10

He tries a fling with Dee Wallace Stone, who shows buns and possibly one breast, but he can't rise to the occasion. Then, his dream comes true when he rescues Bo's husband, and ends up in her bed. Needless to say, she is not what he was imagining. Bo looks incredible, and has lots of breast and bun exposure. Unfortunately, a lot of the prolonged sex scene, where they ball to Ravel's Bolero, is too dark to get many images. Bo is the weakest actress in the film, but had some great lines, and was mostly supposed to look good. Moore is on top and plugging away, and she says, "It's stuck." Moore replies, "No, it's ok, really. Don't be scared." She laughs and says, "No, the record is stuck."

The film was written and directed by Blake Edward's, Julie Andrew's husband. Although Henry Mancini was nominated for an Oscar for one of his songs, he didn't manage one memorable song in this film.

This is the sort of light comedy with lots of breasts that I wish they still made. There are enough funny moments to carry the film, and Bo is reason enough to see it all by herself.

SIDEBAR:

The story of the party guests has proven to be perhaps more interesting than the film itself. Director Blake Edwards hired porn superstars for the orgy scenes figuring that they would be comfortable with the nudity. Thanks to Celebrity Sleuth and many Funhouse members, nearly all have been identified, and the list reads like a Who's Who of porn. They were all put up in a hotel suite, and the party was so wild that their room service was cut off. At one point, Edwards directed one of the male stars to get up, meaning to get out of the chair he was in. The star misunderstood what was supposed to be up, and started spanking his monkey on set. When Dudley Moore related this story during a Playboy interview, his girlfriend, who was off camera, nearly stopped the interview she laughed so hard.

Interesting to me were the number of people who recognized one of the women, because that one was a personal favorite. No two people had the same favorite. Here are the stars:

Constance Money (real name Susan Jensen), star of the classic "The Opening
of Misty Beethoven."

Annette Haven, a former nurses aide, who had one of the prettiest faces in
porn. She refused to do facials.

Dorothy LeMay

Serena Blacquelord, usually billed as Serena

Candida Royale, who started Femme, a studio devoted to producing films women would enjoy, too. My favorite of the titles she released is called "Three Daughters." I read an interview where she said she had several more films in the cans, but there was no way to make a profit releasing them. When porn made the transition from film and adult theater releases to video, the gross/film was much lower, and the economics of creating a video version of her 35 mm films just did not make sense. This same change from film and theaters ended the golden age of porn. There was a time when it looked like porn and mainstream films might get close enough together to join hands. Some of these classics are becoming available on DVD, although I have no idea of the transfer quality. Titles available include:

Behind the Green Door
Debby Does Dallas (The Original)
The Devil in Miss Jones
Deep Throat

Again, thanks to everyone who provided information.

DVD info from Amazon.

Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1, plus a full screen version
a few minor features: a trailer, a featurette, etc.
not recommended. Wait for a re-mastered special edition

Scoopy's comments in yellow:

Can you believe Bo turns 45 this year? Bo likes to tell this joke on herself.

"What is this? 10 ... 9 ... 8... 7... 6... "

"Bo Derek aging"

I kinda like "10". Most guys over 40 do, except Maltin. The film is rated a respectable 6.6 by people 45 and over, and much less by younger people. It is rated 5.7 by men, but a paltry 4.9 by women. It is rated much higher by Americans than others. It is clearly a niche picture, but if you are a 45+ year old American man, it is a great bet.

But you should realize that the film is the cinematic equivalent of elevator music. In fact, the Dudley Moore character in the film actually writes elevator music. It is pleasant, inoffensive, unchallenging. It has some gentle laughs and some sexy woman. Above all, it gave Bo to the world in a featured role, for good or ill.

I sat next to Bo on a flight from Miami to Lima a couple of years ago, and her 40 year old waist was just as trim as ever!

The Critics Vote

Maltin 2/4

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, Tuna grades this film a B-. (Scoopy says "C+" - a pleasant, unremarkable comedy for a highly targeted audience, no more.)