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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: June 9th, 2015.
Director: Robert Steiner
Cast: Jamie Gillis, Joy Campbell, Susan Curtis, Darby Lloyd Rains
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
The Flying Acquaintances (also known as simply Acquaintances - the title used on the transfer here and the included trailer in the extras - and as The Sensuous Stewardess) was made in 1973 by director Robert Steiner. The softcore film starts Jamie Gillis as a man named Max Dizzy, a guy who works as a bank teller during the day but who drives the mean streets of Manhattan as a cab driver at night (which is interesting as Gillis, credited here as Jon Howard, did drive a cab for a living for a while). He tends to do most of his work with the meter turned off, taking cash under the table for services rendered.
He's got an on again/off again thing going on with rich bitch Sylvie (Susan Curtis) but winds up intrigued when he heads to the airport to pick up a stewardess (Darby Lloyd Rains). See, she doesn't have the cash on hand she needs to pay the fare… you just know they'll come to some sort of agreement. And they do. This is apparently common place in the world of early seventies NYC taxi cab drivers, or at least it is in sex films. Shortly after their exchange of bodily fluids, Max finds out that he's been played a bit. See, she was one of a few different stewardesses who do this type of thing intentionally. They get through life not by paying their way, but by screwing whoever they need to screw to get what they want.
Meanwhile, a woman named Barbara, who is friends with Sylvie and another woman referred to as Betty, decides she's got what it takes to make it as a movie star. She meets a director named Pierre, visiting from France, and convinces him using her feminine wiles that he should put her in his next feature. While this is going on, Betty's friend convinces her to seduce his son because he's worried the young man has started playing for the other team while Max's wife, Patricia (Joy Campbell), contemplates sleeping with her employer.
There is a bit of a hokey melodrama, albeit one with some reasonably well done softcore (just barely) sex scenes tossed in for good measure. There are some stock footage inserts of airplanes and airports and stuff tossed in here to provide the illusion that there's more going on than there actually is, but the sex scenes are, to their credit, nicely shot. The story isn't all that involving, however. The few moments of effective comedy are few and far between, though a couple of those moments might make you chuckle a bit. There isn't a whole lot of authentic seventies New York location footage here to keep things interesting in that regard, the vast majority of the film takes place inside the same few rooms, and the score is unremarkable.
It's interesting to finally see the movie, as this DVD marks the first time it's been made available since it played theaters way back when over four decades ago. It has a good cast as well - Gillis does okay with the part even if he lacks his typical crazy enthusiasm during the sex scenes. It's nice to see the genuinely pretty Darby Lloyd Rains pop up here in a decent role as well. Aside from that though, this is really not all that engaging or funny.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Flying Acquaintances makes its home video debut on DVD for the first time anywhere in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen newly restored from the original 35mm negatives. This is a really nice looking transfer. There is very little print damage here, the elements were seemingly in great shape. Colors are reproduced pretty much perfectly while black levels are good. The image is quite nicely rendered here in standard definition. It's a nicely authored disc, free of compression issues, edge enhancement and noise reduction problems. This looks a lot better than most are probably going to expect.
The Dolby Digital Mono track on the disc is decent enough. There's some hiss in a few spots that is hard to ignore but it doesn't really take you out of the movie at all. The levels are properly balanced so there aren't any drastic shifts there to note, things are pretty stable. So yeah, if you don't mind some minor background hiss and the occasional pop, the audio here is just fine.
Vinegar Syndrome have supplied just under twelve minutes of outtakes most of which cover the sex scenes featured in the movie from different angles. We also get a theatrical trailer, a still gallery of promotional images, static menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
It's great to see The Flying Acquaintances and Vinegar Syndrome are to be commended for finding this obscurity and giving it its first ever home video release - it's just a shame that the movie isn't more interesting than it is. Gills and Darby Lloyd Rains fans will want to check it out simply for their presences but despite the fact that the sex scenes are nicely shot the film is kind of drab.
