White Slaves of Chinatown (1964)

Directed By Joseph P. Mawra
Starring Audrey Campbell, Marlaina Abbie, Gigi Darlene, George Weiss
Unrated
USA

"I'll show you what we do with tramps like you!"

The BDS&M roughie genre gets off to a plodding start in the first of the Olga pictures, White Slaves of Chinatown. Don't let the race baiting title deceive you, there aren't many Asians to be seen. However there are plenty of nylons, and tied up chicks getting roughed up to help you forget all of that. Not quite in abundance, too be clear, but what's there is more than in your average picture. White Slaves of Chinatown is not quite raincoat worthy, yet it's not quite a date flick either. Now lets get down to it.

As was the de rigueur at the time, this roughie paints itself as a cautionary tale. With Chinese parade music on a seemingly continuous loop (spiced up with the occasional jazz number) the flick begins with front page headlines. Highlights include the words: Narcotics! Addicts! Schoolchildren!  Hey, you get the point. And where is the source of the nations woes? Fuckin Chinatown, where we are warned that those who venture here, are "surely taking their life in their own hands!" Why? Because OLGA!

Olga's habitat is town home on the outside, and a beehive of torture chambers on the inside. Here we see female after female, collapsed on the dirt floor, exhausted, filthy, and deprived of life's necessities as Olga (Audrey Campbell) gradually turns them out to make money for her on the street. Olga's a pimp! But she's not quite her own boss. Her "secret strength" is that she is backed by the syndicate. One little half-assed plot involves a young lady named "Frenchy". Frenchy (Gigi Darlene) is the daughter of a "high-ranking French diplomat."

Frenchy resists Olga's attempts to secure her signature on a stack of letters asking her dad to send her money. Hey, no problem. Now we get to hear the Chinese parade music as Frenchy wiggles around topless on the floor of her dirty, tiny cell. After all that, she is ready to sign anything. Olga takes the money straight to the syndicate, where she buys more drugs both to turn out prostitutes, and to deal. Again, the narrator explains to us that "Olga is an animal without conscience, who wouldn't think twice about selling pot to young schoolchildren. Anything for a buck."

There are numerous other little machinations afoot. An escape attempt, peeks into a white opium den/make out room, there's also an abortion scene. Notably, the doctor is portrayed by George Weiss, who not only produced all of the Olga films. But also produced Glen or Glenda. He was portrayed by Mike Starr in the movie Ed Wood. Perty neat, huh?

The BDS&M action is light. The floggings are seen by shadow only. But there's a handful of damsels all tied up, with fear in their eyes, a couple of topless scenes, and leering looks at thighs clad in nylon. Dame Olga is a beautiful villain, in some scenes she is lit like a vampire. And (spoiler alert), she never gets caught. She just carries on being an alpha bitch, ripping and tearing her way through America's youth. Someone grab the popcorn.

-BoDuley

Olga's House of Shame (1964)

Directed By Joseph P. Mawra
Starring Audrey Campbell, Alice Davis, W.B. Parker, Ella Daphne
Unrated
USA

 "She had charm alright, and in the right places."

Olga's House of Shame is an early BDS&M roughie that is the second of five Olga films. The film is unrated however after about forty minutes the bras come off. It could easily pass as an R-rated film today. Producer George Weiss also gets story credit. His biggest claim to fame is that he produced Ed Wood Jr's,  gender bending opus, "Glen or Glenda?".

   There are no gender bending hijinks in Olga's House of Shame, however. Filmed in black in white entirely on location in the back offices of a real abandoned coal mine, the flick embraces the utilitarian nature of these no budget, turn a fast buck affairs. It also  features enough beating, flogging, cutting, electrocuting,  nylons, belly dancing, girl on girl lovin', and bosoms to have satisfied just about all of grandpa's needs back in the day.

   The flick starts innocently enough as a car drives up a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, deep in the backwoods. But once the car stops the action begins as an obviously  distraught woman flees, but is subdued and smacked around by the driver of the car, a man that is revealed through narration as Nick (W.B. Parker), Olga's brother. Nick has contacts in a jewel smuggling operation that spans "an entire continent".

   This is but a third leg in Olga's triple threat enterprise that also includes  prostitution, and narcotics. Nick delivers the bound woman to Olga (Audrey Campbell), and she is informed that jewels are missing from the shipment. Faced with taking the blame out on her brother and senior business partner, or a lowly jewel courier, the choice is obvious. And we soon get down to the first beating of the film. A scant five minutes into the runtime, Elaine (Judy Young) the courier is bound, gagged, and slapped around.

   Throughout the film Olga manages her business, fields new hires, entertains  business associates, and manages to enjoy some "me" time in the process. But it can't all be fun and games for the sadistic entrepreneur.  As the story progresses it becomes clearer and clearer that someone in her ranks is not  being entirely loyal. And for Olga the best way to sniff out a rat is to punish,  beat, strip, and whip.

   Olga's House of Shame takes a long time to hit its stride. But much like the  public domain classical music that plays throughout the film, it does manage to reach a crescendo. As I mentioned earlier it takes about forty minutes for the bras to drop, and once they do, there is no stopping this runaway train of whips, double-crosses, horseplay, and lesbian antics till the 69 (!) minute run time is reached.

   To say the film uses narration as a crutch is an understatement. The plot is pretty straightforward and barebones. However somehow the narrator manages to drone on and on, the tone alternating between industrial film, public service announcements, and traditional film narration. And between these marathon spouts of boring  nonsense, plays the abovementioned classical notes. Actual dialogue is pretty sparse and only gains steam in the second half of the flick.

   But the draw for the Olsa franchise are the beauties, the bosoms, and the  beatings. And in that, this film does not disappoint. Unlike a lot of the other sexploitation films of the era, the women in Olga's House of Shame are actually attractive. Including the actress Brenda Denaut, who just so happens to be the late mother of the Arquette siblings. There is plenty of dancing, hip thrusting, and bosom heaving to make up for the myriad imperfections, and  the uninteresting setting of the film.

   Olga's House of Shame is well worth sitting through. It has an unsophisticated backwoods charm that is comforting in a way. And it doesn't take long for you to begin to root for the mistress. When Olga sneers, and begins administering punishment, it is with such a wink in her eye you will find yourself winking right back at her. Check it out.

Availability: Olga's House of Shame is out of print on DVD. However, it can be had (for a price) as part of an Olga triple feature at Amazon.

-BoDuley