DEEP THROAT PART II
Color, 1974, 84 mins. 1 sec.
Directed by Joseph W. Sarno
Starring Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems, Levi Richards, Andrea True, Chris Jordan, Jamie Gillis, Marc Stevens, Tina Russell
FILMMedia / Something Weird (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Retro-Seduction Cinema (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)

PANDORA AND THE MAGIC BOX
B&W, 1963, 85 mins. 51 secs.
Directed by Joseph W. Sarno
Starring William Donaldson, W.B. Parker, Marlene Denes, Ria Milan, Alice Davis, Steve Vincent
FILMMedia / Something Weird (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9), Something Weird (DVD-R)

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While most film scholars would point to Exorcist II: The Heretic as the most baffling sequel of the '70s, its status might be challenged if more people were actually familiar with Deep Throat II, a "what the hell were they thinking?" follow-up with no deep throating. Or sex. Or coherent story. Released in 1974, it marked a misguided shot at respectability for Bryanston Pictures, whose founders (with dubious origins covered well in the Inside Deep Throat documentary) decided to bring back stars Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, only to stick them in an R-rated espionage comedy. Yes, you read that correctly. Sure, Linda struts around buck naked for a few second over the opening titles, but after that you get an hour and a half of New York's finest from the adult filmmaking scene mugging for the camera under the guidance of director Joe Sarno (during his weird comedic mid-'70s period between Euro softcore and American hardcore).

So why is this film actually worth watching? Well, check out the cast! Along with Lovelace and Reems, you also get Andrea True, Jamie Gillis, Levi Richards, Chris Jordan, Ashley Moore, Tina Russell, Helen Madigan, Georgina Spelvin, Roger Caine, and tons of others milling around, some in split-second cameos. (Oh, and future comedienne Judy Tenuta pops up for a minute, too.) The plot is some nonsense about KGB and CIA agents tracking nurse Linda because her nerdy patient is developing a talking supercomputer. The end result is basically the adult equivalent of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, only they forgot to have the actors do what they were usually paid for. Sound weird? You bet, and since there's really no target audience for a movie like this, it died a quick theatrical death. Some of the lines are actually funny (Gillis and Richards in particular rise well above the material), and the funky soundtrack by Tony Bruno is actually quite good and merited numerous reissues on vinyl and CD.

After Hours' DVD release from 2009 in The Deep Throat Sex Comedy Collection marked the first official release of the film's R-rated cut on DVD (though a gray market version yanked from VHS is also available from Alpha Blue along with Linda Lovelace for President), and it appears to be taken from a full frame video master matted off to simulated a 16x9 presentation. Unfortunately the obviously clipped opening and closing credits give the game away immediately, but given the fact that there's no real compositional integrity to maintain here, it still looks okay about 90% of the time (as long as you overlook the dreary video quality, and it's still better than your average videotape). There's also an unexpected and quite cool extra here, an audio commentary with Richard Livermore (Levi Richards' real name) who's joined midstream by Sarno himself. You get lots of ground covered here including numerous reminiscences about the industry at the time and the shooting history of the film (it was never shot hardcore, but some additional softcore bits have occasionally appeared in international cuts); you also learn that a young Robert Duvall was reportedly the voice of the computer! Sarno also appears for an 11m19s video interview about his work on this film (which he did strictly for work and handed over before post-production could be done) and the appeal of working with adult performers, which led to his dabbling in more explicit fare for the next few years.

The same commentary and featurette are ported over for the 2018 Blu-ray release from FILMMedia in conjunction with Something Weird, sporting the first fresh scan of the film in decades. It's pulled from a 35mm print with all the age-related issues that implies, but the quality is vastly superior and the 1.78:1 framing looks better judged here; audio is standard Dolby Digital as usual. However, this is just the first of four titles in the two-disc set; it's gathered on the first disc with Sarno's very first comedy, the 1963 rarity Pandora and the Magic Box. The fun starts "from a lofty vantage point atop Mount Olympus," where the goddess Aphrodite (Davis, a.k.a. Alice Linville) hosts the tale of constantly kvetching Theseus (Donaldson) and his hearty men in search of the missing daughter of King Minos (Parker) and his prancing, showgirl wife. Various other characters swirl around the minimalist adventure involving a plan to suppress the missing heir (who's identifiable by a butt birthmark) with the aid of Pandora (Milan) to distract him. Other Greek gods and a certain problematic "box of troubles" also figure in the action, which mostly consists of broad comedy and burlesque dance routines.

Shot on what looks like a high school theater stage with blank backdrops and chintzy props, this silly, good-natured farce is actually a nice little diversion if you know what you're getting. The cast (featuring many early Sarno regulars) is game enough and seems to enjoy prancing around and delivering goofy banter, making it a refreshing change of pace from the more torrid, haunting melodramas that would quickly define the Sarno style. The film was originally released from Something Weird as a DVD-R and digital download, but the new HD scan here from the company's 35mm print (the only one around, it would appear) offers a solid uptick in quality with nice film grain and far more clarity; film damage looks the same, in this case consisting of minor little scratches and flecks. The first Blu-ray closes out with the theatrical trailer for Deep Throat Part II (featuring a new title card and apparently recomposited from the HD transfer, but with the original audio) and a new teaser for Pandora.

The second Blu-ray ports over the two bonus films from the earlier 2009 DVD set, most importantly with the sole existing standard def analog version of the rare The Switch, or How to Alter Your Ego (92 mins. 56 secs.) This once-elusive 1974 sex comedy basically designed as a vehicle for Mary Mendum (aka Rebecca Brooke and Veronica Parrish), the fragile muse from Sarno's Abigail Leslie Is Back in Town and Radley Metzger's The Image. Here she gets to show off her comedic chops as Dr. Shirley Jekyll, a wallflower chemist who cooks up a powerful potion that turns her into a sex machine on legs. Soon she's embarking on multiple partner escapades, all to the consternation of the man who really loves her (played by Sarno and XXX regular Sonny Landham, before he went legit in Hollywood). It's a stylish and amusing little film nearly lost to the ravages of time, presented here full frame from the only video master around (which alas has burned-in Danish subtitles). As usual the cast includes such other Sarno regulars as Eric Edwards and Chris Jordan, and there's also a pretty scorching orgy scene that ranks as one of the most graphic in Sarno's softcore catalog. Rounding out the package is a softcore edit of Sarno's A Touch of Genie (67 mins.), a Borscht-Belt style comedy that actually works fairly well in its milder variant. (Click on the title to read much more about that film and its more convoluted video history.) The presentation here is the same 1.78:1 SD master as before, complete with the 2009 copyright title card. (Both features have been upscaled, though why they weren't just put on a DVD instead is a head scratcher.) Also included from the earlier Retro-Seduction and After Hours iteration of Genie are a Sarno interview about his comedy films (9m58s), recorded at a 2007 New York screening of Genie, a great little interview with star Doug Stone (4m36s), an overview of the film's revival screening at the Pioneer Theatre (5m33s), and a third Sarno interview about The Switch (8m4s). The package also comes with a liner notes booklet by Tim Lucas, who offers an intriguing account of Sarno and wife Peggy's relationship to Jewish comedy.

A TOUCH OF GENIE

THE SWITCH, OR HOW TO ALTER YOUR EGO

 

Updated review on February 9, 2018.

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