This week we take a trip down memory lane to the year 1977. A lot has taken place and changed over the past thirty nine years. If you were around then, how much do you remember and some of what took place? As we always do in this feature we begin with what the cost of living was in 1977.
The yearly average income was just $15,000 a year, the average cost of a new 3 bedroom house was only $49,000 and if you rented, the average monthly rent for a 2 bedroom apartment was $230. As for cars, the average price for a brand new one was $3,700. You could go high end and get a Cadillac DeVille for the enormous price of $8,000 but then a gallon of gas then was only 65 cents. You could buy a new stereo set for $250, women’s boots were in fashion and cost less than $20. Food wise Nabisco Oreos were 89 cents, Florida oranges were 10 for 99 cents, Van Camps Pork n’ Beans 4 cans for 99 cents and boneless chicken breasts, $1.39 a lb. Among the news headlines in 1977, Jimmy Carter is elected President. In July New York City suffers a blackout that will last more than 24 hours due to lightning strikes from thunderstorms. The Trans Alaskan pipeline opens and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are completed. Bank of America adopts the name VISA for its credit cards. New Jersey allows casino gambling in Atlantic City to hopefully bring in more tourists to the seashore city. Voyager I and Voyager II are launched unmanned to explore the outer solar system. The Soviet Union launches its Soyuz 24 space mission. The computer age begins as the first Apple II computers go on sale. The first commercial flight of the Concorde jet liner goes from London to New York in just 3.5 hours.
In Hollywood among the big 1977 hit films are Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rocky, Smokey and the Bandit, Saturday Night Fever and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In pop music the hit makers include Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, The Eagles, Barbra Striesand and Wings. As for TV among the big hit shows were Hawaii Five-O, All In the Family, Happy Days, Barnaby Jones, Little House on the Prairie and The Rockford Files. Among the celebrities we lost were the “King”, singer Elvis Presley, actor/comedian Charlie Chaplin, actress Joan Crawford, comedian Groucho Marx, singer Bing Crosby and jazz pianist Erroll Garner.
In the world of porn, big productions were still being done in New York but a shift was beginning towards the west coast. Some new advances in technology allow for new camera and shooting techniques to improve a films look. 1977 also provides excellent adult fare including the classic we look back at today, “Alex deRenzy’s Babyface”
Alex DeRenzy’s Babyface – VCA – Director – Alex deRenzy – Cast – Desiree West, Amber Hunt, Linda Wong, Kristine Heller, Angela Haze, Lyn Cuddles Malone, Marion Eaton, Sandi Penney, Paul Thomas, Joey Silvera, John Leslie, Blair Harris, Otis Sistrunk, Dan Roberts
To many porn aficionados this is one of the greatest porn flicks ever. Alex de Renzy’s film tells the story of a big lug named Dan (Dan Roberts) who is on the lam from not only the cops but also an angry mom, Molly (Mary Eaton) who catches Dan having sex with her sex hungry teen daughter Priscilla (Lyn Malone). But mom is not the puritanical woman she wants you to believe. The girl is a willing participant, but her mother and a policeman, played by then Oakland Raider football star Otis Sistrunk, think it is rape.
Following a narrow escape, he is pulled unconscious from the water by Amber Hunt and Linda Wong. With no prospects and needing a place to hide, the two ladies decide to get him cleaned up and a lot more and then they come up with an unusual solution. They take him to a place they both frequent. He becomes a stud at a place called the Training Camp, which is actually a male brothel that caters to the rich, wealthy women of the area. It is run by Amber’s aunt (Kathryn Reed) who is known only as The Champ.
The film opens at the brothel with Dan servicing Desiree West. His flashback to what brought him there includes a three-way with Linda Wong and Amber. Studs like Paul Thomas, the main man at the house, Dan, Joey Silvera, Turk Lyon, John Leslie, Ken Scudder and Blair Harris service the female customers that include Sandi Pinney and Kristine Heller. There is a gangbang scene with Heller that is an incredible view and how great this gal really was.
The film has a lot of good scenes and some excellent acting throughout with a cast of performers, some not known then, but some would become future big name porn stars. One of the most fun scenes in the film is when Priscilla’s mom Molly, shows up at the brothel. Turns out she is the opposite of what she portrays and is a regular at the place. When she is paired up with Dan and they get together, she of course recognizes him and decides to plot her revenge, but things don’t always go as planned.
There is a lot that takes place throughout this very well devised and put together film. The flashbacks, the casting, the interior and exteriors all fit perfectly for the time and still play well all these years later. Wrapping the final bow on this film is the finale that has a wacky, unexpected ending, with a character called the “Nut Cracker” and Dan. It is just another of deRenzy’s fantastic ways of making film masterpieces.
This classic from 1977 is available of DVD, and I strongly suggest getting hold of it and enjoying it from start to finish. It is sexually pleasing, will keep your interest from beginning to end and most of all “Alex deRenzy’s Babyface” is total entertainment on every level.
Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN
