Lord Farthingay's Holiday

LORD FARTHINGAY'S HOLIDAY is a soft-core sex comedy arriving a bit late in the cycle, its 1972 debut following the hardcore success of DEEP THROAT and many other explicit films. What might have seemed quite daring at one time was rendered old-hat and antiquated.

Script is simple as can be: the Brit of the title is relaxing at Mrs. VanUpdyke's home when a mistake by butler Jeeves (porn stalwart Pete Dawson) results in 3 cute hookers arriving for afternoon tea's entertainment, instead of a band.

The resulting farce is one-note and low-brow under the direction of Joseph Robertson, a porn pioneer whose career careens from quality to terrible almost randomly. His choice of leading lady was astute: Casey Lorraine, who had starred for Robertson's associate Ed Wood and here is delightful as the haughty, affected society lady who transforms completely when she gets laid (by both the butler and the handyman).

Dawson with his Aussie accent is perfect as Jeeves, while Ron Darby is an acquired taste as the leering, rape-prone goof-ball of a handyman. Girls are quite sexy and uninhibited (though strictly soft-core in content, the film does include stiff pricks occasionally on screen). Sandy Dempsey has the smallest role, an odd decision since she was the most successful of the ladies in the cast.

Perhaps if Robertson had concocted some action or plot twists to keep the ball rolling (film's payoff comes about 15 minutes in, with well over a half an hour left for repetition and running around going nowhere) he might have made a decent film. As is, it's merely porn filler, good looking enough to be categorized as a real movie and not just grind-house detritus but completely trivial.

This movie is perhaps the only example of a legitimate screw-ball comedy that doubles as a porn film from the genre's golden age. The plot is simple and unimaginative. An English aristocrat visits an estate to rest and do some work, but instead of calling in musicians for his entertainment, the owner accidentally calls prostitutes. What follows is a chaotic afternoon of everyone getting it on with everyone else.

The acting is better than expected, but nobody in the film is taking it too seriously. Clearly the intent is to make a more explicit version of the low-budget "B roll" sex comedies of the era, and even the performers are veterans of these mostly forgettable productions. It plays like a really naughty version of the Benny Hill Show.

Of note, most sex scenes draw on a common "no means yes" trope. We see the protagonist force himself/herself onto an unwilling target, only to see resistance fade once the action gets going. The same basic premise was a staple of future mainstream raunch-coms like "Porky's' and "Revenge of the Nerds." It is a reminder of how times have changed, and what we call rape, they called humor.

This is first and foremost a porn flick, and whereas the nudity leaves no legs unopened, the sex is softcore. It is also performed in a more comedic rather than erotic tone. Hardcore films were being made by this time, so why the producers decided not to cross that line is anyone's guess.

Aside from a handful of funny gags, this is not a good movie, and it is not even good porn. It is, however, a solid example of why adult films generally fail spectacularly when they attempt to cross the line into mainstream entertainment.