Released by: Distribpix Inc.
Released on: 8/21/2011
Director: Radley Metzger (as Henry Paris)
Cast: Barbara Bourbon, Darby Lloyd Raines, Eric Edwards, Georgina Spelvin
Year: 1974
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The Movie:
When Radley Metzger's Score proved to be a box office flop despite widely received critical acclaim, he knew it was time to make the change. Deep Throat had ushered in the era of porno chic and soft-core films were no longer the draw that they once were only a few years prior. Metzger, however, even under his nom de porn of Henry Paris (his middle name combined with his favorite city), was so enamored with film as an art form that his pictures could never quite be labeled as mere pornography. Of course, genital close ups and penetration shots play a role in the five films he'd make under his more infamous alias, but like his softer pictures, mood, atmosphere, production values, character development and storytelling come first.
Like the best of Radley Metzger's film, The Private Afternoons Of Pamela Mann is playful, beautifully shot and plenty steamy. Not wanting for explicit hardcore footage, something Metzger had toyed with on The Image and Score, the film leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of showing us the goods, even going so far as to flaunt it with an impressive slow motion facial. That playfulness though, it makes all of this so much fun that you can't help but want to know how it's all going to turn out. Little touches, like a female putting on a bib before sucking off a male character and Eric Edwards wandering around the upper east side with a camera mounted to his head keep the film's sense of humor at the front of the proceedings, while the director's clever use of mirrors tends to put us in Frank's place and let us play voyeur as well - whether we want to or not. The aforementioned poll taker character is used as comic relief, knowingly there to point out the ridiculousness of the need for legitimate social context in hardcore pornography.
It should also be noted that the film is presented completely uncut with the eight minute scene in which Jamie Gillis and Darby Lloyd Raines rape Barbara Bourbon in the garage presented intact (it was cut out of most theatrical prints and out of the previous DVD presentation). As a gun is held to Bourbon's face while she goes down on Gillis in this scene, it's one of those 'no-no' moments that has been cut out of previous releases to avoid problems with those that would censor such things despite the fact that it isn't what it seems to be on the surface, something that is obvious to anyone who actually pays attention to the movie. But here it is, completely restored, as it should be.
As far as the performances go, Eric Edwards is a lot of fun as the private eye tasked with what amounts to commercial voyeurism. He's got some great one-liners here and delivers them with enough of a straight face to succeed in the role. Metzger's dialogue has always been witty and this film is no exception, so it's important that all involved are able to deliver it with the right amount of conviction - and they do. Bourbon is great as the female lead, controlling her scenes with loads of genuinely sizzling sexuality and seemingly entirely into what she's doing here. She seems to love the camera, and it's mutual. The supporting cast is uniformly strong as well, with Gillis doing a fine job the one of the many rough scenes the late actor has become infamous for, and Darby Lloyd Rains entirely convincing in her role as his cohort. Georgina Spelvin is great here too, in the film's steamy girl-girl scene, adding an appropriately mid-seventies carefree attitude to the movie, as evidenced when she and Bourbon spark up a doobie together. Marc Stevens, who Pamela picks up in the first true sex scene of the movie, is his usually reliable self, having a good time with Bourbon and letting everybody watching know it.
Digitally restored in high definition from the original 35mm blow up internegative, The Private Afternoons Of Pamela Mann has never looked better on home video than it does on this DVD. Presented in its original 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio in a progressive scan anamorphic transfer, this still looks like a film that was shot on Super 16mm rather than true 35mm film. There is a certain softness to much of the image and some graininess in addition to some inconsistencies in the color timing but this is par for the course and how the movie should look. Compared to previous releases, not only is the presentation properly framed now but detail is vastly improved and the image is much more clean and stable than it's ever been before. There aren't any problems with shimmering or compression artifacts and Distribpix have done a fine job presenting this with the proper care and attention to detail that it deserves. The liner notes point out that periodically throughout the movie there is a green scratch towards the right side and that this problem was inherent in the original negative and was left in on purpose.
There are also a few shorter featurettes here worth discussing, staring with The Locations Of Pamela Mann which is seven minutes worth of footage that shows the various Manhattan locations used in the film as they were when the movie was made compared to how they appear now in 2011. It's interesting to note what has changed and what has stayed the same since the movie was made. Metzger's Manhattan, another seven minute segment which explains how the Henry Paris films used test footage to prepare - some would be used for establishing shots for the films, most of it was not used and was unseen until now. There was no sound for this footage so some narration provides some context and location information for this footage (there's some great Times Square footage here - the outtakes are taken from all five of the Henry Paris films).
Inside the keepcase is a forty-four page booklet that contains three separate essays on the film. The first, from Benson Hurst, covers the film and provides some interesting details on the real Pamela Mann, what has happened to Barbara Bourbon since this film was made, how Radley Metzger became Henry Paris and, just as importantly, why. The second essay from Ian Culmell discuss the importance of music in the movie and how it is used so effectively, noting where some of the tracks originated and why they were chosen, while the third essay, from Lawrence Cohen, provides some interesting analysis for the picture and discusses how it subverts the typical conventions of the adult film genre to transcend those limitations and stay proudly as a legitimate work of cinematic art. Also tucked away inside the disc is a nice black and white reproduction of a Barbara Bourbon promotional photograph and advertisements for other releases current and future in the Henry Paris line as well as for the upcoming CD release of The Music Of Henry Paris. The commentary that was recorded for the previous DVD release from VCX with Veronica Hart and Eric Edwards has not been ported over, so completists might want to hold on to the old DVD for that reason.
The Final Word:
As Henry Paris, Radley Metzger would go on to make better and more interesting pictures than this one, but here, his hardcore debut, he set a bit of a standard really and raised the bar in terms of what could be done within the confines of adult film. The movie holds up incredibly well as a beautifully shot and remarkably well acted film and Distribpix have done an insanely admirable job not only restoring and preserving it but documenting its origins, its impact, and its importance.