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Released by: Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment
Released on: March 7, 2006.
Director: Jalo Miklos Horthy/Barry Mahon
Cast: Fleurette Carter, Monica Davis, Barbara Wood/Darlene Bennett, Dawn Bennett, Rita Bennett
Year: 1967/1966
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The Films:
Hookers - God bless'em. Those ladies of the evening who service the lonely men of the world for a few measly pennies bring all manner of joy (and disease!) into the hearts of many and the big cities just wouldn't be the same without them. I love them, you love them, and evidently by the looks of this release, the purveyor's of fine filth over at Something Weird Video love them too - because this disc is all about the pay for play ladies who work so hard every day at the world's oldest profession.
THE HOOKERS (1967)
The first movie begins when a cute little black girl named Callie Sue (Fleurette Carter) arrives in the big city hoping to forget her past and her upbringing in the deep south where she often found herself the object of ridicule because of the color of her skin. Another girl named Julie (Barbara Wood of Rent-A-Girl, directed by William L. Rose,who just so happened to write this movie) shows up in the same town, hoping to make it big as an actress, stars in her eyes and clouding her judgement, willing to do whatever she needs to do to reach the top. A third young woman, Barbara (Monica Davis, also known as Pat Davis from Sarno's The Swap And How They Make It), finally has enough of her dull domesticated life as a housewife and finds her way to the very same city where she winds up working up a sizeable debt to a mobster who is more than happy to take advantage of her gambling problem.
All three of these ladies find themselves in dire straights and faster than you can say 'looking for a good time?' they find themselves out on the streets where they're taken advantage of by scummy men who see them as little more than meat hanging in a butcher shop window.
The title of the film is a little misleading as it doesn't really focus on prostitution so much as it does the events that might make three women, all of whom had the best of intentions, resort to selling themselves on the street corners to make ends meet. While this is very much an exploitation picture and not a serious study of three women who fall prey to the seedier side of society, it does ask us to pity them while silmutaneously putting them on display for us to ogle in the same way that their johns do before they shell out for love. If the movie was trying for social commentary, it fails for the most part as the picture is so poorly acted for the most part that none of the girls are all that convincing in their plight. This results in some unintentional hilarity from much of the dialogue as well as plenty of sleaze and seedy set pieces.
The suspense, and reason to watch the movie, comes from wanting to know how bad things will have to get before these three ladies will finally allow themselves to stoop so low as to turn tricks. Each of the three women has a breaking point and while we know from the title that they're all going to get there, seeing it happen and seeing them fall apart, as depraved as it sounds, it what this movie is all about. The movie also presents some completely tasteless narration into the film to link the three separate stories together that adds to the politically incorrect fun. Make no mistake, this is probably meant to be a pretty grim picture and it's hardly Pretty Woman by the time the ending hits, but even a nasty rape scene can't make this a serious movie, there's just too much wrong with it for that to be feasible. It's all very much an exercise in bad taste, which for many of us, will make it worth a look.
The cast is interesting, and the three leads all certainly look compelling enough, but their acting isn't convincing and for the most part neither is that of the men who play their patrons. An odd mix of angst, tragedy, and camp.
P.P.S - PROSTITUTES PROTECTIVE SOCIETY (1966)
Feature number two is considerably more fun simply because of the simple fact that it's loopy as loopy can be. Directed by Barry Mahon (the same man behind The Love Cult and plenty of other off the wall exploitative goodies) this film tells the tale of a Madame Sue who makes her living, along with her friends, as a prostitute. She hears word on the street that a roller coaster loving mobster named Carny Bill is looking to move in on their game and control the sale of female flesh in the city so that he can get a slice of this rather lucrative pie for himself.
Carny Bill assembles an army of hoods to move in on hooker lane and show the ladies that he means business, but unfortunately for him he's not prepared to find out that these women are not going to back down - in fact, they intend to fight him with every fibre of their being. When Bill learns of this, he basically declares open season on streetwalkers and tells his men to fire on site, aiming to kill of the ladies who would dare oppose him. Sue clues in to what is going on when some of her best workers wind up dead. This isn't at all good for business and so she and her band of merry hookers go out and get themselves some guns so that they can fight fire with fire, in turn forming the titular organization in hopes of outgunning and outsmarting the dastarbly mobster who would take away their livlihood.
Low on actual sex but high enitrely gratuitous nudity and on wacky violence and very cool mid-sixties inner city location shots, this 'made in New York' oddity is completely amusing in all the right ways. It takes itself so entirely seriously that you can't help but get sucked in by the tough talking girls ready to show Bill who is really the boss, and while their plight isn't the most sympathetic of plot motives, the performers' enthusiasm more than makes up for whatever shortcomings the script might have (and there are plenty). The surfy garage rock soundtrack sets the mood nicely, and you half way expect the girls to start go-go dancing at times. The interaction between the girls who work together is hysterical - at times they interview prospective hookers completely in the nude and they also shower together every chance they get for no other reason than to show off their birthday suits for the camera that does a fine job of leaving nothing to your imagination.
The film is fast paced, over the top, and retarded in pretty much every fawcet, but damn if it isn't a whole lot of fun. It isn't every day where we're able to sit down and enjoy seventy odd minutes of prostitutes fighting gangers, and we all owe the late Barry Mahon a debt of gratitude for ensuring that this ongoing struggle will never be forgotten.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both of the films were shot fullframe which is how they are presented here. Not exactly made under the most ideal shooting conditions, some of the lighting is a little off in more than a couple of spots, but overall, both of these movies look quite nice. The stark black and white photography holds up quite well and there is only really mild print damage to complain about (and I feel like a jerk complaining about it - these are almost forty year old low budget sexploitation films - taking their roots into account, these movies look great on this DVD!). The promo materials state that they have been digitally remastered, and it does look like quite a bit of effort was put into making these titles look their best. Whether or not these came from prints or from the original negatives I don't rightly know, but either way, there's really very little to complain about in terms of how the movies look, especially when you take their low budget roots into account. The Hookers has more noticeable print damage than the other feature, but it's still a pretty decent effort.
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is the order of the day on all three films. While these are hardly going to shack the foundation of your home, these tracks are clear and audible. Most of the sound is narration or dialogue with some music behind it. Sound effects are minimal and don't play a big role in either of the films. Everything is easy to understand and there aren't really any problems with these basic but sufficient tracks despite some mild hiss here and there.
As is the norm with Something Weird Video, once you're done with the two feature films on the disc there are a plethora of supplements to wade through. Up first are the original fullframe theatrical trailers for the two main attractions. These aren't in as nice a shape as the movies themselves but they still look decent and they're a lot of fun to watch.
A third feature film can also be found in here in the form of Meeting On 69th Street, a brief little sixty minute long black and white movie that tells the story of three hookers operating out of somewhere in Florida. Recently released from prison they move to Long Island where they decide to go into business for themselves and sell their fleshly wares through a brothel of their own devise. Once their shop is set up, it doesn't take long at all for business to start rolling in and their first clients arrive in the form of a gang of burly looking navy boys enjoying some shore leave. They stick around for a few days, do their thing with the ladies, and get involved in some personal drama while they're at it.
Not particularly interesting but of marginal interest due to the fact that it contains an early supporting performance by Geri Miller of Andy Warhol's Trash, Meeting On 69th Street definitely delivers the skin one would expect from a film of its ilk and title, but sadly doesn't give us much more to work with. Kemper Peacock, who is credited with having edited Joe Sarno's Submission amoung others, directs with little flair and Jo Ellen of Fluctuations also appears in the film. In short, this one is dirty, but it's also pretty dull. The full length version of this film is credited on the imdb as running sixty-five minutes, so if that's correct then the version on this release is shy of five minutes worth of material. It's doubtful that the inclusion of that footage would have made this one any better. The trailer for Meeting On 69th Street is also included, and it's more interesting than the feature itself and it does a pretty good job of making the movie look like it's worth seeing.
But wait, thankfully there's more! Order now and you'll receive a free selection of Bonus "Hooker-Happy" Trailers in which you'll ooh and aah over promotional spots for All My Men which stars Jackie Richards, Hot Skin Cold Cash also directed by Barry Mahon, House Of Cats, a roughie called Obscene House, The Wild And The Wicked (also known as The Flesh Merchant), and last but not least, a grimey little movie called Women Of Desire starring Monica Davis.
Rounding out the extra features once again is the Something Weird Gallery Of Sexploitation Ad Art with Exploitation Audio that plays out as a slideshow set to music. Many will be familiar with this from releases past, but those who haven't checked it out yet should get a kick out of it as there is some very cool imagery and advertisting art in here. Animated menus and chapters stops round out the disc.
The Final Word:
A fine double feature that covers the seedy side of the world's oldest profession, the Something Weird Video release of The Hookers/P.P.S. - Prostitutes Protective Society looks and sounds just fine, contains some decent extra features and most important of all, serves as some good old dirty, trashy fun.