There exists inside of me a certain level of affection for clever bawdy comedy. Not dirty jokes, not the kinds of comedy that comes from movies like 'American Pie' or the god-awful 'Porky's' but the sort of bawdiness that comes from European films, The Benny Hill Show, Mel Brooks' better films and the animated shorts of Bob Clampett.
'Young Lady Chatterley' belongs on that list. Like 'Emmanuelle' it belongs to a very short list of 70s sex farces that walked the line between titillation and comedy and managed to succeed as a tastefully tasteless movie. Eliminating the element of playfulness and fun from a movie whose primary function is sex means that you eliminate the danger of your movie looking foolish. I prefer movies that don't play it safe. Happily there's a mixture here of sex for fun and sex that makes an attempt to be serious. You come away appreciating both equally.
The movie has become an underground classic among those who like sex in the movies but like to keep it soft core. Hard core pornography gets really old, really fast. It's also very limited. 'Young Lady Chatterley' has a very limited connection with D.H. Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' but I prefer this one because it's more farce than anything else. There are things here that would have made Lawrence proud, as a matter of fact. That doesn't extend to the entire enterprise, just a bit here and a bit there.
The movie stars Harlee McBride (later known as Mrs. Richard Belzer) as Cynthia Chatterley, Lady Chatterley's granddaughter who buys her grandmother's estate, finds her diary in a closet and begins to read up on ol' grams diddlings with a farmhand. This opens Cynthia's own sexual awareness and she begins the process of finding things to do around the house – like the serving staff. In truth, Ms. McBride is lovely especially in various states of undress and we appreciate the moments when that loveliness is on display.
There are only a handful of actors in the movie that she doesn't have sex with. I'm not complaining simply because the sex scenes are not filmed that boring Hollywood tradition of having a lot of close-ups in slow-motion. The scenes are athletic, robust and far more titillating and leave a great deal to the imagination.
Those scenes are nicely photographed showing and as much skin as possible while suggesting more than they really show. The scenes range from hilarious to serious but never with a sense of exploitation and never with the laminated dullness of a Playboy video. 'Young Lady Chatterley' is like curling up with a really trashy novel and smiling to yourself even when you shouldn't.
*** (of four)
'Young Lady Chatterley' belongs on that list. Like 'Emmanuelle' it belongs to a very short list of 70s sex farces that walked the line between titillation and comedy and managed to succeed as a tastefully tasteless movie. Eliminating the element of playfulness and fun from a movie whose primary function is sex means that you eliminate the danger of your movie looking foolish. I prefer movies that don't play it safe. Happily there's a mixture here of sex for fun and sex that makes an attempt to be serious. You come away appreciating both equally.
The movie has become an underground classic among those who like sex in the movies but like to keep it soft core. Hard core pornography gets really old, really fast. It's also very limited. 'Young Lady Chatterley' has a very limited connection with D.H. Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' but I prefer this one because it's more farce than anything else. There are things here that would have made Lawrence proud, as a matter of fact. That doesn't extend to the entire enterprise, just a bit here and a bit there.
The movie stars Harlee McBride (later known as Mrs. Richard Belzer) as Cynthia Chatterley, Lady Chatterley's granddaughter who buys her grandmother's estate, finds her diary in a closet and begins to read up on ol' grams diddlings with a farmhand. This opens Cynthia's own sexual awareness and she begins the process of finding things to do around the house – like the serving staff. In truth, Ms. McBride is lovely especially in various states of undress and we appreciate the moments when that loveliness is on display.
There are only a handful of actors in the movie that she doesn't have sex with. I'm not complaining simply because the sex scenes are not filmed that boring Hollywood tradition of having a lot of close-ups in slow-motion. The scenes are athletic, robust and far more titillating and leave a great deal to the imagination.
Those scenes are nicely photographed showing and as much skin as possible while suggesting more than they really show. The scenes range from hilarious to serious but never with a sense of exploitation and never with the laminated dullness of a Playboy video. 'Young Lady Chatterley' is like curling up with a really trashy novel and smiling to yourself even when you shouldn't.
*** (of four)