Directed by Ed Forsyth
Starring Joyce Jilson, Louis Quinn, Thomas Reardon, Tony Young, Timothy Wayne Brown, John Carradine, Uschi Digard, Candy Samples
Rated R
USA
"Last one in bed gets no head!"
Welcome to the swinging '70's, my friends... a land full of hammy melodramatic rich dudes who prefer performance art over actual sex and have crazy germ phobias, pot parties, and horny, loose air-line stewardesses who have a Clark Kent fetish. And the best part? John Carradine as a weirdo S&M enthusiast.
SUPERCHICK (Crown International, 1975) really doesn't have a plot. More like a series of subplots that come to an abrupt end. It basically plays like a feature-length clip show, with elements of three or four different films edited together that just happen to have the same central character.
The finished film is like watching some crazy retro travel documentary about a stewardess, Tara B. True, portrayed by future psychic quack Joyce Jillson (who for the record has amazing boobs, and shows them off alot in the film, though the end credits proclaim she utilized a body double in some scenes), and her need to have sex with multiple partners in several different cities.
True leads a double life (hence the "Superchick" title, I'm assuming) where she's a mousey brunette flight attendant by day, and blonde-headed vixen by night...we're not told why she does this, and I'm assuming that's just how she gets her kicks, pretending to be two people. Maybe it's a cosplay thing. Go figure...
Now, allow me to stop here for a moment and say something about the opening title sequence. If Quentin Tarintino wasn't inspired in some way by SUPERCHICK's title credits when filming JACKIE BROWN's, then it's some sorta incredible coincidence. Hell, Subplot #1 (which serves as the closest thing as a central plotline this film has) is practically an abridged version of Elmore Leonard's RUM PUNCH, the book the aforementioned Tarintino flick was based on. Loser gambling addict West Coast boyfriend (whom we're introduced to as he's screwing around with porno actress Candy Samples and her huge milk cans) gets caught up in a plot by the mob to rip off a payroll. For some reason the local mob want Tara involved because she's a flight attendant, though the film doesn't really make clear why the gangsters need her help to begin with.
Subplot #2 is Tara's wacky sex antics with an eccentric pop musician whom she meets up with after a party busted by two crooked beat cops where we get to see Rus Meyer girl Uschi Digard's bust. Digard portrays a party-girl named Mayday who's outfit (when she's wearing it) is bursting at the seams, that is when she isn't trying to make some bisexual time with Tara.
Subplot #3 involves Tara and her wealthy New York boyfriend whos's a doctor...and has some serious germ issues. So much so, he and Ms. True engage in an oddly staged bit of performance art that's half beat poetry reading and half simulated bedroom pillow talk that provides a bit of unintentional humor....not that the film needed any more of it.
Thrown in amongst all these subplots are a few goofy skits involving Jillson's character joining the "mile high club" with a travelling Marine in an airplane restroom, and her answering a swingers ad which she comes to discover was written by Igor, a pervy old S&M lover who lives with his mother and looks like he walked off the set of a late-night horror film host's show. John Carradine looks to have been enjoying the role of Igor a little too much, and his appearence in SUPERCHICK solidifies my opinion that he would literally cash a paycheck for any role that fell into his lap.
Is SUPERCHICK a good film? It's hard to say....it's less like a movie and more like a series of skits. The pros are: Jillson is fairly easy on the eyes and there's more than enough background boobs than you can shake a stick at. And there are some funny bits here and there, but that leads to the cons: the film tends to drag at points, which isn't helped by the fact that if a viewer cared to follow the film's storyline, they probably couldn't, because there isn't one there to be had. My advice? Watch it for the eye-candy and cheesecake, and throw any hopes of figuring out what the movie's about out the window. A nice piece of 1970s cheese that goes down a lot easier if you don't put much thought into it...
- Hong Kong Cavalier
Rated R
USA
"Last one in bed gets no head!"
SUPERCHICK (Crown International, 1975) really doesn't have a plot. More like a series of subplots that come to an abrupt end. It basically plays like a feature-length clip show, with elements of three or four different films edited together that just happen to have the same central character.
The finished film is like watching some crazy retro travel documentary about a stewardess, Tara B. True, portrayed by future psychic quack Joyce Jillson (who for the record has amazing boobs, and shows them off alot in the film, though the end credits proclaim she utilized a body double in some scenes), and her need to have sex with multiple partners in several different cities.
True leads a double life (hence the "Superchick" title, I'm assuming) where she's a mousey brunette flight attendant by day, and blonde-headed vixen by night...we're not told why she does this, and I'm assuming that's just how she gets her kicks, pretending to be two people. Maybe it's a cosplay thing. Go figure...
Now, allow me to stop here for a moment and say something about the opening title sequence. If Quentin Tarintino wasn't inspired in some way by SUPERCHICK's title credits when filming JACKIE BROWN's, then it's some sorta incredible coincidence. Hell, Subplot #1 (which serves as the closest thing as a central plotline this film has) is practically an abridged version of Elmore Leonard's RUM PUNCH, the book the aforementioned Tarintino flick was based on. Loser gambling addict West Coast boyfriend (whom we're introduced to as he's screwing around with porno actress Candy Samples and her huge milk cans) gets caught up in a plot by the mob to rip off a payroll. For some reason the local mob want Tara involved because she's a flight attendant, though the film doesn't really make clear why the gangsters need her help to begin with.
Subplot #2 is Tara's wacky sex antics with an eccentric pop musician whom she meets up with after a party busted by two crooked beat cops where we get to see Rus Meyer girl Uschi Digard's bust. Digard portrays a party-girl named Mayday who's outfit (when she's wearing it) is bursting at the seams, that is when she isn't trying to make some bisexual time with Tara.
Subplot #3 involves Tara and her wealthy New York boyfriend whos's a doctor...and has some serious germ issues. So much so, he and Ms. True engage in an oddly staged bit of performance art that's half beat poetry reading and half simulated bedroom pillow talk that provides a bit of unintentional humor....not that the film needed any more of it.
Thrown in amongst all these subplots are a few goofy skits involving Jillson's character joining the "mile high club" with a travelling Marine in an airplane restroom, and her answering a swingers ad which she comes to discover was written by Igor, a pervy old S&M lover who lives with his mother and looks like he walked off the set of a late-night horror film host's show. John Carradine looks to have been enjoying the role of Igor a little too much, and his appearence in SUPERCHICK solidifies my opinion that he would literally cash a paycheck for any role that fell into his lap.Is SUPERCHICK a good film? It's hard to say....it's less like a movie and more like a series of skits. The pros are: Jillson is fairly easy on the eyes and there's more than enough background boobs than you can shake a stick at. And there are some funny bits here and there, but that leads to the cons: the film tends to drag at points, which isn't helped by the fact that if a viewer cared to follow the film's storyline, they probably couldn't, because there isn't one there to be had. My advice? Watch it for the eye-candy and cheesecake, and throw any hopes of figuring out what the movie's about out the window. A nice piece of 1970s cheese that goes down a lot easier if you don't put much thought into it...
- Hong Kong Cavalier
I think I may have indeed tried for too much thought with this one. I was confused, bored, and when it came to Carradine's brief cameo, just plain saddened.
ReplyDelete