Serving as a sort of correction for the rampant misogyny in porn, LITTLE MISS INNOCENCE is an extremely well scripted and executed theatrical exercise, in which the girls get their own back. Perhaps too nasty and cynical for most tastes, it is a forgotten gem worth reviving.
Structure is disarmingly simple: cinematically presented but resembling a one act play. Musical arranger Rick Engels (genre vet John Alderman) picks up a couple of jailbait girls in his Caddy convertible, offering to drive them home to his place. They take the ride but defer, visiting him later.
SPOILERS ALERT:
In the feminine equivalent of a Leopold/Loeb "thrill killers" opus, the femmes have made a pact to see if they can hump a guy to death. Film takes on some of the obsessiveness of Oshima's IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES as they literally try to put that cockamamy notion into practice.
At first Rick is thrilled that not one but two pretty young things are throwing themselves at him, but after the first five sex bouts in succession, he's no longer fit to go to work, getting him in trouble with his boss at the recording studio. Unwillingly, he accedes to their obsession, a very accurate assumption on the part of the filmmakers of how the male ego might react in such an outlandish (except in one's fantasies) situation. Even Hugh Hefner doesn't have quite this sort of problem.
Led by the bitter & vindictive older girl (Sandy Dempsey, thigh tattoo intact and threatening to go hardcore at any moment), they won't let up on Rick, and even put him into bondage in later reels to prevent him from splitting. The younger girl, bucktoothed blonde Judy (played quite well by the very distinctive looking porn starlet Terri Johnson in probably her largest role ever) is a virgin with an affidavit to prove it! (you have to watch the movie to appreciate this plot twist).
Unlike most porn, whether it be soft or XXX, the movie whizzes by rapidly and boasts always interesting and apt dialog by the talented E.E. Patchen, who also wrote Richard Robinson's ADULTERY FOR FUN & PROFIT.
Later reels turn deadly dark, befitting the film's in-your-face theme of turning on its head the male braggadocio about performance. Perhaps having women, especially much younger women, throw themselves at you insatiably would be way too much of a good thing. I'd love to have seen Rod Serling tackle this subject -too bad pay-cable didn't exist in his heyday!
Dempsey's emoting is terrific -she even handles a big scene, breaking down admitting how her brother raped her when she was just 13, with skill that makes it unfortunate that the usual industry prejudice prevented her from crossing over into mainstream roles. I found Johnson deeply affecting -again proving that there's talent beneath the surface of a performer only used again and again for sexual content.
Alderman, with his temples greyed up to make him look a tad older, was an excellent choice for the lead role. His acting is always up to snuff, and here the edge (for the porn fan) provided by his familiarity in macho roles pays off the way a Continental star like Marcello Mastroianni or Ugo Tognazzi was able to trade on previous appearances to connect immediately with the viewer.
Not known for his technical skill, Ray Dennis Steckler contributes quality, almost "invisible" cinematography (no flashiness for its own sake), and the crew boasts plenty of other talent behind the camera, notably Buck Flower in several helping hand guises and a future porn auteur Joe Bardo as production coordinator.
I've seen most of pornographer (and journeyman TV actor) Chris Warfield's work, and this ranks up there with CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST and PURELY PHYSICAL among his best. The usual suspects among know-it-all video distributors (AHC, SWV, Blue Underground, ABA, etc.) sure missed the boat by not resurrecting this classic.
Structure is disarmingly simple: cinematically presented but resembling a one act play. Musical arranger Rick Engels (genre vet John Alderman) picks up a couple of jailbait girls in his Caddy convertible, offering to drive them home to his place. They take the ride but defer, visiting him later.
SPOILERS ALERT:
In the feminine equivalent of a Leopold/Loeb "thrill killers" opus, the femmes have made a pact to see if they can hump a guy to death. Film takes on some of the obsessiveness of Oshima's IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES as they literally try to put that cockamamy notion into practice.
At first Rick is thrilled that not one but two pretty young things are throwing themselves at him, but after the first five sex bouts in succession, he's no longer fit to go to work, getting him in trouble with his boss at the recording studio. Unwillingly, he accedes to their obsession, a very accurate assumption on the part of the filmmakers of how the male ego might react in such an outlandish (except in one's fantasies) situation. Even Hugh Hefner doesn't have quite this sort of problem.
Led by the bitter & vindictive older girl (Sandy Dempsey, thigh tattoo intact and threatening to go hardcore at any moment), they won't let up on Rick, and even put him into bondage in later reels to prevent him from splitting. The younger girl, bucktoothed blonde Judy (played quite well by the very distinctive looking porn starlet Terri Johnson in probably her largest role ever) is a virgin with an affidavit to prove it! (you have to watch the movie to appreciate this plot twist).
Unlike most porn, whether it be soft or XXX, the movie whizzes by rapidly and boasts always interesting and apt dialog by the talented E.E. Patchen, who also wrote Richard Robinson's ADULTERY FOR FUN & PROFIT.
Later reels turn deadly dark, befitting the film's in-your-face theme of turning on its head the male braggadocio about performance. Perhaps having women, especially much younger women, throw themselves at you insatiably would be way too much of a good thing. I'd love to have seen Rod Serling tackle this subject -too bad pay-cable didn't exist in his heyday!
Dempsey's emoting is terrific -she even handles a big scene, breaking down admitting how her brother raped her when she was just 13, with skill that makes it unfortunate that the usual industry prejudice prevented her from crossing over into mainstream roles. I found Johnson deeply affecting -again proving that there's talent beneath the surface of a performer only used again and again for sexual content.
Alderman, with his temples greyed up to make him look a tad older, was an excellent choice for the lead role. His acting is always up to snuff, and here the edge (for the porn fan) provided by his familiarity in macho roles pays off the way a Continental star like Marcello Mastroianni or Ugo Tognazzi was able to trade on previous appearances to connect immediately with the viewer.
Not known for his technical skill, Ray Dennis Steckler contributes quality, almost "invisible" cinematography (no flashiness for its own sake), and the crew boasts plenty of other talent behind the camera, notably Buck Flower in several helping hand guises and a future porn auteur Joe Bardo as production coordinator.
I've seen most of pornographer (and journeyman TV actor) Chris Warfield's work, and this ranks up there with CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST and PURELY PHYSICAL among his best. The usual suspects among know-it-all video distributors (AHC, SWV, Blue Underground, ABA, etc.) sure missed the boat by not resurrecting this classic.