Score

This vintage piece exudes a sense of adventurous sensuality, artistry and style that has been lost in the intervening decades, both in the now cheap and voluminous porn industry, and the edgy sexualised segments of the Indy "mainstream" film industry. "Score" is a creature if its time, and whilst it gives a somewhat contrived view of the magical but brief post-sexual-revolution/pre-AIDS era, it speaks to certain freedoms and a sense of adventure and newness that is lacking in our age of internet-annihilated innocence and clinical political correctness. This film reminds me of the more philosophical prognostications I snuck readings of from my step fathers antique 1970s Playboy and Penthouse magazines - those where they laid out musings about a more sexually liberated future, where open sensuality and psychedelic exploration of our bodies, minds and the world around us would usher in a new era of universal love, sharing and luxurious living. Whilst we may be far more sexualised and open minded than the average suburbanite was in 1974, and unquestionably far less innocent and naive, we have also lost a certain warmth and exploratory openness that seems to be in the DNA of this film and the era it gives a window to. Our loss; but at least the spirit of the era has been preserved on film to be peered at in wonderment by future generations.

SCORE

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

A sexually liberated couple (Claire Wilbur and Gerald Grant) set out to seduce a young newlywed couple (Lynn Lowry and Calvin Culver).

Having explored familiar heterosexual obsessions in well-regarded softcore dramas like CAMILLE 2000 (1969) and THE LICKERISH QUARTET (1969), director Radley Metzger upped the sexual ante with SCORE, a good-natured bisexual romp which crosses the boundary into hardcore territory popularized in US theaters by the likes of DEEP THROAT and THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES (both 1972). Based on a play by screenwriter Jerry Douglas, SCORE pits a couple of worldly, uninhibited predators against naive, conservative-minded 'virgins' during a weekend get-together at Wilbur and Grant's luxury Riviera villa. Having plied the hapless duo with drink and soft drugs ("I'm not a very good junkie!" Lowry complains) and dressed them in costumes which tally with their sexual fantasies (cowboy, nun, sailor, etc.), Wilbur and Lowry pair off for a lesbian encounter, while Grant and Culver descend into the basement bedroom for a full-blown gay seduction.

Artfully photographed by Metzger himself and veteran cinematographer Franjo Vodopivec on location in Yugosalvia, and framed as an adult fairy tale (the delightful opening narration locates the action "...in the lush little land of Plenty, in the enviable state of Affluence... deep within the Erogenous Zone"!), the movie is distinguished by clever dialogue which removes outmoded notions of sexual parameters from the outset. When asked how she differentiated between sexes during the orgies she's attended in the past, Wilbur replies: "First you don't know, then you can't tell, then you don't care!" The plot is wafer-thin, and the acting is merely OK (the women fare best in this regard), but Douglas' script - played out for the most part in a single interior set, with only a handful of outdoor sequences - allows Metzger to build slowly and surely to the climactic double seduction, using reflective surfaces (amongst other devices) to convey sexual dualities within the characters. Viewers hoping for a non-stop flesh-fest may be irritated by the long narrative preamble (punctuated by Wilbur's rough-house tumble with studly repairman Carl Parker), but there's still plenty of uncompromising nudity, and the film manages to stimulate the brain whilst simultaneously tickling your, er... fancy. Great music, too, including an ultra-groovy (and uncredited) theme song! The film exists in two separate versions: Metzger is said to prefer the softcore edition (85m), but the all-important sex scenes are seriously compromised by jarring edits and obvious gaps in the soundtrack. Try to see the full-on hardcore print (92m), which includes rather more graphic detail during the gay sex scenes.

'Calvin Culver' is actually gay porn performer Casey Donovan, star of groundbreaking titles like BOYS IN THE SAND (1971) and THE OTHER SIDE OF ASPEN (1978), though he later re-teamed with Metzger for the director's hetero masterpiece THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN (1976). Co-star Grant only appeared in two other films - Metzger's NAKED CAME THE STRANGER (1975) and Umberto Lenzi's EATEN ALIVE! (1980) - and it's sad to report that both he and Donovan have since passed away. Wilbur featured in the original stage version of SCORE, but her only other screen acting credit appears to be TEENAGE HITCH-HIKERS (1974), while the beautiful Lowry has since pursued a career in mainstream movies, including THE CRAZIES (1973), SHIVERS (1975) and CAT PEOPLE (1982). Writer Jerry Douglas adopted the pseudonym 'Doug Richards' and made a name for himself in gay porn, writing and directing a number of celebrated productions, including THE BACK ROW (1973), BOTH WAYS (1976) and MORE OF A MAN (1991), the latter featuring Joey Stefano and Chi Chi LaRue, while SCORE's production manager Branko Lustig has since become a major Hollywood producer, with titles like SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) and GLADIATOR (2000) to his credit!

"Score" is a very interesting film! I was captivated with it the very first time I saw it, and it was even inspirational to me. Score's main characters are Jack and Elvira. They are married and bisexual swingers in a swanky fashion. They play a game of seduction in which each takes a turn trying to seduce someone of the same sex. This time it's Elvira's turn, and her target is a younger, married girl named Betsy. Elvira seems to be having some trouble getting Betsy in the sack, and her time limit is fastly approaching. Jack seems to take an interest in Betsy's husband, Eddie, as Elvira continues to attempt to seduce Betsy.

"Score" is an adult comedy/drama, and the sex scenes are interestingly crafted. The film is full of tacky charms, witty lines, and memorable images. It's a great reflection of the swingin' 70's, and the sexual revolution. I think "Score" deserves repeated viewings.

"Score" is an amazing cult classic that should be seen by everyone. Even though I have only seen one other of Radley Metzger's movies ("The Lickerish Quartet"), I don't hesitate in calling him an "auteur of adult film." To call his movies "soft-core porn" would be an insult. "Score" and "Lickerish Quartet" are both top-notch turn-ons.

What I liked about "Score" was the fact that nothing about it ever seemed gratuitous, given the subject matter. The same-sex seduction scenes in the movie were fun and genuinely erotic. I especially loved the oh-so subtle ways the characters would flirt and come on to each other. The fact that the nudity was used very sparingly only added to the erotic tension. The movie literally teases and arouses the viewer from beginning to end. And the love scenes between the two men (Jack and Eddie) and the two women (Elvira and Betsy) were done in beautiful taste.

While very elegant and aesthetically pleasing, "Score" never takes itself too seriously. I think anyone could easily be hypnotized by this movie if they give it a chance. It is beautiful.

This is a pretty good movie but I'm not exactly sure who it was aimed at. Straight guys that want to see the gorgeous Lynn Lowry in hot, sapphic action might be tempted to watch it, but they will no doubt be left pretty jarred by the way Metzger intercuts the gay and lesbian sex scenes at the end. I would think the (in some versions hardcore)gay footage might ruin the mood a little for heterosexuals. There is a good softcore hetero scene at the beginning between Claire Wilbur's character and a TV repairman while Lowry's character looks on, but if you just want to see Lowry and/or a lot of heterosexual and lesbian sex you might do better with the contemporary cult film "Sugar Cookies" which features her and a young Mary Woronov. Gays, on the other hand, probably won't relate too much to a movie about swinging married couples, although they will no doubt find it pretty funny how obviously gay the two "husbands" in this movie are to begin with (especially Lowry's husband played by gay porno actor Casey Donovan). That leaves swinging bisexual types like the characters in the film (although I imagine those kind of people don't have too much time to watch movies)and weirdos like me who don't really watch sex movies for the sex (and there can't be too many of us around).

On the plus side, this is a Radley Metzger movie. Metzger is perhaps the only American who can make graphic sex movies that have any class at all. The word "erotic" is overused almost as much as the word "pornographic", but whether they're erotic or not Metzger makes movies that really look great visually, and whether you're turned on by the action or not, at least you're not crying over the wasted celluloid or cringing at the cheesy music and atrocious acting and dialogue. The acting here is also excellent, especially Lowry, Wilbur, and Gerald Grant--Donovan is good too but a little stiff (no pun intended). I'm not exactly sure who I'd recommend this TO, but I'd definitely recommend it.