Abigail Leslie Is Back in Town

A mere couple of weeks ago, filmmaker Joe Sarno passed away, leaving behind a legacy of accomplished adult efforts on both sides of the explicit fence. Sex was more means to an end than goal in itself for him, providing another layer of characterization. The French, who take their grind-house fare more seriously than anyone else, deeming it worthy of the same critical analysis as the works of Godard, consider him seedy cinema's answer to Ingmar Bergman ! Reeking more of unneeded intellectual excuse for lofty film fans to get down 'n' dirty than a proper appraisal of Sarno's achievements, such monikers merely look good on paper. Simple truth of the matter is that he was an excellent director, in a measure not just limited to the "adults only" universe though his eventual output puts him smack dab in the middle of it. Like Claude Chabrol, to whom he could be much more fruitfully compared if such need be, his focus was firmly on the hypocrisy stifling the middle class from doing the things they wanted, but foregoing his customary distancing cynicism.

Credit Something Weird's Mike Vraney for first reviving interest in Sarno's body of work, unearthing believed to be lost '60s features like SIN IN THE SUBURBS and THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT for new generations of trash cinema enthusiasts on video and subsequently DVD. When fans go gaga, the mainstream sooner or later takes notice, making Sarno one of the few disreputable directors to achieve a modicum of "real world" appreciation within his lifetime. In recent years, this begrudging acknowledgment has extended to include his simulated skin flicks shot both home and abroad in Scandinavia during the first half of the '70s but still fails to assess the excesses he was to commit later on, mostly as Karl or Erik Andersson. Now that French TV's culture channel Arte has ported over Retro Seduction's pristine copy of ABIGAIL LESLEY IS BACK IN TOWN for their upmarket R2 release in their "The Other America" series, can a Cinematheque double bill of THE TROUBLE WITH YOUNG STUFF and SLIPPERY WHEN WET be far behind ? Ah, if only.

Most elusive among his '70s gems, ABIGAIL LESLIE may be the most solemn of a lot that includes the much better known because more widely seen CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG American HOUSEWIFE and LAURA'S TOYS. Providing a presumably unwelcome dose of angst-ridden reality for fantasy-starved flea pit patrons of the day, it must have made for a tough sell when compared to Sarno's comparatively unencumbered tales of marital infidelity, hence one possible explanation for its subsequent obscurity. Rising to the surface after three decades of absence, the movie can now rightfully take its place as the director's crowning achievement as well as one of the finest independently produced American films of the decade, an unbelievable statement to some perhaps in light of Sarno's habit of casting hardcore talent in non-explicit roles, all of whom rise to the occasion beautifully.

Though her name is in the title, Abigail Lesley's not so much the main character as the catalyst in other people's lives, having left the quiet little fishing hamlet of Baypoint in a huff years ago after being caught in flagrante with married Gordon Howe (the also recently deceased Jamie Gillis in an uncharacteristically subdued performance) by his unsuspecting spouse Priscilla, played to perfection by the exquisite Mary Mendum a/k/a "Rebecca Brooke", Sarno's magnificent muse who - according to persistent rumor - ended up marrying a Muslim extremist !

Their marriage never recovered from Gordon's spur of the moment transgression and she has been conducting a chaste afternoon romance with laid off fisherman Chester (Eric Edwards, better than ever) whose lonely sister Alice Anne (an excellent turn by lovely Chris Jordan, the actor's wife at the time, who sadly passed away from cancer at an early age) is left to pick up the slack as the family's sole bread winner. As if economic reality's not hitting these people hard enough, bad girl Abigail (the highlight of Jennifer Jordan's checkered career) returns to the place of the crime, hell-bent on wreaking even more havoc in retaliation for having been wronged.

The plot's twists and turns could be construed as pure soap opera if it weren't for the compelling earnestness with which they are presented, aided immeasurably by plausible characterizations and the convincing bleakness of a small town forever out of season, courtesy of another haunting Jack Justis solo guitar soundtrack and the autumnal shades of Bill Godsey's intricately composed shots. Skin display's frustratingly frugal - for a reason - during the slow build-up, only to explode by the halfway point when it's basically one sex scene after another. The masks of respectability come off as characters are forced to confront each other and, perhaps even more frighteningly, themselves. None of this comes off as tedious because Sarno has already worked up a full head of steam narratively by this stage. The seemingly liberated Abigail, whose carefree attitude hides unrequited longing, has simply put the inevitable clockwork mechanism into motion and now it won't stop until all the guilty secrets have come out.

In addition to those already mentioned, and since no good cast should go unpraised and porno people are rarely the recipients of such, Jennifer Welles has a field day as Priscilla's naughty aunt Drucilla, hunky beau (and future Kentucky Governor wannabe until his illustrious past caught up with him) Sonny Landham in tow. Julia Sorel, who registers strongly as hot to trot best friend Lila, was a minor league adult actress who turned up in Howard Ziehm's loop carrier SEXTEEN and Kemal Horulu's ambitious but flawed VIRGIN AND THE LOVER. Hiding behind the pseudonym "Anne Keel" and playing bitchy buddy Tracey is carnal cult favorite Susan Sloan, best remembered as the star of Robert Sickinger's lavish adaptation of anonymous Victorian porn novella A MAN WITH A MAID a/k/a THE NAUGHTY VICTORIANS.

She hightailed it after a scandal but now ABIGAIL LESLEY IS BACK IN TOWN and the old gang's creamin' their jeans, let me tell ya. They all knew each other back in high school when they either lusted after or had sex with each other and now, ten years later, it's happening all over again, their marriages be damned...

Joe Sarno's oneiric 1975 (im)morality tale has a number of superstars from The Golden Age Of Porn (Jamie Gillis, Jennifer Welles, Eric Edwards) doing softcore (where a modicum of acting replaces penetration) and guess what- nobody breaks the suspension of disbelief or embarrassed themselves. This may be softcore porn but it inhabits the same universe as it's XXX brethren -a world where sexual fulfillment is the most important thing in life. It's the only thing, in fact, and if it isn't, there's something wrong with you, like Priscilla (Rebecca Brooke). I was down with it but tremors began to crack the terrain when a couple of characters professed their love at the end (Abigail to Priscilla, Priscilla & Chester to each other) and I had a Scarlett O'Hara moment when I thought, "But where will they go? What will they do?" because not one of them worked or did much of anything besides think or worry about sex when they weren't actually having it.

In this universe there's nothing wrong (as Priscilla found out) that a little liberation can't cure so I was gobsmacked when Priscilla told Chester that the only way they could be happy was to "leave this place". Why? Are they running from a past they had no trouble embracing in more ways than one? That revelation turned this universe on its ear and my comprehension crumbled along with it. The cock-blocking mixed message confounded me but the film's anatomical and pastoral (a New England fishing village) tableaux were so nice to look at, I didn't care. It was filmed in Amityville, Long Island but I'm not reel sure what possessed writer/director Sarno. Not that it matters, of course -I was spellbound. I was surprised beautiful leading lady Rebecca Brooke (aka Mary Mendum) wasn't the titular vixen but her Priscilla was the film's focal point and she its star. Brooke was found floating in a Boca Raton, Florida canal a couple of years ago, "accidently drowned" but I can't find out anything more about it.

Great movie to watch for it is of the classic type movie to watch and Abigail proves it all she is good in films.

I thought this was a normal movie. I put it on in the background while I was practicing yoga and trying to relax. About 15 minutes in, Abigail and a friend are having a conversation on the couch, and Abigail casually says something about how the woman used to masturbate and tell her dirty fantasies when she was 12 years old. It was, at that moment, that I knew I had stumbled upon a special film.

This is, basically, pornography with a better story and more characters. I'm not complaining, and I think it's a good movie, but it's porn. So, don't spin the wheel at the family Christmas party and put this on as a random film... of coarse, there is a surprise incest subplot, so...

There is some artistic direction here - like the beach scenes and some of the sex. There is some decent acting here, too. The last 20 minutes or so are rather muddled. The ending feels like the writers got a little lost, and it seems abrupt in some places and drawn out in others. The screenplay wasn't perfect, but the final product is compelling. This is a good datenight film for a couple that already have a sexual relationship. However, this film is so shocking that you'll give someone on a blind date a panic attack and send them running into traffic.

RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1; Casting - 1/1; Directing - 1/1; Story - 1/1; Writing/Screenplay - 0.5/1;

Total Base Score = 4.5

Modifiers (+ or -): Originality: +0.5 (An old story, retold with very, um, 'physical' acting);

Exceptionally Sexy (new category): +1 (I mean, it's kind of porn...);

Total RealReview Rating: 6

Effective and ultimately rather engaging soft core from Mr Sarno. I think it should be said right away that 'soft core' here means something a little more than the usual mincing about that one might imagine. I reckon but stand to be corrected that some of this is real sex without us actually being shown the graphic detail. Anyway, suffice to say the sex scenes are believable and erotic. I am not as stunned by the acting as some seem to be but, I guess for the type of film this is, the acting is surprisingly good. I don't really know whether the film is a bit stilted at the beginning with its slightly awkward flashbacks or it just took me a little while to get into things but the film certainly seems to get better as it progresses. By the end when Abigail has managed to 'engage' with the whole cast and encourage almost everyone to also go with each other, in twos, threes and more the fire is well alight. There are also some pointed observations and I particularly liked a scene where one of the more retiring girls asks Abigail to help her become free like her, Abigail replies, 'You may not like being free'. Very enjoyable and not one scene that seems too long - some achievement!