing home the bacon, Charles starts hitting the bottle pretty hard. Though he's unaware of what his wife has been up to, his fragile male ego can't handle the fact that she's bringing in more money than he is. Lorna, the perky teenage babysitter that the Rand's employ, starts to feel sorry for Charles and before you know it he's starting to pick up on some of the signals she's been giving him. To complicate matters further, two cops named Ken and Hank are starting to put a few pieces of this puzzle together and aim to stop the prostitution ring - the problem is, they're not at all sure who is responsible for what and they really only have a faint idea of what's going down. But soon tension arises between Joan and Nancy and things take a serious turn into Melodrama City!
Sarno plays around with a lot of the same themes he has since become known for. His penchant for exposing the seedy side of suburban life plays a key role in what makes this film interesting, as we're essentially playing voyeur as we peek into the lives of people who could very well live right next door to us. At times the movie feels more like a sixties soap opera than the kind of sexploitation that Sarno specialized in and the lack of any on screen nudity kind of solidifies this to an extent (seeing as most softcore films are really just soap operas with copious amounts of nudity this really isn't much of a surprise) though the ending treads in kinkier waters than everything that leads up to it. Overall, this isn't a classic by any stretch. The acting is a little hammy and the plot fairly predictable, but Sarno fills the film with some fun dialogue and keeps the action moving at a pace sufficient enough to ensure that the movie is an interesting one.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.33.1 fullframe transfer presents the film in its original fullframe aspect ratio and while the elements that were used for this DVD weren't in perfect shape, the movie doesn't look half bad here. Color reproduction is fairly decent and while there is some moderate to heavy grain in a few scenes, some noticeable scratches, and a bit of print damage here and there, detail levels remain reasonably strong throughout. Flesh tones look lifelike and natural and black levels stay stable. Mpeg compression artifacts are never a problem, neither is edge enhancement.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono mix on this disc is fine. There is a bit of background hiss present in a couple of scenes if you want to listen for it but aside from that the dialogue is clean and clear and the levels are properly balanced. The loungey score sounds quite nice here as well.
The main supplement on this release is an eleven-minute on camera video interview with Joe Sarno who talks about his motivations as a filmmaker and why he made Moonlighting Wives in the manner that he did. Sarno's always an interesting interview subject and he's fairly candid here as he basically gives us a crash course in the history of the picture.
Rounding out the extra features on the DVD are a restoration demo for Moonlighting Wives, a second restoration demo that shows how other Retro-Seduction Cinema titles have been cleaned up for DVD, and a trailer vault containing vintage promo spots for a bunch of the Joe Sarno titles available from the company's library. Animated menus and chapter stops for the feature are also provided.
Inside the keepcase is a nice booklet of liner notes from Sarno biographer Michael J. Bowen that explain the distribution and origins of the film. A few choice color stills accompany the informative essay.
The Final Word:
Although Moonlighting Wives isn't on par with the best of Sarno's films, it is still an interesting attempt at a cerebral sexploitation movie (albeit, sans the sex) with some interesting ideas and appropriately biting dialogue. Retro-Seduction Cinema has done a fine job on the restoration and the supplements are a nice touch as well.