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"Method of this work:
literary montage.
I have nothing to say only to show."
(Passagenwerk (1927 - 1940) - Walter Benjamin)

2005, May 23; 22:36 ::: Sexploitation magazines

Adult Art Films - v1 #1 July 1963

SEXPLOITATION FILM SLICKS 1963–1973
This genre of mags––the underground adult sexploitation film slicks––acted as the trade magazines for the sexploitation film industry. They were something I had no idea existed until I stumbled upon some on eBay in 1999. At first I thought there were probably only a few titles, and I became increasingly surprised each time I discovered a new title. Now, over five years later, I’m still finding new titles, and there seems to be no end in sight. I never really thought about it, but had always figured that the sex film mags had started in the early ‘70s after the popularization of hardcore porn with Deep Throat et al––that was obviously not the case!

I had seen a few of these softcore sexploitation flicks right at the very end of their era in the early ‘70s when I was 17 or so, but don’t remember anything about them other than it was the first time I had seen full nudity on the screen with simulated sex.

There were a few of these mags coming out as early as 1963 from various adult slick publishers such as Bonanza Publishing, Selbee Associates, Publisher’s Export Company (PEC) and Sari Publishing, but for the most part they focused on foreign films, racy B-movies, and art house flicks. The sexploitation genre of mags didn’t really get swinging until the explosion of sexploitation movies hit the screens in the mid-sixties. --http://www.badmags.com/bmsexploitation.html [May 2005]

see also: sexploitation - magazine - sex film - art film

2005, May 23; 17:08 ::: A pictorial history of sex in the movies (1975) - Jeremy Pascall

A pictorial history of sex in the movies (1975) - Jeremy Pascall [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

see also: sex in film - erotic movies

2005, May 23; 16:51 ::: Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment () - Jeffrey H. Goldstein

Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment () - Jeffrey H. Goldstein [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

From Booklist
Violence in popular entertainment has been cited for every social ill that has been on the rise in recent years. So why is violence in entertainment so enduring and seemingly immune to reform? This collection of essays offers insights by anthropologists, historians, psychologists, film critics, and others to analyze our fascination with violence. The book traces public blood lust from the days of Roman gladiators to medieval jousts that crossed the line between war and games to the modern-day fascination with violence in sports, entertainment, and the news. Theories on social behavior are examined, including the purported cathartic release of watching violence and its possible link to increased aggression. Contributors dissect the appeal of violence in a wide range of entertainment venues, from sports and children's toys and games to movies and even religion. This well-researched book offers insightful analysis and extensive references. Vanessa Bush--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

see also: violent films

2005, May 23; 16:32 ::: One Hundred Violent Films That Changed Cinema (2003) - Neil Fulwood

One Hundred Violent Films That Changed Cinema (2003) - Neil Fulwood [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

From Publishers Weekly
Having alternately shocked, perplexed and fascinated viewers for years, the most violent films in American cinema-from Reservoir Dogs to Apocalypse Now to Raging Bull-get their proper due in this volume from the author of The Films of Sam Peckinpah. (Peckinpah is the notoriously gore-loving director of Westerns.) Fulwood fairly races through a smorgasbord of gruesome flicks. Thankfully, he chooses well, although minor footnotes like Executive Decision somehow sneak in with all-time classics like Psycho. Fulwood's fervor for the genre is addictive, and it should make readers forgive the book's hopscotching structure, which can haul them from John Woo to Tarantino to Scorsese and back in a blink. The author has an obvious facility with cinematic criticism, and is able to put works in their proper contexts without sounding densely academic. For that reason, a more thoughtful introduction about violence and its critical role in film culture would have been welcome. But even without one, Fulwood's giddy reverence of the films he chooses makes for a highly readable tour of the dark side of Hollywood history. 50 b&w illus. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Synopsis
From Brighton Rock, The Hill and The Long Good Friday to Manhunter, Clockwork Orange and Reservoir Dogs, this book focuses on 100 powerful films that have profoundly affected the portrayal of violence in cinema, be it in terms of influence, iconography, social response, media controversy or censorship. The 100 films are covered - and highlighted - within the following chapters, analysing the film's content and influence to illuminate the true meaning of the violence: - Influence and Iconography: violence and the art of cool from Alain Delon in Le Samorai, Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry to the stylisations of John Woo. - Taking it to the Limit: how filmmakers pushed back the boundaries from Bunuel's depiction of eyeball-slicing in Un Chien Andalou, Michael Powell's serial murder and voyeurism in Peeping Tom, to Hitchcock's dissonant editing techniques in the shower scene in Psycho - Amorality and Anti-Heroism: film noir, spaghetti westerns and the long hand of the Vietnam War - Censorship and controversy, including Natural Born Killers, Crash, Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Baise Moi. - No Farewell to Arms: why filmmakers use violence whether it's to kickstart a revenge-themed thriller, provide thrills in blockbusters or as a response to social and political events. - Endpiece in the light of September 11th. --via Amazon.co.uk

Book Description
Here are 100 of the most violent films in cinema history, the ones that viscerally affected moviegoers and stayed fixed in their minds forever. Understand how and why these films work through an illuminating analysis of their influence and iconography in such classics as Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, and John Woo's The Killer. See how directors kept pushing back the boundaries of acceptable violence, from the slicing of an eyeball in Un Chien Andalou to the chopping of an ear in Reservoir Dogs, from the creepy voyeurism of Peeping Tom to the shocking shower scene in Psycho, Amorality, anti-heroism, censorship, controversy, and the continuing popularity of the violent image to kickstart a movie and provide thrills all receive an enlightening discussion. Plus: an endpiece written in the light of September 11th --via Amazon.com

see also: violent films

2005, May 23; 16:24 ::: Violence In the Cinema, Part 1 (1971) - George Miller

Author: Frank Adey from Wolverhampton, England
A gory, entertaining spoof, 26 September 1998

In the early seventies, when I saw this film, the depiction of violence on the screen was a hot media topic. Therefore the opening of this short feature took most of us in; an academic type, filmed against the background of his study, addresses the screen on the title subject. Just as we have settled down to the tedious tempo, - BANG! The study door bursts open, and a shotgun toting intruder blasts part of the speaker's head away, hurling him backwards out of his chair. It would spoil the fun if I described the rest of the increasingly blood-soaked proceedings; suffice it to say that the joke works wonderfully. --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067953/ [May 2005]

from the Director of Mad Max

See also: list of films in which special effects are used to have characters die violently and gorily.


    1 Death from being eaten
    2 Death by bisection or dismemberment (excluding decapitation)
    3 Death by crushing
    4 Death by blendering
    5 Death from blinding
    6 Death by chainsaw
    7 Death from decapitation
    8 Death due to contact with a caustic or otherwise deadly substance
    9 Death from a fall into a molten substance
    10 Death by fluid extraction
    11 Death by gunfire
    12 Death by impaling or crucifixion
    13 Death due to an improper use of explosives
    14 Death by violent organ removal
    15 Death from slicing by such a sharp object, that it takes some moments for victim to fall apart
    16 Death from decompression or over-pressure
    17 Miscellaneous/Other
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_by_gory_death_scene [Mar 2005]

see also: violent films

2005, May 23; 16:10 ::: Asfalttilampaat (1968)- Mikko Niskanen

Asfalttilampaat (1968)- Mikko Niskanen

http://www.phinnweb.org/links/cinema/ [May 2005]

2005, May 23; 13:30 ::: Retro-futurism

Aelita, The Queen of Mars (1924) -Yakov Protazanov

Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future (1996) - Joseph J. Corn, Brian Horrigan, Katherine Chambers [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

From Book News, Inc.
A fun and often funny look at how popular science magazines, science fiction, world fair exhibits, films, and advertisements looked at their future and our present. Originally published to accompany a Smithsonian Institution exhibition of the same name in 1984, the collection is marked with Smithsonian style and collects an awesome representation of photographs and illustrations representing "the future's" cities, homes, transportation, and weapons. We're woefully far away from living room furniture that can be cleaned with a hose, but the space shuttle comes pretty close to its ideal. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Review
"Many books might be commended as entertaining, instructive, or even fascinating. Yesterday's Tomorrows deserves each of these adjectives... The reader is taken through a gallery populated with forgotten industrial prototypes, architectural models, toy ray guns, flying cavalrymen on 'helihorses,' science fiction props from Hollywood and, or course, all sorts of projects and renderings concerning transportation."-- Road and Track

Retro-futurism describes the return to the to fanciful depictions of the future produced many years ago called futurology. These may be based on a lack of scientific knowledge and a great deal of imagination and speculation.

A great deal of attention is drawn to fantastic machines and architecture, the logistics of which are realistically impractical. The retro-futuristic design ethic tends to solid colors, streamlined shapes, and mammoth scales. It might be said that retro-futurism is the ultimate development of googie design.

The setting retro-futuristic stories is usually a utopian society; its spirit of optimism and embracing of the status-quo is a complete contrast with cyberpunk. Retro-futurism is also different from steampunk, although the two had things in common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when modern technology as we know it was still young.

Retro-futurism has appeared in some examples of postmodern architecture. In the example seen at right, the upper portion of the building is not intended to be integrated with the building but rather to appear as a separate object - a huge flying saucer-like space ship only incidentally attached to a conventional building. This appears intended not to evoke an even remotely possible future, but rather a past imagination of that future - perhaps as seen in the science fiction movies of the 1950's or the pulp novels and comics of the 1930's. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro-futurism [May 2005]

2005, May 23; 13:30 ::: Googie

LAX theme building, 1960s Williams designed this futuristic landmark with architects Pereira & Luckman.
image sourced here.
Photo Karen Hudson

Googie, also known as populuxe, is a form of architecture, originating from southern California in the late 1940s and continuing approximately into the mid-1960s. It was influenced by car culture and the Space Age. With upswept roofs and, often, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon, it decorated many a motel, coffee house and bowling alley in the 1950s and 1960s. It epitomises the spirit a generation demanded, looking excitedly towards a bright, technological and futuristic age. As it became clear that the future would not look like The Jetsons, the style came to be timeless rather than futuristic. As with the art deco style of the 1930s it has remained undervalued until many of its finest examples have been destroyed.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado

America's preoccupation with space travel had a significant influence on the unique style of Googie architecture. Speculation about space travel had roots going as far back as 1920s science fiction. In the 1950s, space travel became a reality for the first time in history. In 1957, America's preoccupation grew into an obsession, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first human-made satellite to "break the surly bonds" of the Earth's atmosphere and "rise unshackled to the dark serene". The obsession intensified into a near mania when the Soviet Union launched Vostok 1 carrying the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into Earth orbit in 1961. The Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations made competing with the Soviets for dominance in space a national priority of considerably urgency and importance. This marked the beginning of "The Space Race".

With space travel such an important part of the national zeitgeist, architects decided that they wanted to give people a little taste of the future in the here and now. Googie style signs usually have something with sharp and bold angles, which suggest the aerodynamic features of a rocket ship (ilustration. left). Also, at the time, the unique architecture was a form of architectural braggadocio, as rockets were technological novelties at the time. Perhaps the most famous example of Googie's legacy is the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington (illustration, above right). A revealing comparison can be made between the Space Needle and the non-Googie Osaka Tower of 1956.

Googie heavily influenced retro-futurism. The somewhat cartoonish style is appropriately exemplified in the Jetsons cartoons; the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California featured a Googie Tomorrowland. Three classic locations for Googie were Miami Beach, Florida, where secondary commercial structures took hints from the resort Baroque of Morris Lapidus and other hotel designers, the first phase of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Southern California, where Richard Neutra built a drive-in church in Garden Grove.

Eye-catching Googie style flourished in a carnival atmosphere along multi-lane highways, in motel architecture and above all in signage. Private clients were the backbone of Googie, though the Seattle Space Needle qualifies as Establishment Googie.

Cantilevered structures, acute angles, illuminated plastic panelling, freeform boomerang and artist's palette shapes and cutouts, and tailfins on buildings marked Googie architecture, which was beneath contempt to the architects of Modernism, but found defenders in the post-Modern climate at the end of the 20th century. The common elements that generally distiguish Googie from other forms of architecture are:

  • Roofs sloping at an upward angle - This is the one particular element in which architects were really showing off, and also creating a unique structure. Many roofs of Googie style coffee shops, and other structures, have a roof that appear to be 2/3 of an inverted obstuse triangle. A great example of this is the famous, but now closed, Johnnie's Coffee Shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
  • Starbursts - The Starbursts are an ornament that goes hand in hand with the Googie style, showing its Space Age influence, and whimsical influences. Perhaps the most notable example of the starburst appears on the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, which has now become somewhat famous.

Architecture professor Douglas Haskel (mentioned below) perhaps described the Googie style best saying that "If it looks like a bird, it must be a geometric bird." Also, the buildings must appear in some cases to defy gravity, as Haskel noted that "whenever possible, the building must hang from the sky." Also, Googie is not a style noted for its subtlty, as inclusion, rather than minimalism, is one of the central features.

The origin of the name "Googie" is a matter of some speculation amongst enthusiasts. According to author Alan Hess in his book "Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture", he claims that Googie goes back to the late 1940s, when architect John Lautner designed several coffee shops, one by the name of "Googie's", which all had the very distinctive architectural characteristics. This coffee shop was on the corner of Sunset Boulevard, and Crescent Heights in Los Angeles, but has long since been demolished. According to Hess, the name "Googie" stuck as a rubric for the architectural style when Professor Douglass Haskell of Yale, and architectural photographer Julius Shulman were driving through Los Angeles on day. Haskell insisted on stopping the car upon seeing "Googies", and proclaimed "This is Googie architecture". He made the name stick after an article he wrote appeared in a 1952 edition of "House and Home" magazine.

To some, the name Googie has been associated with an architectural style conidered to be an aesthetic abomination. To others though, the Googie style shows how whimsical humor and enthusiasm about the future can be cleverly translated into architectural style, and brings back good memories of a now bygone era. Like most things that represent a certain style that's in vogue, the style eventually fell out of favor. Furthermore, over time, numerous examples of the Googie style have either fallen into disrepair, or been destroyed completely, to be replaced usually with buildings that are functional, but lack the kitschy charm of Googie. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie [May 2005]

2005, May 23; 13:30 ::: Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971) - John Schlesinger

Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971) - John Schlesinger [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Amazon.com essential video
Sunday Bloody Sunday is a masterpiece from the days when movies, in general, were much more mature. As written by renowned film critic Penelope Gilliatt and directed by John Schlesinger, this complicated love triangle among three upscale Londoners was a milestone for its time, not simply for its nonchalant treatment of a homosexual relationship, but for illustrating the way sensible adults will negotiate for love, even if it's inconvenient or destined to fail. A doctor in his forties, Daniel (Peter Finch, proving his greatness seven years before Network) loves the much younger artist Bob (Murray Head), who also loves employment counselor Alex (Glenda Jackson at her finest). There's no deception between them--just the troubling dilemma of three lovers with differing degrees of certainty and commitment. Bob's relative blandness is the film's only weakness, but it's tolerable in a drama so deeply understanding of complex human behavior. Deliberately paced but immensely rewarding to the attentive viewer, this was Schlesinger's follow-up to Midnight Cowboy--two great films by a director in his prime. --Jeff Shannon

Sunday Bloody Sunday is a 1971 film which tells the story of a young homosexual man who freely jumps from the beds of his male and female lovers. It stars Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, Murray Head and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

The movie was written by Penelope Gilliatt and directed by John Schlesinger. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday%2C_Bloody_Sunday [May 2005]

2005, May 23; 12:33 ::: The Ice Storm (1997) - Ang Lee

Kevin Kline and Joan Allen

The Ice Storm (1997) - Ang Lee [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Amazon.com essential video
Asian American director Ang Lee sums up America in the early 1970s by focusing on the arrival of the sexual revolution in the 'burbs. Isolationism within a family, consumerism, and selfishness are personified by a cast that captures the self-obsession within two New England families. As the children struggle awkwardly with adolescence, their parents stumble through sexual experimentation. In the days of Watergate and Vietnam, society is breaking boundaries and ignoring convention. Following suit, these families are eschewing polite barriers and social taboos, with disastrous results. The "ice storm" of the title refers not only to a natural phenomenon but is a (rather heavy-handed) metaphor for a pervasive emotional temperament. The entire cast delivers textured, finely nuanced performances. This movie lingers in the psyche not only for the scope of the tragedy at its conclusion, but for Lee's often humorous and stingingly accurate assessment of pop culture. Based on Rick Moody's novel, this won the best-screenplay award at Cannes in 1997.

set in November 1973

Key party
The men throw their car keys in a bowl and the women chose their sex partners by drawing keys one by one.

see also: sexual revolution - swinging

2005, May 23; 12:33 ::: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) - Paul Mazursky

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) - Paul Mazursky [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Amazon.com
While its particulars remain rooted in the sexual revolution of the late 1960s, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is remarkably timeless as a classic comedy of manners. Making an impressive, high-profile directorial debut after success as a screenwriter, Paul Mazursky took the pulse of California society better than anyone, especially with this well-cast, sharply observant comedy that begins when sophisticated couple Bob and Carol (Robert Culp, Natalie Wood) attend a weekend retreat that opens their eyes to the possibilities of open marriage and mutual acceptance of extramarital affairs.

When they reveal their newfound liberties to straightlaced couple Ted and Alice (Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon), the subtle, behavioral richness of the largely improvisational screenplay (by Mazursky and Larry Tucker) rises to the surface, conveyed through the kind of natural rhythms and pauses that were dramatically in vogue in the fast-changing Hollywood of 1969. The film hasn't lost any of its punch, perhaps because American sexual politics have returned to the conservatism that existed before Bob and Carol emerged as the signature comedy of the swinging sixties. The absence of the late Natalie Wood is the only drawback to the DVD's excellent commentary, which reunites Mazursky, Culp, Gould, and Cannon in a casual atmosphere of humorous reminiscence. --Jeff Shannon

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is a 1969 film with Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_&_Carol_&_Ted_&_Alice [May 2005]

Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young. The plot of the comedy, often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal, is generally less important than its witty and often bawdy dialogue. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_of_manners

see also: comedy - sex comedy - sexual revolution in film - swinging

2005, May 23; 11:16 ::: Permissiveness

permissive (word history)
1603, "allowing to pass through," from O.Fr. permissif, from L. permissus . In sense of "tolerant, liberal" it is first recorded 1956; by 1966 it had definite overtones of sexual freedom. -- http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=permissive [May 2005]

2005, May 23; 11:16 ::: Carnal Knowledge (1971) - Mike Nichols

Carnal Knowledge (1971) - Mike Nichols [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Amazon.com
Still hot from the success of Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson solidified his reputation as the brightest star of the New Hollywood movement when he appeared in this 1971 drama, written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Mike Nichols. The film received mixed reviews, but remains fascinating for its subject matter--the sexual attitudes and activities of two male friends from their college days to middle age--and the performances of its stellar cast. Nicholson is the former athlete-turned-tax-lawyer with a fetish for well-endowed women (which explains why Ann-Margret plays his mistress), and Art Garfunkel is the shy, mild-mannered one who becomes a doctor, marries Candice Bergen, and has an affair with Carol Kane. Over the course of nearly 30 years, we see how their lives and attitudes are reflected through their sexual histories, and it's not pretty. The film deals frankly (and some will say depressingly) with the ways in which people use each other for sex, and this doesn't exactly make for rousing (or even arousing) entertainment. But with Nichols directing a cast of this caliber, Carnal Knowledge remains one of the signature films of the early 1970s, when established Hollywood traditions were giving way to the emergence of more daring films with bolder "adult" themes. --Jeff Shannon

Carnal Knowledge is a 1971 American drama film. The film is directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jules Feiffer.

Sandy (Art Garfunkel) and Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) are college roommates whose lives are explored and seem to offer a contrast to one another. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnal_Knowledge [May 2005]

Carnal knowledge and Jamaican Law regarding homosexuality:
Article 78 (Proof of Carnal Knowledge)
"Whenever upon the trial of any offence punishable under this Act, it may be necessary to prove carnal knowledge, it shall not be necessary to prove the actual emission of seed in order to constitute a carnal knowledge, but the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only." --http://www.jflag.org/bodyspirit/rights.htm [May 2005]

Carnal knowledge and British Law regarding homosexuality:
1828
Enlighs Parliament closes a loophole in the definition of the capitol crime of buggery. It is no longer necessary to demonstrate "the actual Emission of Seed" to convict of buggery or rape. "Carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon Proof of Penetration only."

see also: carnal knowledge

2005, May 23; 10:22 ::: Sexual revolution (1967 - 1972)

two 'hippies' kissing, photocredit unknown

There has been significant shifts in social attitudes, behaviours and institutional regulations surrounding sexuality since Freud opened the door to the bedroom. Sexuality throughout the 20th century has moved closer to the centre of public debate than ever before. One hundred years ago the idea of sexual politics would have been unthinkable.

For many in the lecture today the 1960s which unleashed the so called sexual revolution seems more a source of comic relief and tragic nostalgic recirculation than political inspiration. Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s the combination of student protests, counter culture movements and medically prescribed contraceptives ushered in a decisive break with the preceding values which prescribed confinement of women’s sexual pleasure within the suburban walls of heterosexual marriage and the regulation of man’s sexuality in the public.

D.H Lawrence may have shocked an earlier generation with Lady Chatterley’s extramarital sexual independence, but it was not until the 1970s that women’s sexuality outside marriage became widely accepted.

The predominantly young who became involved with the peace movement and co-operative counter cultures which flourished particularly between 1967-72 took sexual liberation and sexual freedom as cental to its politics.

Championed writers of the so called "new left" such as Herbert Marcuse & William Riech fused Marxism and Psychoanalysis to forge a revolutionary sexual radicalism which argued that capitalism sexually repressed the masses in the interests of its life negating and exploitative goals.

Capitalism demanded self-restraint and compulsive work, both it was argued were contrary to any liberated and spontaneous sexual expression. Sexual libido had been colonised and brought into the service of capitalism’s nexus of production and consumption. The bourgeoisie a century earlier had forged an identity around the confinement of sexuality within the private domain of the heterosexual family.

Time magazine, April 1966

The anti-authoritarian and revolutionary movements of the 1960s saw the reproductive suburban family along with its morality of self restraint, hard work and moral puritanism as an expression of class domination. Sexual freedom was tied to revolutionary outcomes. The so called "permissive" or "swinging sixties" has become a metaphor for contemporary social conflict. For progressives it is heralded as a time of revolutionary ferment which ushered in much needed social change, ushering in the civil rights movements, decolonisation, women’s liberation, gay & lesbian liberation, green and peace movements. For conservatives it has become a scapegoat to blame many contemporary problems upon.

Issues such as pornography, marriage breakdowns, single parent families, welfare state dependancy, drugs and youth crime are all seen as having their origins in the "permissiveness" of the sixties. For the generation after the sixties, the love children of the baby boomers, it is often seen as a failed project which sustains their parents romanticisation of their youth prior to selling out.

To summarise the nineteen sixties sexual revolution and its consequences...

  • Sexuality became political, emerging as an axis around which new social movements organised.
  • Shifts in the relations between women and men, particularly those inspired by the emergent women’s liberation movements. This parallels women’s increased presence in the public realm and personal autonomy concerning reproductive choices and sexual expression.
  • The political mobilisation of the gay & lesbian movements.
  • A destabilising of the rigid boundary between the private family and the individualistic orientated public realm.
  • Reforms in the legal and medical regulation of sexuality.
  • The increased commercialisation and commodification of sexuality through pornography and mass media. The concomitant relaxation of censorship laws.
--http://www.isis.aust.com/stephan/writings/sexuality/revo.htm [May 2005]

see also: sexual revolution

2005, May 23; 10:04 ::: The International Musuem of Erotic Art (1973) - Kronhausen, Phyllis & Eberhard

The International Musuem of Erotic Art (1973) - Kronhausen, Phyllis & Eberhard
image sourced here.

The International Musuem of Erotic Art (1973) - Kronhausen, Phyllis & Eberhard [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Publisher: San Francisco: 1973,

Description
8vo 64pp. A profusely illustrated catalogue of the San Francisco branch of the Kronhausen's Erotic Art museum, that was located at 540 Powell Street. The illustrations, many of which are in colour, respresent all facets of erotic art and include works by Tomi Ungerer, George Grosz, Leonor Fini, Robert Grossman, Felicien Rops, Betty Dodson, Hans Bellmer, Pablo Picasso and many others. Examples of Oriental and Indian are are included, as well as statuary. --http://www.alta-glamour.com/cgi-bin/glam/6164.html [May 2005]

see also: erotic art - the Kronhausens

2005, May 23; 00:55 ::: Anatomie des Liebesaktes (1970) - Hermann Schnell

Anatomie des Liebesaktes (1970) - Hermann Schnell
image sourced here.

"Anatomie des Liebesaktes" is a sexually explicit film with a healthy attitude. I think we Americans are prudish deep down inside and so we react more strongly than Europeans to anything sexual. It taught me that a film can be truly erotic and not "dirty."

I happened to be an American student traveling in Stockholm in 1970 and went to see what I thought would be some "great Swedish porno." A lot of young people had this image of Sweden as the sex capital of the world and were just dying to see a real porno film. Oh well, what do you know about life when you're 20? This particular theater was showing eight films of a sexual nature. Six of these were only a few minutes long, all in very grainy film stock, showing various sex acts including one featuring two Lesbians.

There was one American film, maybe about an hour long, the story of a sexual pervert who uses prostitutes and drugs, and finally blackmails a single mother into sex by threatening her son's life. I can't remember the name of this masterpiece, but the only person who had even a hint of acting ability was the villain. And yes, he got his comeuppance in the end.

The year before I saw "I am Curious (Yellow)" in California. That was the first "mainstream" movie in America to show real intercourse. We Americans reacted as you might expect. It was banned in my native Pittsburgh after a committee of civic and religious leaders previewed it three times and decided it had no socially redeeming value. And young people managed to get far enough out of town to see this Swedish import.

"Anatomie" was a whole different dimension. The few spoken parts were in German with English subtitles. It was by no means "pornographic' or prurient, featuring a young couple who goes to a sex therapist to improve their marriage. It was really very artistic and truly erotic. As part of "the sexual evolution," the message was that you can enjoy sex. The couple made love using various techniques to the music of Ravel's "Bolero." This was a decade before the movie "10." --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065397/ [May 2005]

see also: sex education

2005, May 23; 00:43 ::: Damaged Goods

Damaged Goods (1914)

Although DAMAGED GOODS is one of the 50% of films made before 1950 to be lost, it is worth commenting on it here to express its importance in telling about venereal diseases before film and literature dealt with that subject regularly. The film deals with Sexually-Transmitted Diseases as contacted to a young student by an older girl. The story deals with a young college graduate who doesn't know what to do with his future. He is applauded by his parents and their friends at their Los Angeles home. One night, he meets an older woman who is a friend of his parents. Since the woman's husband is not home, the graduate drops her off at her house, then she ends up inviting him inside and seducing him. (Sound familiar?) The film could be entertaining today...if it survived. Richard Bennett stars as the college graduate(yes, that is the same Richard Bennett who played Major Amberson in Orson Welles' THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS [1942]). Anyhow, don't despair film buffs! Preservationists like Brownlow, Shepard, and the UCLA film preservation committee have salvaged hundreds of films once thought lost. One day, this artifact might turn up in somebody's basement or some long-forgotten film vault in some old forgotten Hollywood studio. One can only hope... --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0003815/ [May 2005]

Damaged Goods (1937) - Phil Goldstone
During the late 1930s and into the '40s, this film was constantly revived on the roadshow circuit with a spicy ad campaign and a new title: "Forbidden Desires". Surviving publicity material shows plenty of lascivious appeal but mentions nothing about the film being about venereal disease. --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028754/

Both movies are based on a play by Eugène Brieux (1858 - 1932)

Eugène Brieux
Eugène Brieux (January 19, 1858 - December 6, 1932), French dramatist, was born in Paris of poor parents.

His plays are essentially didactic, being aimed at some weakness or iniquity of the social system.

Les Avariés (1901), forbidden by the censor, on account of its medical details, was read privately by the author at the Théâtre Antoine; and Petite amie (1902) describes the life of a Parisian shop-girl. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%E8ne_Brieux [May 2005]

see also: sex hygiene

2005, May 22; 22:08 ::: Mondo caldo di notte (1962) Renzo Russo

Mondo caldo di notte (1962) Renzo Russo

2005, May 22; 22:08 ::: Educational Archives, Vol. 1: Sex and Drugs (2001) - Various

Hell's Highway - The True Story of Highway Safety Films (2002) - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Description
Generations of American children sat in dark classrooms and absorbed wisdom in the form of 16mm educational and social guidance films. Through the flicker of dim projector bulbs and the warble of optical soundtracks a blueprint for better living in the Atomic Age was spelled out in no uncertain terms. Now just as you remember them, Fantoma presents these collections of sex education & drug prevention films. Learn all about the dangers of marijuana, the perils of heavy petting, the difference between boys and girls and the joys of menstruation. Films include: LSD: Insight or Insanity, It's Wonderful Being a Girl, Narcotics: Pit of Despair, The ABC's of Sex Ed. for Trainables, & Marijuana (with Sonny Bono).

2005, May 22; 21:59 ::: Drivers ed films

Hell's Highway - The True Story of Highway Safety Films (2002) - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

2005, May 22; 21:58 ::: Il Mondo di notte (1959) - Luigi Vanzi

Il Mondo di notte (1959) - Luigi Vanzi

What if Ed Sullivan had taken his "Really, really big shew" show on the road to Amsterdam, Blackpool, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Hollywood, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Las Vegas, London, New York, Paris, Stockholm and Tokyo? The result might have been similar to this duller-than-dirt travelogue featuring dancing whales, stripping females and a non-performing performing dog. Not to mention the Kim Novak look-alike Ricky Renee, the Bluebell Girls of Paris, strippers such as Feline and Rapha Temporel (the houri of the hammock); juggler Marco of Stockholm, Wild Willie Harris and the Tiller Girls of London. Come to think of it, this looks more like the State Fair of Texas than The Ed Sullivan Show. Plus, the Fair also offers Fletcher's Corney Dogs and three-pound turkey legs... --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057022 [May 2005]

Italia - anno: 1959 - Technirama in Technicolor - regia: Luigi Vanzi -Interpreti: attori ed attrici di varietà di music-hall, di night-club, di strip-tease e attrazioni - produzione: Julia Film - distribuzione: Warner Bros.

Seguendo la moda inaugurata da Alessandro Blasetti con Europa di notte, il film si articola come un documentario, girato nei locali di attrazione delle principali città del mondo, insistendo in particolare sul pubblico, sul colore locale, sull'atmosfera dei night club o degli altri ritrovi caratteristici (ad esempio quello delle balene danzanti di Hollywood, o la taverna newyorkese dove si esibiscono le vecchie glorie del music-hall americano). Fra gli interpreti: Alfredo Alaria e i balletti Macumba e Malambo del Lido di Parigi; Dodò d'Hambourg e Rapha Temporel del Crazy Horse, Feline, i Fraternity Brothers, il Gospel Show dell'Apolle Theatre di Halrem, i campioni di catch con Maschera Rossa, l'opera Cinese di Hong-Kong, le Rhythmettes di Las Vegas, le balene di Marineland a Hollywood, la casa delle geishe Kiyckawa, Wee Willie Harris e la Rockett's Orchestra, il Queen Bee Cabaret dl Tokyo, con Iuki Rosa, Mara Krup, le Tiller Girl, The Nitwits Band, Ricky Renèe la donna mistero, la Spada di San Marco, il Luau di Honolulu, il balletto Tahiti, le Blue Bell Girls del Lido di Parigi, ecc. --http://www.crispinomoto.it/BRAND_VESPA/VESPA_ATTRICE/PAGINE/FOTO_25_IL_MONDO_DI_NOTTE.HTM [May 2005]

2005, May 22; 21:39 ::: Risqué

Suggestive of or bordering on indelicacy or impropriety. --AHD
[French, from past participle of risquer, to risk, from risque, risk. See risk.] --AHD

Bordering on indelicacy or impropriety: blue, earthy, off-color, provocative, racy, salty, scabrous, spicy, suggestive. See decent/indecent. --Roget's Thesaurus

2005, May 22; 20:59 ::: Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso (1968)

Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso (1968) - Luigi Scattini (director) Piero Umiliani (music)[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Album Description
This soundtrack for the so-called „documentary" on the decay of morals in Sweden from 1968 is a long lost jewel of Easy Listening. Properly released for the first time ever it brings us 28 cute little songs called „Photo Models", „Topless Party" or „Beer , Vermouth & Gin" - plus the superhit „Mah Na’ Mah Na’" (as known from „Sesame Street" and many TV-ads). Oh yes - and the soundtrack also features Mr.Gato Barbieri on sax.

Edmund Purdom narrates a documentary about Sweden. It shows contraceptives for teen girls, lesbian nightclubs, wife swapping, porno movies, biker gangs, and Walpurgis Night celebrations. It also examines Swedens drug, drinking and high suicide problems. It featured the Swedish nonsense song "Mah-Na Mah-Na" later used on the "Sesame Street" Show. --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063660 [May 2005]

see also: soundtrack - mondo

2005, May 22; 20:59 ::: Mondo films and travelogues

All the scenes that you are about to see are real and were shot as they were taking place. If sometimes they seem cruel it is only because cruelty abounds on this Planet. And anyway, the Duty of the reporter is not to make the truth seem sweeter but to show things how they really are. --from the opening of Mondo Cane (1962)

Soundtrack to Mondo Cane (1962)

One of the earliest examples of mondofilm, in my opinion, is J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith's film about the battle of Santiago Bay. These gentlemen where among the first to carry a camera into battle and did successfully capture Theodore Roosevelt's attack on San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American war on Cuba in 1898. But safe at home in New York they read in the newspapers that a big battle had been fought in Santiago Bay. Annoyed that they had missed this historical battle, they came up with a brilliant idea. They bought some books about ships, some cigars, and gunpowder and turned an upside-down table filled with water into Santiago Bay!

They had cut out ships from the book, and pulled them into the scene with strings. A local boy helped blowing cigarsmoke into the set and gunpowder was fired. This innovative film, together with the not-so-great quality of the film stock, fooled a whole world and this was probably the first re-enactment in cinema history.

As time went by, the audience found a new genre to love, the travelogue. The travelogue was documents from, let's say, Africa and Papua New Guinea. Exotic beasts side by side with the wild bushman, and if you where real lucky, the bushman could also practice the noble art of cannibalism. Several of the daring and in some cases foolish, photographers made this into an art. Some of the finest films where made by Osa and Martin Johnsson with films with exiting titles like Head hunters of the South Sea and Among the Cannibal Isles of the South Pacific (1918).

The crux of the biscuit for many was that traveling across the world cost an awful lot of money, but that they REALLY wanted to cash in on these kinds of films. And why not? Many big cities have a zoo where you can film some animals and later cut into some exotic tale. Even big events like the Boer war in Africa and riots in China were produced and filmed in Europe and America. And no one seemed to care.

The producers certainly got their money back and the audience got the action they craved. And this went on, it really never stopped, but it wasn't really until 1962 it all took a new turn. --Christer Persson via Google's cached page [May 2005]

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