This week we take a trip back down memory lane thirty nine years to 1979. The 80’s were just around the corner and a whole new world was about to open up. What was it like, what took place and who were the newsmakers in 1979?
As always, we begin with the cost of living for that year. The average income was $17,500 a year and the average cost for a brand new 3 bedroom home was $58,000. You could buy a fuel efficient Toyota Corolla for just $3,700 and were paying only 86 cents for a gallon of gas. The popular Sony Walkman sold for $200 and the big, fun Bean Bag chairs were just $20. You could buy a box of Kellogs Corn Flakes for 59 cents, a 6 pack of Pepsi for 88 cents and get a McDonald’s cheeseburger for 38 cents. Women’s pant suits were popular and just $22 and a man’s 3 piece dress suit was only $90. As for news headlines in 1979 in the U.S. and around the world……… Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of England and President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him in Iraq. 63 Americans are taken hostage in the American Embassy in Tehran. In the U.S. the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs after a fire at a reactor in Pennsylvania. American Airlines Flight 191 crashed and exploded in a field near O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. The first commercial Cellular Network NTT makes its debut as does the Sony Walkman.
In the world of entertainment Hollywood 1979 gave us hit films like The Amityville Horror, Rocky II, The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs. Kramer. In the world of pop music the hit makers would include the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, The Commodores, Gloria Gaynor and Blondie. As for TV some of the year’s most popular shows were The Waltons, Happy Days, M*A*S*H, The Love Boat and Quincy M.E. Among the celebrities we lost in 1979 were baseball player Thurman Munson, Ringling Brothers circus clown Emmett Kelly, Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler and “The Duke”, actor John Wayne.
In porn, some of the production base was beginning to migrate to California. There were a few new technical improvements with cameras and video was on the horizon. There were new stars and some excellent new movies that included “Lust at First Bite”, Ecstasy Girls”, “Sweet Captive” and the classic we look back at today, “Babylon Pink”.
Babylon Pink – Command Video – Director – Henri Pachard – Cast – Arcadia Lake, Vanessa Del Rio, Samantha Fox, Georgette Saunders, Georgina Spelvin, Bobby Astyr, Eric Edwards, David Morris, Dave Ruby, Richard Bolla.
Henri Pachard was one of the top directors in the golden age and created films that not only had some sizzling, steamy sex scenes, but solid story lines and plots that held your attention, made you think and could have the sense of getting into a person’s psyche. To top it all off, Pachard used the camera in an exquisite way to tell the story with the sex scenes always well captured, portrayed and never getting in the way of the story. Here he brings all of those elements together in a film that definitely deserves the word “classic”.
The film is an exploration into the fantasies of several different women. These women are as different as night and day, but they are all tied together through a business run by a mysterious Mrs. McGuinness. The film takes place in just one twenty four hour period of these women. It begins as another New York kind of day but you quickly see some are in a daydream mode. There is the housewife (Vanessa Del Rio) who fantasizes about doing the guy at the corner store (David Ruby), the businesswoman (Samantha Fox) who has thoughts of doing Vanessa’s husband (Bobby Astyr), the executive secretary (Merle Michaels) who has a secret thing for her roommate (Arcadia Lake). There is the upper class dinner party with guests (Georgina Spelvin, Richard Bolla, David Morris) all imagine getting it on with one of the present company (Debbie Savage), a sexy teen who has her own ideas. Then add in the husband, the tennis pro, the ladies man, the uncle and you have quite mix that brings this story full circle.
As you watch the film begin to unfold you can see right off that the performers can act, deliver lines, show emotions, show character and having the kind of on screen presence that goes a long way in making this story very real. Having real acting chops was always a key element to Pachard’s films to bring out the true character of who his performers were portraying. In this film you get to see this brought out as the dream sequences of these women all come alive. There are a couple weird sex scenes that come into play, but these are dream sequences after all. Arcadia Lake, whose career was way too short, as the roommate is excellent in her scene, Samantha Fox shows off her talents extremely well as do the other ladies. However, it is the two scenes with Vanessa Del Rio that really put this film on the front burner. To say her scenes were steamy, hot and mesmerizing would be a gross understatement. Her performance literally burns up the celluloid and shows why this lady became a porn legend. Even today, she is one of the most popular and revered stars of the golden age.
This great classic is now on DVD in a 2 disc set with all kinds of extras. They provide a deeper look into the film, the director and stars. “Babylon Pink” is one classic that should be on your must see list and I highly recommend it.
Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN
