1979: jesie st. james and lisa sue corey in “hot legs”

title: hot legs, scene 2

performers: jesie st. james, lisa sue corey
production credits: bob chinn (dir.), jeffrey fairbanks, gail palmer (scr.)
studio: caribbean films | running time: 16:53
release date: 1979 | purchase

jesie st. james, lisa sue corey

there was a brief window, in between the cheaply made kodachrome hardcore films that made x-rated movies fashionable in the early to mid 70s and the home video explosion of the 1980s, when big-budget porn movies were not just a pipe dream but a reality: lavish widescreen technicolor pictures with color that popped like an old mgm musical, scripts that rattled like screwball comedy, and acting that... well, depending on the performer the acting could sometimes be okay.

hot legs seemingly got financed on the strength of gail palmer's brand: a rare female producer and "director" (the latter has been disputed) whose supposedly autobiographical film the erotic adventures of candy made her a leading light of "porno chic" as annointed by outlets like playboy magazine. she produced hot legs, but was smart enough to hand directing to bob chinn, a chinese-american director whose "johnny wadd" series of noir pastiches starring john holmes was one of the decade's signature achievements in porn. palmer is credited with the story, which is simple enough: behind the scenes at an advertising agency putting together a campaign for a line of silk stockings, photographers, models, wardrobe, and money guys butt heads and not infrequently genitals.

 

the nonsex portion of this scene as clipped by vod sites is extensive and snappy, with paul thomas as an egotistical photographer, sharon kane as his faithful assistant, richard pacheco as mort, the business guy trying to keep things under budget and the client appeased, jesie st. james as a model and his on-again off-again girlfriend, and lisa sue corey as the mousey wardrobe girl who burns a hole in a designer dress because she's too busy ogling the naked jesie to pay attention to her ironing. jesie plots with her to strategically place the blame on mort, then later catches her trying on one of the agency's dresses, and pitches her a line about wanting to live out fantasies... cue the vaguely rock & roll instrumental music. the movie's named after a rod stewart song, after all.

since there are actual models doing nonsex work in the film, jesie st. james can hardly be confused for them, but she's extremely glamorous nonetheless, with bombshell costuming, makeup, and photography. lisa sue corey, as her stage name suggests, specialized much more in girl-next-door roles. so it's nice to see the entirety of the encounter be the glamorous, worldwise jesie (who had boy/girl sex in the previous scene) pleasuring the diffident, naive lisa sue. it's also nice to see some actual kisses land on the lips: i'm so used to current girl/girl practices that i'd forgotten how frequently "lesbian" kissing in porn just meant licking tongues with mouths held an inch apart from each other for many years.

the extremely varied preservation quality of porn from the 1970s (and, peeking ahead, 1980s) is unsurprising to anyone aware of twentieth and twenty-first century media archival practices. for every crystal-clear, ravishingly beautiful, exquisitely preserved high definition movie like this that survives there are dozens if not hundreds of its fellows that only exist commercially as a 360p vhs rip with a good inch of tracking wavering at the bottom of the screen. i'm watching as much as i can stomach of everything that seems even remotely interesting based on cast, premise, notability, and/or length, but against any but the most appealing cast and sexual activity, mere production value is going to win nine times out of ten. luckily jesie and lisa sue are quite appealing enough.

1979 runners up:

desiree cousteau, juliet anderson and sharon kane in inside desiree cousteau, scene 3

gail films (dir. leon gucci), 13:14

sharon, desiree, juliet

the second-best desiree cousteau film, after pretty peaches, is inside desiree cousteau, which transfers that ditzy, bright-eyed little annie fanny quality from peaches onto desiree herself, as she cheerfully narrates her supposed misadventures in the workplace before landing in the adult industry. her stint as a saleswoman for impatient storekeeper juliet anderson (in a sitcom-worthy performance) is cut short when customer sharon kane beguiles her in the dressing room, and when confronted by juliet they forcibly include her in the fun. a dissertation could be written on the rapey undertones in desiree's filmography, and what it says about midcentury america's attitude toward naivete; but it's impossible to take anything seriously here.

jane lindsay and sharon kane in fantasy, scene 5

quality x (dir. gerard damiano), 11:47

sharon, jane

the filmmaker who made porn mainstream in 1972 with deep throat, by 1979 gerard damiano was making thoughtfully weird films like for richer, for poorer (georgina spelvin has a scrooge-like awakening), people (altmanesque vignettes), and fantasy, in which various people at a resort café daydream about the sex they aren't having with the people around them. in the movie's girl/girl scene, sharon kane (credited as shirley woods) dreams about being lovingly fisted by her domineering, withholding companion jane lindsay in a lavish semi-medieval bedroom set. damiano's filmmaking is exquisite and imaginative, and the sex as near to believable as i've seen yet.

becky savage, holly joy and lily rodgers in starship eros, scene 4

capa (dir. scott mchaley), 12:02

becky, lily, holly

in case anyone was under the impression that high-budget porn parodies were an invention of the dvd era, this star trek parody features a starship with an all-female crew (except for the robot with an unaccountably fleshy dick). the storytelling is inscrutable since i haven't seen the previous parts, but captain lily punishing becky for some breach of protocol by holding a plastic gun that makes zapping sounds at her crotch while becky writhes in simulated torture is high camp. but the follow-up scene, in which holly visits becky in her bunk and makes her feel better with her tongue, is shockingly good for the era and the genre. sure, there's a flute-heavy soundtrack, but you can't have everything.

also noteworthy:

scenes

• arcadia lake and serena in blonde in black silk, scene 7 | praxis (bill eagle)
• carol connors and delania raffino in candy goes to hollywood, scene 3 | caribbean (gail palmer)
• china leigh and vicky lyon in china sisters, scene 2 | essex (anthony spinelli)
• goldy and thizou in désirs sous les tropiques, scene 5 | france-continental (francis leroi)
• samantha fox and vanessa del rio in her name was lisa, scene 9 | ace (richard mahler)
• georgina spelvin and samantha fox in mystique, scene 3 | sendy (roberta findlay)
• sharon kane and valerie darlyn in small town girls, scene 1 | vcx (tom janovich)
• kyoto gee and rita finegold in star of the orient, scene 4 | beagle bros (harry lewis)
• penelope jones, rhonda jo petty, sharon kane and starr woods in sweet dreams, suzan, scene 2 | freeway (leoni valentino)
• laurien dominique and vanessa del rio in woman in love, scene 9 | tvx (kemal horulu)