The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann is a 1974 American hardcore adult film starring Barbara Bourbon and directed by Radley Metzger[1][2] (as "Henry Paris") that is considered one of the classics of the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984).[3] It was a step forward in the development of the genre, as it had a plot and good acting. The movie can be seen as a meditation on voyeurism,[4] due to the trope of Mann being spied on by a private detective hired by her husband, and the production of pornography itself, as the detective films her sexual encounters.

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann
Original film poster
Directed byRadley Metzger
(as "Henry Paris")[1][2]
Produced byAva Leighton
(as "L. Sultana")
Story byJake Barnes
StarringBarbara Bourbon
Alan Marlow
Darby Lloyd Rains
Eric Edwards
Georgina Spelvin
Jamie Gillis
Marc Stevens
Sonny Landham
Music byRobert Rochester
CinematographyPaul Glickman
(as "Marcel Hall")
Edited byDoris Toumarkine
(as "Doris Barrow")
Production
company
Hudson Valley Films
Distributed byHudson Valley Films
Release date
December 26, 1974
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Porn film star Bill Margold, who went on to be the director of the Free Speech Coalition, has written that "The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann signals an end to the all-balling, no purpose, disposable mastur-movies that go into one orifice and out another.”[5] Filmed in Manhattan, the movie was released in New York City on December 26, 1974 and was nationally distributed in 1975.[6] The film has been inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame.[7]

Plot

Bourbon plays Pamela Mann, a married psychotherapist living and working in Manhattan who has several sexual encounters that are filmed by a private detective hired by her husband. Mann has sex with one of her patients, a prostitute, and also is kidnapped by a couple of radicals. While the male radical orally rapes Mann, the female radical reads the text of a Supreme Court decision on pornography. She also fellates a man she meets on a park bench. At the climax of the film, Mann is revealed to be watching the detective's films in bed with her husband. They have staged the encounters and the snooping for their own private enjoyment. They then have sex.[8][9][10]

Cast
  • Barbara Bourbon as Pamela Mann
  • Sonny Landham as Political Candidate
  • Darby Lloyd Rains as Rapist
  • Marc Stevens as First Man with Pamela
  • Eric Edwards as Frank
  • Kevin Andre as Frank's First Client
  • Day Jason (as Naomi Jason) as Receptionist
  • Alan Marlow as Pamela's Husband
  • Jamie Gillis (as Jamey Gills) as Rapist
  • Doris Toumarkine (as Lola LaGarce) as Poll Taker
  • Levi Richards (as John Ashton) as Hiram Wood
  • Georgina Spelvin as Hooker

Notes

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Manns was released during the Golden Age of Porn (inaugurated by the 1969 release of Andy Warhol's Blue Movie) in the United States, at a time of "porno chic",[11][12] in which adult erotic films were just beginning to be widely released, publicly discussed by celebrities (like Johnny Carson and Bob Hope)[13] and taken seriously by film critics (like Roger Ebert).[14][15]

According to one film reviewer, Radley Metzger's films, including those made during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), are noted for their "lavish design, witty screenplays, and a penchant for the unusual camera angle".[16] Another reviewer noted that his films were "highly artistic — and often cerebral ... and often featured gorgeous cinematography".[17] Film and audio works by Metzger have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.[18][19][20][21]

Remastered version

In 2011, DistribPix released a complete remastering of the film, with the full cooperation of the director.[22] The result had a limited exhibition in theaters, but the main outcome of the project was the first-ever official remastered DVD version.[22] A listing of the music on the film soundtrack was released earlier.[23]

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See also

References
  1. Bentley, Toni (June 2014). "The Legend of Henry Paris". Playboy. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  2. Bentley, Toni (June 2014). "The Legend of Henry Paris" (PDF). ToniBentley.com. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  3. Staff (April 3, 2017). "'The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann' (1974): The Birth of 'Henry Paris'". The Rialto Report. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  4. Butler, Heather (2004). "What do you call a lesbian with long fingers? The development of lesbian and dyke pornography", from "Porn Studies" (edited by Linda Williams). Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-8223-3312-8.
  5. Ford, Luke (1999). A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. p. 91. ISBN 978-1573926782.
  6. "The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1974) Release Info". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  7. "XRCO Hall of Fame". Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  8. Jan, Ian (September 4, 2011). "Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, The (2 Disc Collector's Edition)". RockShockPop.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  9. Wood, Cliff (October 19, 2011). "Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, The - Video X Pix (2 Disc Collectors Edition)". 10kBullts.com. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  10. Staff (1974). "The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann". Mondo-digital.com. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  11. Blumenthal, Ralph (January 21, 1973). "Porno chic; 'Hard-core' grows fashionable-and very profitable". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  12. Porno Chic (Jahsonic.com)
  13. Corliss, Richard (March 29, 2005). "That Old Feeling: When Porno Was Chic". Time. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  14. Ebert, Roger (June 13, 1973). "The Devil In Miss Jones - Film Review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  15. Ebert, Roger (November 24, 1976). "Alice in Wonderland:An X-Rated Musical Fantasy". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  16. Gallagher, Steve (August 7, 2014). ""This is Softcore": The History of Radley Metzger". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  17. Simpson, Claire (October 2, 2013). "Adults Only: 5 Films By Radley Metzger". WhatCulture.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  18. Rist, Ray C. (January 4, 1974). Book - The Pornography Controversy: Changing Moral Standards in American Life. The Pornography Controversy: Changing Moral Standards in American Life. p. 124. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  19. Lehman, Peter (2006). Book - Pornography: Film and Culture. Pornography: Film and Culture. p. 9. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  20. Staff (2016). "Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - DadaBase Search Results - Radley Metzger". Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  21. Staff (March 4, 2017). "Obituary Of The Righteous - The Porn Of The Fabulous 60s And 70s Loses One Of Its Pioneers And Masters: Radley Metzger - Photographer Of War, The MOMA Presents A Retrospective: His Erotic Films Made History - Video: 'Score', On The Relationships Of Couples Of The 70s, In An Uncensored Version". DagoSpia.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  22. Staff (2011). "The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann - 2 Disc Set (1974)". Distribpix.com. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  23. Staff (2016). "The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann - Original Soundtrack Music listing". IMDb. Retrieved February 24, 2016.

Further reading
  • Cook, David A. (2002). History of the American cinema. 9. University of California Press. pp. 274–275. ISBN 0-520-23265-8.
  • Heffernan, Kevin, "A social poetics of pornography", Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Volume 15, Issue 3, December 1994, pp. 77–83. doi:10.1080/10509209409361441.
  • Lehman, Peter, Pornography: film and culture, Rutgers depth of field series, Rutgers University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8135-3871-8.
  • Williams, Linda, Hard core: power, pleasure, and the "frenzy of the visible", University of California Press, 1999, ISBN 0-520-21943-0.
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