Superchick

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.

Tara B. True works for Crown International Airlines (yes, really) as a demur airline hostess by day. By night, she becomes…Superchick! Under the guise of the latter she transforms into a blonde bombshell who not only proves irresistible to men but who also fights crime whenever necessary. She holds a black belt in karate and has a doting man at every major flight destination, namely unwitting dopes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles; while at 40,000 feet different rules apply and she bags a young army stud in the airplane restroom.

Despite what its title and poster suggest, this one only barely qualifies as an action movie at all with a very thin supply of martial arts combat. The focus is squarely on comedy scenes. We follow the Superchick go from man to man, from one episode to another and marvel at the japes that accompany her. Truthfully, the comedy is only occasionally amusing and is often pretty clunky stuff, although the whole endeavour stays just on the right side of likability. It definitely has one foot in the sexploitation genre though, with a smattering of nudity throughout. Lead actress Joyce Jillson isn't too shy here and there are also a couple of very eye popping appearances for us to savour from busty 70's icons Uschi Digard and Candy Samples - going under the moniker of Mary Gavin. Yummy. We also have John Carradine turn up for one of the many bizarre cameo roles he made in all manner of low budget fare, in this one he is a retired actor with an S&M fetish and, needless to say, his character makes absolutely no sense and has no impact on the story as a whole but, as the saying goes, it's nice to know he was there. In the final analysis, this is one strictly for forgiving fans of 70's b-movies. While it has its problems, it ultimately ticked a few boxes for me.

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.

This is only somewhat attractive for fans of "bad movie" entertainment. It is more worthwhile for students of 1970's pop culture: the fashions, the furniture, the attitudes, and that great "women's lib" moment of the early 1970's, when it was still fresh and novel for a self-employed, independent woman to exist.

"Superchick" (Joyce Jillson) had a monetarily rewarding if stultifying career (after all, what is a flight attendant but a waitress at 30,000 feet -- that goes for the male ones too), she slept around with multiple men, could protect herself and others (with karate) and wasn't tied down to anything. This is the kind of emancipated woman that scared the juices out of anti-feminists, those retrograde idiots who believe that no woman is complete without a husband.

The "sexy stewardess" was a potent archetype of the late 1960's to 1970's, (geez, even on "The Partridge Family," I remember swinging bachelor Ruben Kincaid constantly hooking up with stewardesses) and from that point of view, this silly film is an important pop culture time capsule of the pre-AIDS, free-love, women's lib, swinging Seventies. The plot is quite awful though. And for those cavemen in the audience, there are few bare breasts to look at.

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.