CAREER BED
B&W, 1968, 77 mins 56 secs.
Directed by Joel M. Reed
Starring Jennifer Welles, Honey Hunter, John Cardoza, Georgina Spelvin, Stidge Glisspayne, John David

SEX BY ADVERTISEMENT
B&W, 1968, 78 mins. 57 secs.
Directed by Joel M. Reed
Starring Georgina Spelvin, Geri Miller, Joel M. Reed
Distribpix (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Image Entertainment (DVD) (US R1 NTSC)


Seven years before writer-director Joel M. Reed Career Bedunleashed the Career Bedinfamous and still outrageous Bloodsucking Freaks, the New York City-based filmmaker was toiling away in the world of urban black-and-white sexploitation roughies just before hardcore changed the game entirely. His two contributions were both made quickly in 1968 and became cult favorites later on courtesy of Something Weird Video, who released them on VHS in the late '90s and paired them up on DVD through Image Entertainment in 2006. Reed was one of the least prolific names of his generation, making only three other films during his lifetime (The G.I. Executioner, Blood Bath, and Night of the Zombies), but that was enough to inspire both an exhaustive written biography, John Szpunar's Blood Sucking Freak! The Life and Films of the Incredible Joel M. Reed, and a 2019 documentary. In 2025, Distripbix and Something Weird joined forces to release Reed's inaugural duo of films on Blu-ray, and you still won't believe your eyes when you watch them.

First up is Career Bed, the first character role for future golden age adult film star Jennifer Welles who stars here as virginal aspiring actress Susan. Her jaded and manipulative mother Emily (Hunter) realizes that her daughter's virginity is a valuable commodity in showbiz and is so dead set against Susan marrying her fiance Bob (who's just come Career Bedinto town) that she lies and seduces him just to cause a breakup. From there Susan gets pimped out to a Career Bedlesbian talent agent (Spelvin, way before The Devil in Miss Jones) and promised to multiple men to get plum roles in theatrical plays... but with her virginity still held up as the leading carrot on a stick. Susan's attempts to take off on her own are stymied by her mother's dramatic reactions including an impromptu wrist slashing with a broken bottle, and it's only a matter of time before this sleazy road to stardom exacts a heavy price.

Jammed with ripe, extremely quotable dialogue and glorious vintage footage of Manhattan at night, Career Bed is a fast-paced and tawdry delight that alternates between surprisingly arty atmosphere (such as the theatrically-staged trysts between Welles and Spelvin) and hilarious technical gaffes, such as stray crew hands sliding into frame. Jaded stories of opportunistic stage parents have been around for ages, but this one ups the ante with a conniving mom who has no qualms offering herself up as collateral or sitting in on erotic photo shoots to get whatever she wants -- whether her daughter wants it or not. This would make a great double Sex by Advertisementfeature with something like H.G. Lewis and David F. Sex by AdvertisementFriedman's Scum of the Earth as an example of '60s sexploitation portraying the downfall of wayward youth in the skin trade, which for some reason also brings out some of the greatest one-liners around.

Reed immediately followed this one up with the plotless mondo-style erotic shocker Sex by Advertisement, with Spelvin showing up this time as an authority on human sexuality, Dr. Joanne Ridgefield. Presented for our edification are numerous vignettes showing how want ads in papers and on public bulletin boards are the means for Manhattanites to indulge any kink their heart desires. Briefly seen as a crew member in the prior film, Reed gives himself plenty of time here as a public sadist whose whipping session in a park segues into an odd threesome, while other scenarios involve a masked S&M orgy, body painting, voyeurs, fetish manufacturers, and other libidos with legs. The whole mondo thing was quickly running out of steam by this point, but Reed manages to inject the formula with some cockeyed energy here thanks to the absurd sex scenarios he creates and that certain Big Apple sleazy feeling you simply couldn't replicate now.

That initial double feature DVD of the films featuring excellent transfers at the time taken from the camera negatives, while extras included a trailer for Career Bed, bonus trailers (Fluctuations, Hot Erotic Dreams,The Molesters (amusingly listed as The Molesterers on the menu), The Smut Sex by AdvertisementPeddler, Take All You Can Get, The Ultimate Degenerate), a grimy B&W short called The Filth Shop (26m54s) about dirty bookstore culture, and a "Sick Sixties Sex Stills" gallery. The Blu-ray comes from the negs as well but obviously benefits from two Sex by Advertisementdecades of technical advances, with much better detail, black levels, and overall contrast than before. It also presents the correct aspect ratio for Career Bed, which was slightly squished from some reason on the DVD. The DTS-HD MA English 2.0 mono tracks for both sound solid, and optional English SDH subtitles are provided. The sole extra on the disc itself is a pair of new audio commentaries by Szpunar, best listening to in chronological order as he lays out the circumstances behind Reed's entry into filmmaking, his event-planned company that was behind these productions, the peripheral involvement of Joe Sarno, the various pals and paramours who make up the crew and supporting cast, the shooting locations, and tons more. Obviously he's the most qualified person to handle these, and he doesn't disappoint. The deluxe slipcase and slipcover packaging also houses an illustrated insert booklet with an essay updating Szpunar's coverage of the films in his book, with a heavier focus on Career Bed and its genesis as an "avant-garde production" entitled Mother Love.

CAREER BED: DISTRIBPIX (Blu-ray)
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CAREER BED: IMAGE (DVD)

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SEX BY ADVERTISEMENT: DISTRIBPIX (Blu-ray)

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SEX BY ADVERTISEMENT: IMAGE (DVD)

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