This week we go back forty two years to 1974. For those who were around then, what can you remember what it was like in 1974? For those who weren’t around then, it was a decade to remember. It was one that personally left me with some devastating personal memories but also some very good ones. So let’s take a look back at 1974 and one of the true porn classics that came out that year.
As always, we’ll get underway and begin our trip back down memory lane with what the cost of living was like in 1974. The average income was only $13,500 a year and the cost of a new 3 bedroom home averaged $35,000. The average cost for a new car was around $3,700 and a gallon of gas was just 55cents. At the store you could by Kellogg’s Corn Flakes for 49 cents, a 6 pack of Pepsi for 88 cents and Campbell’s Tomato Soup was 12 cents a can. The new computer watches came out and were $250. Samsonite luggage was $65. A top name man’s 3 piece suit went for just $69. As for news headlines around the world and U.S. in 1974 one of the biggest was the resignation of Richard Nixon as president after the Watergate scandal. Gerald Ford took over as president and announces an amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders. Henry Kissinger convinces Syria and Israel to agree to a ceasefire on the Golan Heights. President Isabela Peron ( Evita ), Juan Peron’s third wife, becomes President of Argentina when her husband died. The Soviet Union launches the Salyut-4 space station. Work begins on the 800 mile long Alaska Oil pipeline and the Sears Tower in Chicago becomes the world’s tallest building. The 55 MPH speed limit is put into effect throughout the U.S. to preserve gas usage. The MRI scanner is put into use, pocket calculators make their debut and the first use of the UPC bar code begins.
In the world of entertainment among the big hit 1974 Hollywood films were The Sting, Serpico, Murder On the Orient Express, The Exorcist and Blazing Saddles. In the world of music the hit makers for the year included ABBA, Deep Purple, Paul McCartney, Beach Boys and Queen. Among the hit TV shows of the year were Kojak, Six Million Dollar Man, Kung Fu and The Waltons. Some of the celebrities we lost in 1974 were newscaster Chet Huntley, comedian Jack Benny, baseball great Dizzy Dean, TV host Ed Sullivan, actress Agnes Moorehead and singer Cass Elliot of the Mamas & Papas.
In 1974 the porn industry was still in its infancy but growing bigger. Most everything was filmed in the New York area and the Mitchell Brothers were shooting mainly in San Francisco From the cheap loops that had begun the era, now it was full productions with stories, plots, real acting and sex. In 1974 many theaters were showing porn films and some good ones came out, including the film we look back at today, “Wet Rainbow”.
Wet Rainbow – Arrow Productions – Director – Duddy Kane – Cast – Georgina Spelvin, Valerie Marron, Mary Stuart, Harry Reems, Alan Marlow.
This might be one of the most forgotten films of the ‘70’s, but nonetheless, it remains a classic from the golden age. Back then directors like Gerard Damiano, Henry Paris and Alex DeRenzy were tops in the field, there were others like “Duddy Kane” the director of this film. While never proven, this was supposedly a pseudonym of a well known mainstream director. The reason for a lot of the guessing about Kane and who it really might have been was the exceptional high quality of the acting, locales, settings and structure of the film, not mention the music that was written for the film. One of the songs had true pop potential but was rejected by several record labels because it was part of a porn film. However, just two years later Andrea True, a major porn star at the time, had a record that reached #2 on the Billboard charts, a song that would go on to become a disco classic, “More, More, More”! But back to this production, the casting of performers were not only sexually solid, but they had real serious acting chops and it added up to a great film.
The film stars two of the earliest icons of adult, Harry Reems and Georgina Spelvin as a happily married couple. They live in Greenwich Village and he is a photographer and college professor and his wife is a painter. They live somewhat the village lifestyle in a very trendy loft. Their sex lives are good as we see in their scenes (there are eight sex scenes in the film). Now, enter Rainbow (Valerie Marron) as the college student. She is saddled with a very sexual roommate (Mary Stuart) and it drives her crazy. So she sets out to seduce the professor into some sexual pleasure of her own. She sends him a photograph she hopes will convince him but he doesn’t give in. Instead he discusses the situation about this girl with his wife. Turns out his wife has always had a suppressed desire to make love to a woman but has never acted on it.
From here the film takes on a true mainstream direction as the story plays out all the pros and cons of having Rainbow become part of their sexual lives. It is well done on all points adding to the overall enjoyment of the sex scenes that take place and to the story itself. The sex is filled with lust, passion and need. They are done very well with the camera allowing for some very enticing visuals. Marron is perfectly cast as Rainbow with just the right look and carries her role very convincingly. Reems and Spelvin, two pros, truly give this production a mainstream feel from start to finish. The ending of the film does offer a twist regarding this entire relationship and what it brought into each one’s life. This production makes for an entertaining view both from the story and plot as well as the sex and one that couples will certainly enjoy.
It has been re-issued on DVD so I would surely give this one a look. It is well constructed with Kane’s total mainstream feel throughout very obvious. The camera work focuses on the characters and brings the scenes to life. The music, as we mentioned earlier, is exceptional and helps to heighten many of the scenes as well as the opening of the film. 1974’s “Wet Rainbow” is a true classic from porn’s golden age that deserves your view.
Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN
