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THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES
Produced by Sam Sherman
Directed by Al Adamson
Written by Sam Sherman and Bruce Feld
Edited by John Winfield
Director of Photography - Gary GraverBrewster - Robert Livingston
Debbie - Connie Hoffman
Cal - Richard Smedley
Jane - Syndey JordanSome people have problems when erotica is reviewed on the site. I know this because they tell me, either in e-mail or openly on the message boards. They say it takes away from the legitimacy of what the "serious artists" are trying to do. I don't offend easily, but a statement like that gets to me.
It's easy to dismiss erotica, especially if it doesn't aspire to be much more than a few soft-core sex scenes. The sex is just the selling point, just like the kills in a slasher movie. What really counts is what takes place between the sex. Next time you find yourself viewing something by Seduction Cinema or HotMovies2000, pay attention to what goes on between the encounters to see if the sequences are just set ups for the next money shot or if there is some sort of social relevance to what's going on.
Granted, not all of today's erotica possesses a noble intent. Terry West comes to mind as a videomaker who wants to do more than just string along some sex, he wants to tell a good story that makes a solid point. Someone like Jim Wynorsky, the director of THE BARE WENCH PROJECT series of movies, doesn't. Not that film-for-profit is bad, if it was then I wouldn't be here.
But I'm not here to discuss the intentions of these people, I'm hear for THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES, a 1973 film from director Al Adamson and producer Sam Sherman. Visitors to the B-Independent.com message boards already know how I feel about films of the 1970's. That golden era of American cinema is the closest the U.S. has come to a French New Wave. The movies were raw, they had that "edge" that producers today are always talking about but can't define in terms of today's product. It was a time when American movies were about something more, they rose up to address social concerns and topical issues. Even sexploitation was elevated to art by merely possessing a social awareness.
With all its light comedy, THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES is still a dark movie about troubled times. The heroine, Debbie, is a former prostitute looking to start over. She takes a job as a stewardess, a profession long since replaced by a-sexual sounding Flight Attendants. Until she finds a place of her own, Debbie lives with her fellow stewardesses in a swinging bachelorette pad. What Debbie once did for money, these girls do for fun. Sex, to them, is what it ought to be, friendly and enjoyable. These are women who grew up in the free love era of the sixties and knew sex without consequences. But sex does have consequences, as these women are about to find out.
For a sexploitation film, THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES is a pretty feminist piece of work. The women are all strong willed who know what they want and don't take any grief from their would-be suitors. In fact, it's the Stewardesses who keep their men on the leash. While the girls live in the excess of the times, they don't allow themselves to fall victim to that excess. They have good heads on their shoulders and know how to use them. It's Girl Power 20 years before the term became a pop-culture catch phrase.
The men, on the other hand, are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Dirty old men. Pornographers. Psychopaths. Criminals. Dead beats. There's only one truly respectable male in the bunch, and that's a throw-away character in the form of a Pilot who is deeply in love with the mother figure among the stewardesses, Jane, but he respects her nature enough to never force her to settle down. That's not to say he doesn't return his affection known, she embraces it openly, but she just wants to enjoy all that life has to offer without being tied down. It's simply not the right for her.
Sexual empowerment isn't the only issue THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES tackles head on. It's a movie that embodies all that the 1970's were about, and that's infecting the societal changes brought to light in the 1960's. The most apparent being to oust the regime of old men running the country who were stamping out the freedoms our country has prospered on. It's these old men who reap the rewards given freely by the youth culture, but hold young America at bay and kill them if their tightly woven power circle is threatened.
It would be hard to sell a movie like THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES today. It's too dark, to raw, and all the endings aren't happy ones. The 70's were a much darker time. It was a "realer" time. Much of today's erotica is about finding love and comfort in the arms of another, while the films of yesterday are about finding peace or solace in individual empowerment. To me, that's more noble.
So to anyone who wants to knock erotic cinema, I suggest you sit and watch THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES, then come back to me for some discussion.
The DVD for THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES is one of the better one I've seen in regards to erotic cinema. The transfer is crisp and clean, and viewers can find the theatrical and television spots that originally advertised the movie. Remember when erotic cinema was advertised on television? Neither do I. Highlights include two deleted scenes, one of which would have easily been the raciest in the movie if it were included. The real treasure is the commentary by Sam Sherman, the producer. He provides what is perhaps the most in depth historical recollection of a film's production that I've ever heard. And it's reaffirming to hear how much this man believed he was making art in his day.