There are many enduring values to THE ORAL GENERATION, on its surface an interchangeable white-coater styled vintage exercise in XXX. Beautiful print preserved on DVD by distributor Vinegar Syndrome packs mucho nostalgia value.
Before the sex action begins, there is a valuable opening sequence documenting the long- gone 42nd St. theaters of NYC. Marquees emblazon familiar titles of both grind-house action film bills as well as adult cinemas, including: TEENIE TULIP, ANGELS DIE HARD, NAKED ANGELS, THE EXECUTIONER, THE AMBUSHERS, YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL, THE LANDLORD (with Diana Sands and Pearl Bailey escalated to starring roles in neon), FILE OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE, GOODBYE GEMINI (incest film giving Michael Redgrave no less a grind-house spotlight), THE BIZARRE ONES, DIAMOND STUD, WHAT NEXT, ALTOGETHER NOW, ANOMALIES, TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME JUNIE MOON (who booked that one?), NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, 7 CONSENTING ADULTS, THE POSTGRADUATE and THE ABC'S OF MARRIAGE. It's a terrific time capsule along with the logos for the Rialto, Eros, Circus and other well-remembered venues.
But the main reason for ORAL is sex of the explicit nature, a novelty in 1970 and in this case still arousing 45 years on. Styled as a "documentary report on today's liberated woman" the film about 6 minutes in begins to depart from boring shots of hardcore magazine stills or erotic art to present MOS sex scenes with narration over.
The crisp 35mm photography is very impressive and reminds one that nearly all porno films seen now are in degraded condition not giving many of them a chance to be properly appreciated. True, they were subject to splicing and dicing/wear & tear back in the day courtesy of grind-house projection, but ORAL shows what a pristine print looked like.
That is fortunate in preserving the beauty of Tina Russell, who appears in several scenes here, notably a sensual XXX session opposite Paul Matthews as well as a solo strip/split- beaver/masturbation turn as a horny secretary. Tina has several far better features demonstrating her acting ability, notably WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS September? (coincidentally she was born in September), but ORAL shows us Tina at her loveliest -as striking as Annette Haven or any other future porn goddess.
With an appropriate organ small combo jazz score, ORAL presents six of these clinical sex vignettes, all featuring beautiful femmes and building carefully to greater & greater degrees of XXX content. Disappointing one is a redhead slaving away at the limp (and smallish) dick of a Black martial arts guy named Phil -this mixed combo sequence is poorly done with endless cross cutting between the sex and shots of him striking militant Taekwondo poses more suitable for a Black Panthers recruiting film. The DVD from VS kindly includes a 9-minute addendum of a deleted scene of a short & cute girl having sex on a couch which could have substituted for the mechanical interracial action.
