The Flesh Merchant

Naive Nancy comes to Hollywood from her dull small town to visit her glamorous sister in hopes of becoming a model. Her sister tells her its no life for her, but Nancy is determined. In less than 48 hours Nancy ends up working at a high priced house of prostitution! In an incredible coincidence, she works at the same house of ill repute as her older sister. Nancy decides selling herself for money is not for her but the mobsters who run the place won't let her go.

THE FLESH MERCHANT is a no budget "exploitation" picture with bad acting, silly dialogue, and a script loaded with coincidences. There is also some very brief nudity. There is one really weird character called "Joker", who plays the mobsters all around "go for." He has a Brooklyneese accent and delivers malaprops ala Leo Gorcey, but physically resembles latter day Bowery Boy Eddie Leroy. There is one funny line when one of the "older" girls starts giving trouble. The boss says he going to send her to work at the "hotel" in the city. When she protests, he says "Hey! Even winos need a few thrills."

Joy Reynolds, who plays Nancy, is quite an eyeful if may say so myself.

"The Flesh Merchant" (or "The Wild and Wicked") is fairly typical of 50's exploitation cinema in that it denounces a moral evil (in this case, young, innocent girls who are tricked into prostitution under the guise of becoming models) while at the same time titillating the audience with scenes of scantily clad women (and even a quick flash of bare buttocks). That being said, "The Flesh Merchants" is one of the more interesting films in the grindhouse genre. This is largely due to the acting, which is above par for most films of its kind. Lisa Rack, who plays the prostitute sister of the young innocent ingenue, is especially good. She infuses her dialogue (and a couple of sizable monologues) with a lot more fire and expression than entire casts of other low-budget films, and makes you sit up and take notice (even though a lot of the dialogue is pretty laughable). It's a shame that she doesn't seem to have any other film credits, because she certainly could have gone places.

All in all, this is one of the more watchable "Adults Only" films of the 50's. You can certainly do worse. I know I have.

THE WILD AND WICKED is another educational/exploitation flick from W. Merle Connell, who handled a string of sensationalist fare along the lines of TEST TUBE BABIES. This one's much like an earlier entry I watched (in the same Mill Creek box set) entitled GAMBLING WITH SOULS, except without the gambling angle.

In essence, the film charts the journey and moral degradation of a pretty young woman who finds herself cast adrift. She unwisely falls in with a crowd of men who run an establishment dedicated to the art of pleasure, in other words a brothel. Will she ever manage to escape their clutches?

Wow. The plot is certainly an arresting one and the calibre of the acting is a little better than the norm in this low-budget quickies. And THE WILD AND WICKED certainly contains plenty of the latter, some truly scuzzy characters in support. The abrupt non-ending is the worst part of it, but there are some fun moments along the way like the manhunt for the criminal.

Those who enjoyed Dance Hall Racket, Gun Girls, and the like should enjoy this early 50's L.A. exploitation film about prostitution. This isn't as sleazy or exciting as the above-mentioned films, but it's got the same hard-boiled dialogue, high-school play level acting, flat lighting, and static camera you expect from these gems, and it's also got an uncomfortable, "dirty" feeling throughout, which is an acceptable substitute for the lack of nudity. You'll recognize some of the cast and the canned music from Phil Tucker's Broadway Jungle, and it's directed by W. Merle Connell, veteran of countless exploitation and burlesque features. If you like a hard-boiled, sordid film that plays like a bus-station sleaze paperback, this is it. Enjoy! I did...

The Flesh Merchant (1956)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Above average sexploiation film about 21-year-old Nancy (Joy Reynolds) who travels to Los Angeles to visit her sister and with dreams of getting into modeling. She meets a modeling agent but he's actually just a pimp and soon Nancy finds herself at a resort selling herself to older men. Director W. Merle Connell was no stranger to the exploitation genre and a quick look at his filmmography will show titles like TEST TUBE BABIES, THE DEVIL'S SLEEP and UNTAMED WOMEN. He certainly knows how to fill his film's with interesting characters and that there is what helps THE FLESH MERCHANT from being boring. Running just under a hour there's certainly no time that's wasted as we're pretty much introduced to the girl, see that she's willing to make a few bucks and it's off to the whorehouse she goes. The film runs at a very quick pace thanks to the director but the screenplay also deserves a lot of credit for the rather fun characters. The Nancy character is just as naive as you'd expect and the warning, soap-box preaching sister is a real hoot as well and especially at the end. There's the wiser hooker who is getting too old for the game and of course all of the pimps are downright fun in their own way. If you're looking for a serious drama about the horrors of street walking then you're not going to find it here. This is an exploitation picture that wants to "warn" of things but at the same time highlight the fun of being at one of these clubs. There's even a quick bit of nudity, which was clearly a wink at the mostly men who would be watching this. The performances are actually a lot better than you'd expect as well. THE FLESH MERCHANT isn't a lost masterpiece but for fans of the genre it's certainly worth watching.