This week we go back forty eight years to 1974.It was a decade to remember and it would begin to shape the world we live in today. So let’s take a trip down memory lane and a look back at 1974.
As always, we get underway with what the cost of living was. 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 55 cents. 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. Here some of the 1974 news headlines around the world and U.S……President Richard Nixon resigns 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, Juan Peron’s third wife, becomes President of Argentina when her husband dies…….The Soviet Union launches the Salyut-4 space station……Work begins on the 800 mile long Alaska Oil pipeline……The Sears Tower in Chicago becomes the world’s tallest building at the time……The 55 MPH speed limit is put into effect in the U.S. to preserve gas usage…… The MRI scanner is put into use……Pocket calculators make their debut…..The first use of the UPC bar code begins.
In the world of entertainment among the big hit Hollywood films were The Sting, Serpico, Murder On the Orient Express, The Exorcist and Blazing Saddles. In the world of music the hit makers included ABBA, Deep Purple, Paul McCartney, Beach Boys and Queen. Among the hit TV shows 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 while the Mitchell Brothers were shooting in San Francisco. In 1974 many theaters were showing porn films and among some good ones was 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 porn’s golden age, but nonetheless, it remains a worthy classic today. 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 specifically for this 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 in 1976, Andrea True, a major porn star at the time, had a big disco hit record that reached #2 on the Billboard charts, and became a disco classic, “More, More, More”! But back to this production, the casting of the performers were not only sexually great, but 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 hippy lifestyle in a trendy loft. Their sex lives are good as we see in their scenes (there are eight sex scenes here). 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 definitely recommend seeking it out. It is well constructed with Kane’s total mainstream feel very obvious. The camera work focuses on the characters bringing the scenes to life. The music, as we mentioned earlier, is exceptional and helps 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
