This is the third and final porn film by editor turned director Graham Place that I've sampled, and it illustrates his problem -no talent and no resources. That's a deadly combination.
Film was released by Distribpix, which licensed it for video to Something Weird but that deal has sunsetted. So it's back to obscurity. In its heyday of soft porn Distribpix cranked out 50 films a year, so a treasure trove for fans of marginal cinema awaits in their vaults.
There's no screenplay credit for good reason: the cast spews plenty of cynical, tough talk but it's poorly written. A professional screenwriter might have taken the germs of ideas presented here and whipped them into witty or at least diverting dialog.
Like many other navel-gazing '60s exercises (THE PORN BROKERS, THE SMUT PEDDLER, THE SEXPLOITERS), THE PROCURER examines with cynical relish the sleazy side of life, undoubtedly reflecting the ambivalence of everyone in this particular neck of the Show Biz woods -'60s porn. Antihero and title character T.T. Wilson runs a theatrical talent agency, but is no better than a pimp. He has a casting couch in his office (put to good used during the film's 72- minute duration) and only gets work for gals who are willing to put out, not just for him but for his contacts. Stephen Treadwell in the part looks right, but gives a flat performance and muffs his more difficult dramatic scenes.
Hapless heroine is Melanie, a dead-broke waif anxious to break into acting, but stuck in Wilson's waiting room as if in purgatory or limbo. When she finally gets in to meet with him, he gives her the play to pay ultimatum and good girl that she is, she turns him down.
However, wandering down the streets of Manhattan she is faint with hunger, and happy to accept four squares from a friendly passerby (an unidentified actor) who later beds her.
But she's still broke so she goes back to Wilson and agrees to be a so-called waitress (basically whoring) for $100 bucks at a party thrown by Gregory Stewart, a rich masochist ruled by his wife (Cherie Winters, most recognizable figure in the cast, on loan from Joe Sarno's troupe). Bleached-blonde actress Kirsten Steen shows her dark bush in a surprise full-frontal nude scene in Wilson's office, Script is completely illogical since it also shows her in utterly cheap flashbacks (just an abstract undressed set with smoke) dancing topless, contradicting her supposedly prim & proper current status. Steen went on to an unimpressive hardcore porn career, apparently yet another downward step in her trajectory parallel to that of her fictional Melanie here.
Most promising subplot could have been wonderful but is thoroughly botched. In a very unusual house invasion, Sam (played by a one-shot actor who seems more talented than the rest of the cast) visits Wilson's dowdy, drunken wife Nancy (no, not the fabulous singer of that name) and bluntly states: "I dropped over to sleep with you" to the startled woman, who's never seen him before in her life. This turns out to be part of convoluted bad behavior by both Sam and his boss Gregory Stewart, who likes to control anyone he deals with, in this case Wilson through his wife. This very oddball confrontation between Sam and Nancy could have had the makings of a terrific one-act play, but it is poorly written and another one-shot artiste, Elaine Wright as Nancy, is miscast - unattractive, way too old to be Wilson's wife and fortunately for us not involved in the requisite sex scenes.
Also in the mix for their share of soft sex footage and partial nudity are Wilson's secretary (Louise Violet) and his main client Miss Rogers (an uncredited actress). Neither is very attractive, part of what is wrong with PROCUREER -made in an era when striking talent like GIgi Darlene and Audrey Campbell were giving Adult Theater audiences something worth looking at.
The party is very poorly (and cheaply) staged, with some folks milling around and zero atmosphere. Film veers at this point into a light s&m mode, quite popular at the time but coming off as downright quaint 47 years later. As Gregory Stewart, Richard Towers is embarrassing making faces as Mr. Masochist taking a whipping from wife Cherie Winters but turning on a dime into sadist when the missing script calls for it. He attempts to rape Melanie twice at the party, but Wilson unconvincingly turns into her savior, also on a dime. Towers apparently worked for many of the sexploitation greats: Doris Wishman, Roberta Findlay, Sarno and even Wes Craven, but has nothing to show for it.
Picture's violent climax is so badly done I couldn't believe what I was seeing - the camera literally trucks away so we can't see what happens - on purpose, the cinematic equivalent of those horrible B-movies where a car crash is signified off-screen only by a loud sound effect to save a buck.
Film was released by Distribpix, which licensed it for video to Something Weird but that deal has sunsetted. So it's back to obscurity. In its heyday of soft porn Distribpix cranked out 50 films a year, so a treasure trove for fans of marginal cinema awaits in their vaults.
There's no screenplay credit for good reason: the cast spews plenty of cynical, tough talk but it's poorly written. A professional screenwriter might have taken the germs of ideas presented here and whipped them into witty or at least diverting dialog.
Like many other navel-gazing '60s exercises (THE PORN BROKERS, THE SMUT PEDDLER, THE SEXPLOITERS), THE PROCURER examines with cynical relish the sleazy side of life, undoubtedly reflecting the ambivalence of everyone in this particular neck of the Show Biz woods -'60s porn. Antihero and title character T.T. Wilson runs a theatrical talent agency, but is no better than a pimp. He has a casting couch in his office (put to good used during the film's 72- minute duration) and only gets work for gals who are willing to put out, not just for him but for his contacts. Stephen Treadwell in the part looks right, but gives a flat performance and muffs his more difficult dramatic scenes.
Hapless heroine is Melanie, a dead-broke waif anxious to break into acting, but stuck in Wilson's waiting room as if in purgatory or limbo. When she finally gets in to meet with him, he gives her the play to pay ultimatum and good girl that she is, she turns him down.
However, wandering down the streets of Manhattan she is faint with hunger, and happy to accept four squares from a friendly passerby (an unidentified actor) who later beds her.
But she's still broke so she goes back to Wilson and agrees to be a so-called waitress (basically whoring) for $100 bucks at a party thrown by Gregory Stewart, a rich masochist ruled by his wife (Cherie Winters, most recognizable figure in the cast, on loan from Joe Sarno's troupe). Bleached-blonde actress Kirsten Steen shows her dark bush in a surprise full-frontal nude scene in Wilson's office, Script is completely illogical since it also shows her in utterly cheap flashbacks (just an abstract undressed set with smoke) dancing topless, contradicting her supposedly prim & proper current status. Steen went on to an unimpressive hardcore porn career, apparently yet another downward step in her trajectory parallel to that of her fictional Melanie here.
Most promising subplot could have been wonderful but is thoroughly botched. In a very unusual house invasion, Sam (played by a one-shot actor who seems more talented than the rest of the cast) visits Wilson's dowdy, drunken wife Nancy (no, not the fabulous singer of that name) and bluntly states: "I dropped over to sleep with you" to the startled woman, who's never seen him before in her life. This turns out to be part of convoluted bad behavior by both Sam and his boss Gregory Stewart, who likes to control anyone he deals with, in this case Wilson through his wife. This very oddball confrontation between Sam and Nancy could have had the makings of a terrific one-act play, but it is poorly written and another one-shot artiste, Elaine Wright as Nancy, is miscast - unattractive, way too old to be Wilson's wife and fortunately for us not involved in the requisite sex scenes.
Also in the mix for their share of soft sex footage and partial nudity are Wilson's secretary (Louise Violet) and his main client Miss Rogers (an uncredited actress). Neither is very attractive, part of what is wrong with PROCUREER -made in an era when striking talent like GIgi Darlene and Audrey Campbell were giving Adult Theater audiences something worth looking at.
The party is very poorly (and cheaply) staged, with some folks milling around and zero atmosphere. Film veers at this point into a light s&m mode, quite popular at the time but coming off as downright quaint 47 years later. As Gregory Stewart, Richard Towers is embarrassing making faces as Mr. Masochist taking a whipping from wife Cherie Winters but turning on a dime into sadist when the missing script calls for it. He attempts to rape Melanie twice at the party, but Wilson unconvincingly turns into her savior, also on a dime. Towers apparently worked for many of the sexploitation greats: Doris Wishman, Roberta Findlay, Sarno and even Wes Craven, but has nothing to show for it.
Picture's violent climax is so badly done I couldn't believe what I was seeing - the camera literally trucks away so we can't see what happens - on purpose, the cinematic equivalent of those horrible B-movies where a car crash is signified off-screen only by a loud sound effect to save a buck.
