An In-Depth Overview of the 1978 Sexploitation Comedy Film
Four randy college clods looking to raise money for life after school decide to pose as sex researchers and open a phoney clinic. Four students open a bogus sex clinic for cheap thrills and then are amazed to see it blossom into a profitable business. They get federal funding and use it to pay college girls for sex under the pretense of producing a study on their sexuality (which supposedly makes it respectable).
Plot Development and Business Expansion
When they can no longer keep up with the volume of sex they must engage in they become pimps charging other men money to have sex with the girls. It balloons into a million dollar business with bankers, local politicians and corrupt police also profiting. The four clods run afoul of these various powerful elements when they finally decide that the scheme is immoral.
The Cast and Production
This 1978 Dennis Quaid movie is pretty lewd. It was a lot of fun seeing the young actors (Dennis Quaid, Priscilla Barnes, Lou Richards, etc.) working with the older actors (Edward Andrews, Robert Emhardt, Alan Reed, etc.) plus all the young womanhood that paraded before the camera. Stanley Shapiro who wrote the script for the Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie PILLOW TALK also penned this one.
It also has one of Priscilla Barnes' first screen appearances making it another entry in that infamous series known as "Before-they-were stars". Does feature a great topless scene by Priscilla Barnes; yet not her, nor a great cast of character actors, including Alan Reed voice of Fred Flinstone, can help. Director Amateau, who created the series MY MOTHER THE CAR, will never be considered a talent.
Production and Rating Data
The following table summarizes key personnel and viewer reception data mentioned in the material:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Lead Actor | Dennis Quaid |
| Notable Supporting Cast | Priscilla Barnes, Alan Reed, Edward Andrews |
| Writer | Stanley Shapiro |
| Director | Rod Amateau |
| Original Version Rating | 9/10 |
| Edited Version Rating | 7/10 |
Genre and Historical Context
It is remnant of a time when some sexploitation and soft-core porn movies were disguised as scientific university case study or instructional films. This one seems to spoof the mentality of those and of what federal money can sometimes end up subsidizing. Other such films like DAUGHTER OF THE SUN, MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM, THE NAKED APE and THE HARRAD EXPERIMENT proved lucrative through niche marketing in their time even though they purportedly played like high school social studies movies.
Critical Reception
Believe it or not they actually made one heckuva boring movie about horny college kids. It's not funny, it's not interesting, it's not cute, it's not heartwarming, nor is it sexy - it's nothing but a big bore. I'm sure this one fell flat in 1978, even worse today. From a producers point of view a movie like this is a glowing success in that it performed well as an investment, but from an auteur's perspective it is not a complete failure either in that what we see on screen is not completely unwatchable.