Superchick

Tara B. True (Jillson) is the ultimate party-girl; she has enough love to share with the world, so she became a stewardess to romance the world. With a guy in every port, Tara hides her blonde bombshell body disguised as a brunette. This movie is so 1970's, that the fashions have returned. For those fans in the know, poor Louis Quinn probably went blind (see Archie Bunker's Place) by Tara's dazzling beauty. John Carradine has a wonderful cameo.

I'm not a "bad movie" fan, but this one has to be one of the exceptions. Probably unwatchable in 1973, the lifestyles, the lingo, and the attitudes are so comically dated that they lift the film to the level of unintentional satire. The plot is terrific. At least I think it is. I never really figured out what the plot is. But the atmostphere is like Valley Of The Dolls with 1/3 the calories. Superchick wanders from bed to bed without any apparent reason, and stops to deliver a few ridiculously bad Karate shots on the unsuspecting bad guys. Well worth watching if you understand that you aren't getting The Maltese Falcon.

Back in the 1970's there was a lot of exploitation films: Sexploitation, Blaxpoitation, and others to mention. In "Superchick", you won't find it in a comic book! Here you have a stewardess(Joyce Jillson, 1945-2004) who wears her stewardess uniform. When she's off duty, she goes from brunette, to long hair blonde. The short hair brunette her is meek and mild. Her Superchick mode is adventurous and uninhibited. Consider this, the ultimate lover. She has three: A brain surgeon in New York; a beach bum in Miami; and a musician in Los Angeles. Each one knew nothing about the other. But the one in Miami was involved with a criminal mastermind. Unaware of the situation, she does her regular job as usual. In California, she goes to karate class where she meets the champion who is secretly bilingual. After a fine jostling, he gets the surprise of his life. After thwarting a hijacking, she has her "coming out" party. The funny part during the interview is when has her "news flash". This one is subtle, still true to its name. At least she didn't wear a cape and fly all over the US looking for love. That would be too corny! 2 out of 5 stars.

The name "cult movie" is often given to films which continue to be screened, or to sell in home movie format, more than a generation after they were first released. Superchick, which was first released in 1973, now comes into this category. Its cult status is largely due to ongoing interest in it by those women who regard it as an early and effective feminist film.

Despite the "Superwoman" connotation, "Superchick" is not a cartoon character but a very competent young lady working as an air stewardess - a career option which in the 1970's was commonly regarded as one of the most glamorous open to any girl, and which also enables her to emulate the traditional matelot who reputedly has a wife in every port. Since she holds black belt status in karate, she is in a position to make it quite clear that she is very happy with her bachelor existence, and is in no way beholden to any of her extensive suite of male admirers. This film is a situation comedy which avoids the generally much shorter lived appeal of outright farce. Its appeal to feminists is also heightened by a climax in which our heroine uses her karate abilities to avert a hijacking and save all the other passengers on her plane from a potentially unpleasant fate. To ensure that this film will appeal to men as well as to their partners, the Director has wisely ensured that is liberally sprinkled with eye candy.

Superchick can be enjoyed by those who are not too critical and want a very light easy to watch comedy which they will forget soon after viewing. It is so forgettable that they will probably find it equally enjoyable if watched again in a year's time; despite its age it may therefore retain its status as a cult movie for some time to come. However the dialogue and acting would make it hard to give this film a rating of more than 4/10.

Joyce Jillson seemed to be a shaggy dog type waiting for the studio bosses and celebrities to adopt. She did well on stage, but on screen a peculiar deadpan voice seemed to emerge not very appealing in this film. Since she wasn't given many chances to improve, she found a niche for herself as an astrologer. Her suggestions for new projects weren't that bad, after all, The Love Boat became a long running hit TV show. Superchick is of course a low budget spoof of Superman and Supergirl. Meanwhile disguised as homely airline stewardess Tara B True, Superchick fought for truth, justice and the American way! Not a bad idea for a TV series, either. But you know nobody ever wants to put a good show on TV, so we're stuck with this turkey. Tara has 3 men she's in love with in different cities, and can't decide which one she wants to marry. Nice karate work, though. Somebody younger might have given the part a little more enthusiasm.