Love Scenes is a remnant from the older days of "late night
cable." It's a softcore sex film originally made for the Playboy network, and
virtually unseen since its cable days. (It will come to DVD for the first time
on Jan 30, 2007, but
you can pre-order it now, and get another title free, to
boot!)
It actually has a fairly interesting plot, which is not such a
common thing in the world of softcore. A director has optioned a racy
biographical script written by a retired actress. His producer tells him he has
two choices: (1) make the film as a cheapie, or (2) hire his own famous wife to
play the
lead. Since the wife is an established star, her name recognition will attract backers. The director, being an ambitious fellow, is not
opposed to directing his wife in sex scenes, but the wife really doesn't go for
the idea at all. She's never done any nudity at all, let alone with her husband
directing.
She finally agrees to take the part, but there's a twist. The
script is about an actress who's married to a nice man who's a dud in the sack.
The character eventually leaves her husband for a stud-muffin. The wife/actress
playing that character is in the exact
same position in her own life. She's never had an orgasm because her director/ husband doesn't
make much of an effort in the bedroom, although he is a great guy in general. Her co-star is an
arrogant jerk, but a major stud. On the first day of shooting, she gets so
carried away that she actually climaxes in a sex scene. The husband thinks this
is great acting, and wants her to keep up the good work! As the script develops,
the character's plight and the actress's plight stay in parallel, and the
director/husband stays completely clueless until the end.
In addition to a reasonably good plot, the film also has some
interesting character actors in the supporting roles. Fast-talking comic Jack
Carter plays the producer. Britt Ekland plays a lesbian photographer. Statuesque
Julie Newmar plays the retired actress who wrote the script, and she plays her
scenes in heels so high she looks like that guy who played the giant in Big
Fish, especially compared to petite Tiffany Bolling, who plays the lead. (See
picture below.)
Bolling herself was an interesting casting choice. She had been
a staple of the drive-in features of the seventies, but hadn't worked very much
at all between 1978 and 1983, playing only a couple of small roles in that
period. She hadn't
had a leading role or done a nude scene in the seven years prior to being cast
in Love Scenes, so this was a comeback for her at age 38.
Most of the nudity is done by Bolling, and this film
represents her career nudity highlight. She did several full-frontal scenes,
including one skinny-dipping scene in excellent light. Click on the thumbnails
below to see some examples from the film.
Three other members of the cast did full-frontal nudity as
well. All three actresses are uncredited, but one of them, Monique Gabrielle,
needs no official credit to be recognized by fans of screen nudity. The other
two actresses remain unknown to me. There are also several extras naked in an
orgy scene from the film-within-a-film.
Britt Ekland remained clothed throughout the film. Given that
fact, I'm not really sure why she was hired for this role at all. Certainly not
for her Shakespearian line readings. I don't know
what she did with her spare time back in the days when she was the "girlfriend
to the stars," but I'll give you odds she wasn't hanging around The Actor's
Studio.
We're always happy to see a lost sheep found,
so it's a pleasure to see this forgotten film finally make it to DVD from the
"private screening collection." Hell, if you are a Tiffany Bolling fan, this is your Casablanca.